Statement Before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate — Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part I, An Advisory and Call to Action
In this February 2022 statement to the Senate Finance Committee, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy testified that U.S. youth mental health had reached crisis levels before the COVID-19 pandemic and worsened further during it. He cited a rise in persistent sadness and hopelessness reported by high school students through the 2010s and a 28% increase in youth psychiatric emergency-department visits for depression, anxiety, and behavioral challenges between 2011 and 2015. Among several named drivers — pervasive mental-health stigma, unresolved societal stressors, and pandemic disruption — Murthy identified 'the recent ubiquity of technology platforms, especially social media platforms,' as having exacerbated feelings of isolation for some youth, reducing in-person activity time and reinforcing bullying and exclusion, while also acknowledging technology's benefits. He called for expanded mental health workforce capacity, insurance parity enforcement, and stronger prevention infrastructure. TechKids Foundation cites this as an early instance of the Surgeon General naming social media as one contributor to the youth mental health crisis.
Murthy testified that in 2019, before the pandemic, 1 in 3 high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness almost every day for two or more weeks, up 40% from a decade earlier.
He cited data showing youth psychiatric emergency department visits for depression, anxiety, and behavioral challenges increased 28% between 2011 and 2015.
Murthy, Vivek H. Statement of Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., MBA, Surgeon General of the United States of America, Before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate. February 8, 2022.