Title
Authorizing the Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention to conduct hearings to examine our national youth mental health crisis and its role in the ongoing epidemic of gun violence.
Body
WHEREAS, On Tuesday, December 7, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek H. Murthy, released an advisory warning that young people are facing devastating mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation, including the coronavirus pandemic; and
WHEREAS, The report observed that the pandemic intensified mental health issues that were already widespread by the spring of 2020. There were significant increases in self-reports of depression and anxiety along with more emergency room visits for mental health issues; and
WHEREAS, In early 2021 in the United States, emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose 51 percent for adolescent girls as compared to the same period in 2019. Globally, depression and anxiety doubled during the pandemic, with 25 percent of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20 percent suffering anxiety symptoms; and
WHEREAS, The pandemic is not the only stressor causing the children of this generation anguish. They are also living in a country experiencing a gun violence epidemic, a reckoning on racial justice, a climate emergency and a divisive political landscape, which are all taking a toll on young Americans' mental health at a time when it was already in decline; and
WHEREAS, Adolescent brain chemistry and relationships with friends and family play a role, the report noted, as does a fast-paced media culture, which can leave some young minds feeling helpless. Often the blame for adolescent distress is often attributed to social media, but screen time alone has not been found to account for the crisis. Instead, it has been found that social media and other online activities amplify an adolescent's existing mental state, causing some young people to feel more distress and others to experience enhanced feeling...
Click here for full text