Vermont鈥檚 latest statewide survey of middle and high school students has intensified concerns about youth mental health.
Kelly Dougherty, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, said mental health metrics plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic. And she said the most recent , released publicly on Friday, shows that kids have yet to rebound.
鈥淎 third of high school students said that their mental health was not good most of the time or always, and so that is obviously not good,鈥� Dougherty said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 even worse for female students and LGBTQ+ students.鈥�
The survey polled more than 15,000 high school students and found that nearly a quarter of them engaged in acts of self-harm over the past year. One in seven said they鈥檇 made a suicide plan.
The survey, which has been conducted every two years in Vermont since 2005, asked students for the first time about their social media habits. And 80% of high school students said they check social media accounts at least several times a day.
鈥淎nd we know that there鈥檚 been work done to show that there can be a negative mental health impact from use of social media,鈥� Dougherty said.
Dougherty said her department has launched a number of state-funded programs to address students鈥� mental health challenges. The Vermont Consultation and Psychiatry Access Program, for example, connects youth with mental health services.
She said the suicide prevention program puts a special focus on female and LGBTQ+ students. And she said other programs are training parents, teachers and students to engage in 鈥測outh mental health first aid.鈥�
鈥淪o there are a lot of efforts going on in Vermont already,鈥� Dougherty said. 鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 going to take some time to address this problem.鈥�
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, help is available
- : call 988 or text 988
- : call 1-866-488-7386 or text 678678
- : call 988, press 1
- : text "VT" to 741741
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