The mental health crisis among young people

One in five teens suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder.

As a mom of two teenagers and one tween, I’m acutely aware of the mental health crisis affecting kids, teens, and young people all across the country.

Recent studies show that about one in five teens between age twelve and eighteen suffer from at least one diagnosable mental health disorder. 

Among those 18 to 26, just 15% said their mental health was excellent. That is a steep decline from both 2013 and 2003, when just over half of young adults said the same.

Here in Orange County, we’re lucky to have world class mental health services at the Children's Hospital of Orange County. I’ve toured it and spoken with leaders there about how to address the crisis—which is going to take a variety of approaches—from investing in schools to cracking down on Big Insurance. Here’s what I’m pushing for:

1. Train new mental health specialists: A 2020 study found there are just 5.4 child psychologists for every 100,000 kids under the age of 18. We can pass legislation to incentivize the training and recruitment of new mental health professionals.

2. Invest in school psychologists so kids can access free care at school: The National Association of School Psychologists recommends at least one school psych for every 500 students. Current estimates show there’s one school psych for every 1,211 students. My daughter has used free mental health services at school, and I’ve seen how school psychologists are able to free up school counselors’ time to address learning needs. 

3. Address gaps in care: Right now the options for mental health care tend to be full hospitalization or once a week (or once a month) therapy. Particularly with concerns about school attendance and the need to address family issues, many kids need in-between options, such as intensive outpatient care. Without these alternatives we’ll keep seeing an increase in mental health issues. We need to force insurance companies to cover the full continuum of care, which brings me to my next point.

4. Hold insurance companies accountable for covering mental health care: Big insurance companies have set ridiculous rules for what they’ll cover, with some only covering one session a month. Many insurance plans have few or even no psychiatrists who are seeing new patients within a geographic area. My bill to enforce mental health parity was signed into law and will require data collection on whether insurance plans are delivering the promised care options.

5. Address mental health related school absences: A recent survey found that more than half of parents have let their kids skip school to take a mental health day. But oftentimes that doesn’t solve the fundamental problem and leads to missed learning opportunities. Instead, more schools should create mental health spaces, where kids and teens can learn coping skills. 

6. Support for every community: A 2022 survey found that parents making less than $40,000 a year were more likely than those in higher-income households to say they’re very worried about their kids suffering from mental health issues. As we address this crisis, we must make sure adequate resources make it to schools and communities that often get left behind.

I’ve introduced the Student Mental Health Rights Act to improve compliance with existing federal law and expand the toolkit for well-being in schools. Unfortunately, mental health is one of the issues where I really feel the generational gap of Washington. The average US Senator is 64 years old, and 75 out of 100 of them are men. The teen mental health crisis is not something they’re paying attention to, whereas I’m seeing it directly in my community and kids’ public schools.

Congress can and should invest in the mental health of young people. And I won’t let powerful corporations off the hook. Social media companies and health insurance companies all play a role here, and I’ll always hold them to account. 

Onward,

Katie Porter