Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13-18 experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. Per the Florida Department of Health in the 2017 Florida High School Students data survey 28% of students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row, 14% did something to purposefully hurt themselves without wanting to die, 11% planned to attempt suicide and 8% attempted suicide.

 A stigma has been attached to today’s youth giving them the reputation of being more fragile, less resilient and more overwhelmed than their parents were going up. Today’s youth are labeled as “millennia’s” being more emotional, spoiled and ungrateful creating a disconnect in their relationships with their parents.

With the multitude of labels given to today’s youth we often forget the pressure adolescents are faced with to find their identity. In the midst of finding their own identity they are also met with the full-time job of going to school, sometimes having a part time job and maintaining a social media reputation. There can be an exhausting fight within themselves to balance home life roles while being continuously influenced by social expectations. While dealing with these environmental aspects your teen may have issues navigating through their mental health. Your teen is not alone like the other 1 in 5 that are struggling there is a light at the end of the tunnel for overcoming the weight of the adolescent years.