More than 44% of students in the ninth through 12th grades experienced constant feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to the CDC study, which was conducted during the first half of last year. It also found that 19.9% of youths seriously contemplated attempting suicide, and 9% attempted suicide during the pandemic lockdowns when many schools were closed in 2020.
Overall, more than 37% of students experienced poor mental health, the study added, reporting that the lack of connection and distance away from friends had a greater negative influence on students for whom virtual learning was a poor substitute for maintaining closeness with friends.
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More than 45% of students reported suffering negative effects on their mental health due to not being able to stay affiliated with friends, as they would have done if they had been attending in-person classes. Whereas, only 28.4% of the students who still felt they retained close friendships without seeing friends in person expressed they suffered from poor mental health.
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Similarly, 52.9% of those who no longer felt close to friends had constant feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared to 35.4% of those who continued to feel close to school friends even while their school was closed down due to the pandemic.
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Further, 25.6% of those who did not feel close to their friends seriously considered attempting suicide, but the percentage dropped to 14% among those who felt they were able to adequately maintain friendships during the lockdowns. And in the number of those who attempted suicide, the percentage dropped from 11.9% to 5.8%.
“The same pattern was observed among students who were virtually connected to others during the pandemic (i.e., with family, friends, or other groups by using a computer, telephone, or other devices) versus those who were not,” the study states, “comprehensive strategies that improve feelings of connectedness with others in the family, in the community, and at school might foster improved mental health among youths during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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The CDC study also showed that a majority of teenagers were subjected to abuse, put-downs, and other forms of emotional abuse from a parent or other adult at home during the height of the 2020 lockdown.
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About 55% said they tolerated cursing or other verbal insults from an adult in the home during the lockdown, NBC News said. More than 11% reported having suffered physical abuse.
“These data echo a cry for help,” Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s acting principal deputy director, expressed in a statement. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students' mental wellbeing.”
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In an exclusive column published in The Christian Post in January, Hedieh Mirahmadi conveyed her own experience and that of her guests in a podcast episode.
“My husband and I were surprised to learn how many people in the church were affected by the horrible tragedy of suicide,” Mirahmadi wrote. “Out of a dozen live listeners, five of them had an immediate family member who either attempted or committed suicide — including myself.”
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She continued, “My husband shared how in his early 20s, he placed a loaded gun inside his mouth, having lost the will to live. Interestingly, a commercial on TV about starving kids in Africa ultimately shocked him back into the reality that his life was worth living.”
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