While being a teen comes with its own shifts, changes and challenges, research shows that since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic there has been a notable increase in depression, anxiety and suicide among Black adolescents.
“After the pandemic, I was going through a lot,” Tristyn Mickle, 14, told The Informer at the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation 2025 Can We Talk? Youth Mental Health Symposium in Oxon Hill, Maryland on May 3. “There was a point where it was really, really bad, and I had no way to get help.”
Toward the end of the pandemic, Tristyn, now a rising freshman, found herself facing a severe bout of anxiety, later diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which she said developed amid a compilation of family woes and toxic friendships.
Eager to find resolutions for her increasingly pressing concerns, Tristyn revealed that while she was able to access mental health resources, the journey to finding quality care became quite the challenge.
“I had a therapist, but she was a little iffy, so I stopped going to her, and then I was going to my school counselor, [but] the school counselor was a little shady, [sharing student information with others],” she said. “So I just stopped going to therapy all together. It did get pretty bad, but I [eventually] got the help I needed.”
Organizations like Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, founded by celebrated actress and DMV native Taraji P. Henson, in honor of her late father, is working to help people like Tristyn by combatting the lack of access to reliable and trustworthy mental health resources.
During the symposium, Henson stressed the importance of prioritizing your mental health before the demands or requests of other people around you.
“I have to give myself a limit because people will keep going. They will keep pulling, they don’t care. They’re thinking about themselves, and if you don’t put yourself first, you will lose yourself,” Henson said.
Tristyn was one of the many students who was able to unpack what was happening in their lives and the world around them during the Saturday symposium.
“One of the main things that I want to focus on with the youth and talk to them about today is anxiety and the growing suicide rates that we’re seeing,” Dr. Jay Barnett, a family therapist who participated in the symposium, told the Informer.
As a two-time suicide-attempt survivor, Barnett, understands the daunting reality of balancing anxiety and depression, along with the dilapidating affects it can have on one’s life. However, he says youth today are battling trials that are different from when he was an adolescent.
“This generation of kids are dealing with things that we never had to deal with in school and often don’t have the support that they need to manage it,” he said.
Recently, Barnett lost a patient — a 14-year-old Black male — to suicide.
“I remember the parents calling me because I was on a road tour, and they said [their] son is waiting on me. [I told them that] I go on tour, but in two weeks, I’ll be able to get back. Every other therapist I know was backed up,” Barnett said. “And when I came [back], the family reached out and said he’s gone. To this day, I can hear his father saying, ‘Dr. Jay, he waited on you.’”
Rising Statistics and Culturally Competent Care
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), suicide rates among Black youth ages 10-24 years increased from 8.2% to 11.2% from 2018 and 2021, and was the the third leading cause of death.
Similar to the rise of youth mental health challenges nationwide, Prince George’s County, a predominately African American locale, has also developed an uptick of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among local students.
Reports from Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) between 2022 and 2023 reveal that roughly 17% of high school students seriously contemplated suicide, with 10% reported attempting it.
While Prince George’s student Tristyn did not face moments of suicidal ideation, she said statistics and her own experiences emphasize the widespread prevalence of anxiety disorders, which studies show are associated with an increase in suicidal behavior.
“I think that doubt plays a big part [of it]. A lot of self doubt, because everyone’s shooting for their best, and sometimes their best isn’t enough for people around them,” Tristyn told The Informer. “They’re told that they’re not doing good enough or that they need to do better when they’re doing their best, and it just messes with our heads.”
In addition to Tristyn’s observances, Barnett noted that a challenge Black youth, and African Americans in general, face, is finding a culturally competent therapist, like himself.
“One of the things that I have to echo— particularly during the pandemic— I was the only Black male therapist at the time [in my network] that was providing space, not just for people in general, but there were a lot of Black men that were reaching out to me after the George Floyd incident,” Barnett said.
While Barnett’s therapy services became crucial for many African Americans of all ages, it also became a lot for him to juggle alone.
“I was in private practice at the time, and I had set a record for seeing the most clients,” he said. I just remember telling my supervisor that I can’t keep this up. It wasn’t sustainable.”
Barnett, who has also been a critical voice with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, is pushing toward more Black representation in mental health and culturally competent therapists.
“We have to start training, building, and bringing other folks on.”
The Importance of Parental Support
Tristyn’s mother, Tracy Laster, shared the importance of parents acknowledging their children’s mental health concerns, even when they do not have the answers of exactly how to address it.
“I think for her, me admitting I couldn’t fix it, and her being able to communicate that she needed and wanted help was important,” Laster said. “I think what’s important is that we, as parents, and [them], as kids, know, parents don’t have the answers to everything. But if I don’t tell them how to help me [or what I’m going through], I can’t get help. So we’re here figuring it out together.”
In addition to various stretches of therapy, Tristyn found solace in creative arts, using journaling and poetry as a means to evaluate her own thoughts and emotions from an outward perspective.
“I like to write, and so for me, I put my feelings in books, poems, songs, and journaling,” the 14-year-old said. “I write so I can understand how I’m feeling. Even now, I don’t [always] understand what I’m going through, but I’m going to figure it out and do my best to help myself.”
The teen also noted her mother’s support has been critical to her progress.
“I would say support from your family and loved ones plays a big role in struggling with mental health,” she continued.
Barnett encourages parents and family members to avoid stigmatizing mental health challenges and providing the best level of support they can to help their children get the proper help they need.
“What I want for us in our community is to normalize these conversations and not clown, not judge, not critique, not say ‘it’s a white thing,’” he said. “It’s a people thing, because [all] people are struggling.”
