Raising Awareness for Teen Depression

The Healing Hearts Counseling Team is proud to support two local high school students who are presenting at the 2023 National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia this week.

Michael Gong and Tyler Shane, both students at Dunlap High School, are heading to Nationals for Future Business Leaders of America this week after winning at the local and state level. They hope to raise awareness about how teen depression has become a public health crisis in the United States and around the world.

Teen Depression Rates Are Climbing and Many Suffer In Silence

By the fall of 2021, 25.2% (1 in 4) of adolescents worldwide experienced clinically elevated depression symptoms, double the percentage from pre-pandemic estimates, stated Gong and Shane in their presentation. This shows the severity of teen depression, and those numbers are still rising.

Are You Okay? Stop and Ask Your Teen. Ask The Hard Questions!

In 2023, 59.8% of U.S. adolescents suffering from major depression have not received treatment. Shame, stigma, and lack of knowledge about mental health problems are some of the reasons kids are not getting the help they need. Depression is treatable. Therapy helps.