Mental Health

The Numbers Are Getting Better. Here’s Why We Can’t Ease Up on Teen Mental Health.

By Shaun ·

You may have seen the headline: the CDC says teen mental health is improving. If you’ve spent the last few years lying awake over your teenager, your first reaction might have been relief. Your second might have been a quiet “…really?”

Both reactions make sense. The news is hopeful, and it’s real. It’s also not the whole story, and the gap between “improving” and “okay” is where many families still live. This post is about holding both truths at once.

What the CDC Actually Found

The numbers come from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. It’s given every two years to a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students. These are the findings, as reported by Stateline, Medical Daily and the CDC.

  • About one-third of high schoolers (33%) reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2025. That’s down from 40% in 2023 and from a record-high 42% in 2021.
  • 14% said they had seriously considered attempting suicide, down from 20% in 2023.
  • 12% said they had made a suicide plan in 2025, down from a high of 18% in 2021.
  • The CDC also reports that fewer students reported poor mental health, attempted suicide, or were injured in a suicide attempt compared with two years earlier.

The CDC lists fewer students with persistent sadness or hopelessness, fewer who seriously considered suicide, fewer who made a plan, and fewer who attempted suicide among its two-year improvements. That deserves to be celebrated. Behind each percentage point are real kids who feel a little lighter than their peers did two years earlier.

Why “Better” Isn’t the Same as “Fine”

Look at that first number again. One in three high school students still reports persistent sadness or hopelessness. If you walked into a classroom of thirty teenagers, that would be about ten of them.

Context matters too. Persistent sadness was 30% in 2015, so today’s 33% is still above where it stood a decade ago. The CDC’s own page, in its 2015–2025 ten-year trends, lists “More students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” under What’s Getting Worse.

In other words, we’re coming down from a very high peak. We aren’t yet somewhere we’d call healthy.

Even the CDC’s own officials didn’t call this a victory lap. Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the CDC’s deputy director and chief medical officer, said, “These are meaningful improvements, and they show that progress is possible when schools, families, and communities work together to support young people.” She added, “At the same time, too many students are still struggling with daily health behaviors that can negatively affect their long-term health.” We agree with that.

Who Is Still Struggling

The averages hide some kids. In 2025, 43% of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared with 24% of male students.

If your child is a girl, or has friends who are, this is worth knowing. A falling national number doesn’t mean your child’s experience is easy. It also doesn’t mean your child is “just going through something” if they seem to be hurting. The national report largely leaves out disparities among other student groups, so what it can tell us about them is limited.

Suicide also remains a leading cause of death for young people. A Medical Daily headline notes that it is still the second-leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24, even as teen suicidal thoughts decline. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, using CDC data, reports that suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 15 to 34. Its data also show that rates “are much lower among young children and begin to rise during adolescence.”

Survey Results and Real-World Deaths Don’t Move in Lockstep

It helps to know what kind of number you’re looking at. The YRBS asks students what they’ve felt and experienced. That’s valuable, but it’s different from counting deaths.

The AFSP, using CDC data, reports that 48,824 Americans died by suicide in 2024. That’s down 1% from 2023. For ages 15 to 34, the rate fell by 4%, from 15.9 to 15.2 per 100,000 between 2023 and 2024. That’s a decline, and we’re glad to see it.

The overall rate of 13.7 per 100,000 is also still 32% higher than it was in 2000. AFSP also estimates about 2.2M suicide attempts in 2024, which it describes as a 1.5 times increase from 2023. That runs in the opposite direction from the survey’s falling attempt rate. These are different measures covering different groups and years, so they don’t have to match. But they’re a good reminder that one hopeful survey is not the same as a problem solved.

A Fair Question About What the Report Left Out

You may be wondering, as some readers have asked us, whether the full picture is being shown. Here’s what the reporting supports, and we want to be careful not to say more than that.

Stateline, in a piece that Education Week republished, reported that the CDC’s 2025 national report is narrower than past ones. It focuses on five areas: diet, physical activity, sleep, digital behavior, and mental health and suicide risk. It “largely” leaves out national findings on substance use, sexual behavior, violence, and differences among student groups. Those were prominent in earlier reports.

The report is also shorter: 36 pages, compared with 88 for the 2023 report. That comparison isn’t perfectly apples to apples, since the 2023 count included technical notes and appendices.

The reporting also makes clear that the underlying survey data are still on the CDC’s website, including many of the measures that aren’t in the report’s key findings. The CDC’s own page says the full YRBS findings remain available. None of these sources claims the mental health numbers themselves were distorted. They note that the report’s emphasis shifted, in a year when the administration is centering nutrition and physical activity.

So here’s our honest take. The improvement appears to be real. A narrower summary means you may need to look a little harder for the full picture, and it’s worth doing that if you’re a parent, a teacher, or a school board member. Good decisions depend on seeing all the data, including the uncomfortable parts.

What Helped, and What to Keep Watching

Dr. Shuford’s statement says the improvements show that progress is possible when schools, families, and communities work together to support young people. The CDC’s page adds that sustained, evidence-based strategies are needed to build on these gains and address areas of concern.

We can’t say from these sources exactly which programs or funding produced the improvement, and we don’t want to claim more than the data show. What the CDC does say is that continued, sustained effort matters. Keep an eye on what your own school and district are doing to support students, and on whether that support continues.

What Parents Can Do This Week

National trends can feel far away from your kitchen table. Here’s what you can do close to home, without needing to be an expert.

  • Start a low-pressure conversation. Car rides and walks work well because there’s no eye contact pressure. Try, “How have things really been feeling lately?” Then listen more than you talk.
  • Ask directly if you’re worried. Plain, calm words like “Have you had thoughts of hurting yourself?” tell your child they can tell you the truth. If you’re unsure how to start, 988 can also coach you.
  • Notice changes that last. Pulling away from friends, big shifts in sleep or appetite, a drop in school engagement, or losing interest in things they loved are worth taking seriously, especially when they last more than a couple of weeks.
  • Learn what your school offers. Ask who the school counselor, psychologist, or social worker is, and how a student gets connected to them. Knowing this before a crisis makes it easier to act during one.
  • Talk to your child’s pediatrician. They can be a good first stop to talk through your concerns and help you find local care.
  • Take extra care with kids who may feel unseen. Girls report a heavier load of persistent sadness in the data. Make it clear that your home is a safe place to be exactly who they are.
  • Talk to your school board and local leaders. Ask what mental health staffing your district has, and what will happen to it if funding changes. Parents’ voices carry weight.

When to Seek Help Right Away

If your child talks about wanting to die, makes a plan, or you fear they’re in immediate danger, don’t wait for a better moment. Call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time of day. You can also text TALK to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. If there is immediate danger, call 911.

The AFSP notes that firearms accounted for 57% of suicide deaths in 2024. If there are firearms in your home, ask your pediatrician or a crisis counselor about safe storage. It is one of the most concrete steps a family can take, and you can start today.

Hope, Without Letting Go of the Wheel

Good news deserves to be received as good news. Fewer teens are in despair than two years ago, and the adults who worked for that change should feel proud.

But a third of high schoolers still reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness is not a finish line. The progress we’ve seen came from people showing up, and it can slip if we stop. Keep asking, keep listening, and keep an eye on what’s being measured and what’s being funded.

A Note from the Nurturing Tomorrow Foundation

At the Nurturing Tomorrow Foundation, we believe every child deserves to be seen, heard, and supported, whatever the headlines say this month. We’re encouraged by the signs of progress, and we’re committed to making sure parents and caregivers have the information and support they need to keep it going. If you’re worried about a young person in your life, you are not alone, and reaching out is always the right call.

Sources

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *