Some hopeful news in youth mental health, just in time for Thanksgiving!
According to the new State of Mental Health in America 2025 report, youth suicidal ideation and major depression declined for the first time in years.
Suicidal thoughts among teens dropped from 12.3% to 10.1%, and major depressive episodes fell from 18.1% to 15.4%.
These shifts represent millions of young people finding even a bit more light.
What’s helping?
– Increased funding for 988 and crisis response services, which created faster support for teens in distress.
– Expanded school-based mental-health initiatives, giving youth earlier intervention and trusted adults to turn to.
– Improvements in preventive care access — especially primary care visits where mental-health screenings often happen first.
– Stronger public awareness campaigns, helping families recognize signs sooner and reach out earlier.
But I see more than this. Every one of my colleagues on the front lines. The caseworkers, therapists, teachers, foster parents, grandparents, advocates, policy shapers, and youth workers who keep showing up for children even when the systems around them lag behind.
The people who push for mental health care sit with kids in their hardest moments, fight for safer policies, and help families find their footing.
But the picture isn’t rosy… yet.
– More than 2.8 million youth still experienced depression with severe impairment.
– Nearly 1 in 4 adults had a mental illness last year — over 60 million people.
– And 25% of adults reported an unmet need for mental-health treatment.
– For every one mental-health provider in the U.S., there are 320 people.
Where we see progress, we must protect it. Where we see gaps, we must invest in prevention, early connection, and care that meets families long before the breaking point.
This is also the mission of the work I do, educating systems and organizations on trauma prevention and healing-focused care for children so we can create a world that thrives instead of survives. Together we are making a difference!!
Mental Health America Becky Haas Carey Sipp Lori Desautels Jenni Lord Ira Hays Michelle M. Dana Milakovic PsyD Dr. Maryann McEvoy EdD Jesse Kohler Thomas G. Bognanno
Link to the 2025 Annual MHA report is in the comments.
