While mental health challenges have significantly increased since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic locally and nationwide, health leaders and advocates are working to address the growing concern of emotional distress and instability in young people.
Historically, Black youth have experienced lower rates of suicide and suicide attempts, but, recent data now indicates an alarming rise in statistics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates among people aged 10-24 years increased 36.6% among African Americans from 2018-2021.
Dr. Colby Chapman Tyson, associate medical director of Inpatient Psychiatric Services at Children’s National Hospital, witnesses a variety of mental health challenges coming through her doors, including District youth toiling with displaced anger, violence, and suicidal ideations.
“It is hard to encapsulate [it] in just a few words, but, essentially what we are seeing is more youth, number one, just even coming into the emergency room for mental health needs. And then we are seeing a higher number of them requiring psychiatric admission,” Tyson told the Informer. “We are seeing higher levels of suicidality, suicide attempts outside the hospital but also inside the hospital now, [along with] higher levels of violence, aggression, severe anxiety, sometimes to a point where they struggle with even going to school.”
Based on a 2021 D.C. youth survey, 17% of high schoolers in Washington, D.C. (including Black, Hispanic, and sexual minorities) have reported attempting suicide, which is greater than the national average of 7.4%.
Further, Tyson is continuing to see patterns of suicidal ideation without long-standing difficulties or warning signs leading up to it.
“We are seeing teens with no form of psychiatric history who are just struggling to cope with what is going on in the world; feeling alone, dealing with bullying and stressors, or trauma,” said Tyson. “Suicide is now kind of become this way of solving this problem, this overwhelming distress that they are dealing with to address painful emotions. We are seeing a lot of that [coupled with abuse of] severe substances.”
Within Black communities across the District, young people are dealing with a host of unique challenges that often vary from their non-Black peers. Some students face trauma, poverty, and family conflict, often compounded with disciplinary actions as opposed to mental health care within the school systems. Further, for some Black pupils and their families, a lack of appropriate resources and access to mental health care exacerbate the mental health crisis as a whole.
“Some of my patients are trying to support themselves with a mental health condition, but there is no electricity [in their home], and that is interfering with their sleep, which is affecting their bipolar disorder and causing them to go into a manic episode. It all can connect,” Tyson said. “Some of our youth struggle academically, but that is the only thing that the world is focused on– is if they are smart enough in school– but we are not looking at mastery in other areas of their life, to help build their competence and esteem.”
Paying It Forward to the Community
Efforts are underway in Prince George’s County to provide resources and help break mental health stigmas, as the Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas, along with the Prince George’s County Health Department came together for the 3rd annual G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time) Youth Mental Health Expo on May 18.
The goal of the expo is to expose young people and their caregivers to effective means of support to manage mental health and wellness.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, roughly half of the 57,000 Marylanders between the ages of 12-17 suffering from depression were unable to access treatment in 2023, while 1 in 6 teens report experiencing negative emotions either often or consistently.
Samiryah Chaney, 22, who sits on the Prince George’s County Youth Action Board and G.O.A.T Committee has experienced the arduous journey of foster care and homelessness in her younger years. Now, Chaney is working in her community to share her knowledge and help young folks triumph from the trauma that many undergo.
“We are trying to raise awareness for our young people to get them to understand that mental health affects you in a lot of [different] ways,” Chaney said.
During her childhood, Chaney clinically battled bouts of anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, and depression. Her personal life challenges have given her the wisdom and resources to help other young people address their mental health concerns while encouraging change in her community.
“I felt misunderstood. Sometimes I felt like I couldn’t properly convey to others how I felt, so I just wouldn’t say anything at all. At times, the way I would [express] my struggles came off a little alarming to others. With our young people, they are just experiencing things and are not taught the necessary skills or knowledge they need to overcome it,” Chaney explained.
Chaney also told The Informer that social media is a prevalent component of rising depression and anxiety among this generation of youth.
“There are a lot of factors there. I’ve noticed a lot of things are starting to become a trend for people who are not [fully aware of what they are doing], so they are just hurting themselves. Last year in November, I lost one of my cousins to a fentanyl overdose. I think she thought that it was ‘Molly’ (MDMA). A lot of people that I grew up with, and even rappers today, you [hear] died from an overdose but it was not deliberate,” said Chaney. “Another thing [I hear about] is cutting.”
Chaney continues to use her story as a means of encouragement to youth and young adults who have also struggled through disparaging circumstances while underscoring the importance of finding happiness and stability by any means.
“Some people don’t see that even when you are in an [unfortunate] circumstance, it doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it. You will grow from it and you can still experience happiness,” Chaney told The Informer. “You may be in a very violent area that you don’t particularly want to grow up in, or [maybe] a young kid in foster care who is not at home with your biological family, but there is always a brighter side to things.”
The young adult said she appreciates giving back to youth, because she knows she’s making a difference in their lives.
“I am just [sharing my] knowledge of what I think young people need or may be thinking,” Chaney said. “It just brings me happiness every day because I know I am making a change.”