By John MacPhee
The new year arrives amid a challenging time for many young people. Deep divisions in our country, conflicts around the globe, financial insecurities, lingering impacts of the pandemic, economic anxieties, and climate change all remain with us and can negatively impact the emotional well-being of teens and young adults. Far too many teens and young adults are struggling with their mental health: In 2024, a quarter of young people ages 10 to 24 said they did not feel supported by family, 45% reported struggling with their mental health within the past two years, and 29% had engaged in or considered self-harm, according to the Youth Mental Health Tracker (YMHT), a study released last month by Surgo Health.
And yet, rays of hope shine through: young people making their voices heard, schools and community organizations prioritizing youth mental health, policymakers expanding what’s possible in addressing the needs of young people, cultural icons breaking down barriers around seeking support for mental health, and caring adults focused on helping the young people in their lives in any way they can.
We at The Jed Foundation (JED) are deeply engaged in all of these efforts to improve mental health and prevent suicide for teens and young adults. During 2024, we expanded our programming and continued to deepen our understanding of young people’s needs and effective strategies to meet those needs. As we begin 2025, here are some trends we anticipate will shape youth mental health and guide our work.
Continued Reasons for Optimism
We see many promising signs for the future of youth mental health, and we have every reason to expect those to extend into this new year and beyond. The YMHT found that 95% of youth ages 10 to 24 believe there are people in their lives who really care about them, 76% feel a sense of belonging with a group such as their friends or school, and 83% express that they are optimistic about their future.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows the percentage of high school students who felt persistently sad or hopeless within the past 12 months dropped slightly from 2021 to 2023 (42% to 40%) after years of growth. For girls, who have had some of the highest rates in this category, the decrease was even greater, from 57% to 53%. And rates of high schoolers drinking and using drugs continue to decrease, according to the YRBS.
JED’s programs are having a positive impact. Research we released last year examining 10 years of data from our JED Campus program showed that, compared to baseline, students at schools that completed the program were 10% less likely to have had suicidal thoughts, 13% less likely to have made a suicide plan, and 25% less likely to have attempted suicide over the past year.
Each of these data points represents lives improved or saved, pointing to true advances in the effort to boost youth mental health and prevent suicide. In 2025, JED will be focused on building upon these positive trendlines, working to deepen these successes alongside all those who care about young people’s well-being.
Big Challenges Remain
Despite those hopeful signs, far too many young people continue to struggle with mental health challenges.
Although the numbers have improved, four in 10 high schoolers in 2023 still experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness over the past year and two in 10 seriously considered suicide, according to the YRBS. And, the YMHT found, a majority of young people ages 10 to 24 who struggled with mental health within the previous two years did not receive the full care they needed — and a third didn’t seek care at all.
The problems are even more pronounced among populations with limited access to resources.
Young people from households experiencing financial difficulties consistently report poorer mental health statuses than their peers without such challenges, according to the YMHT and other sources.
Additionally, in 2023, nearly a third of LGBTQIA+ high school students and more than a quarter of American Indian/Alaska Native students said they made a suicide plan over the past year, according to the YRBS, compared to 16% of the total student population.
The same trends hold true for other markers of emotional well-being. In 2024, LGBTQIA+ youth were three times more likely than non-LGBTQIA+ youth to say their mental health was not good over the past 30 days, according to the YMHT, and the YRBS found, LGBTQIA+ high schoolers were more likely than peers to misuse substances within the past 30 days and experience violence over the past year. American Indian/Alaska Native youth are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to report feeling persistently sad or hopeless over the past year or experiencing poor mental health within the past 30 days, according to the YRBS.
These are only a few of the concerning statistics that remind us of the immense need that remains. Bringing down these numbers will remain a top priority for everyone who cares about youth well-being. JED is committed to working with all schools and other youth-serving organizations — and collaborating with like-minded policymakers, educators, advocates, and others — to protect youth mental health and ensure all young people have the support and access to care that they deserve.
Mental Health of Boys and Young Men
The mental health needs of boys and young men is increasingly an area of concern that requires focused attention. Many of the statistics around boys’ and young men’s emotional well-being and help-seeking habits are alarming. Men are four times more likely to die by suicide than women and two to three times more likely to die from alcohol-related causes. And yet, men are significantly less likely to seek support from a mental health professional or even a friend.
Hoping to help change ingrained attitudes holding back boys and men from discussing their feelings and seeking help, JED recently teamed up with the athlete storytelling brand UNINTERRUPTED to produce INVISIBLE GAME, a powerful new unscripted YouTube series featuring intergenerational conversations with top athletes — including two-time NBA all star Trae Young and NBA veterans Iman Shumpert and Jason Richardson — about life, mental health, and staying on top of their game.
Continuing to address issues such as social isolation and harmful perceptions about what it means to be a man can help men feel more connected, more comfortable showing and talking about their emotions, and more equipped to deal with strong emotions and seek help when needed. Improving the emotional lives of boys and men can also positively impact their relationships and communities.
Centering Youth
Too often, efforts to support young people’s mental health, however well intentioned, have not involved young people themselves. Fortunately, we have worked hard to build a nuanced understanding of what prevents young people from seeking help, which can suggest pathways to addressing those impediments. In our 2024 report Unraveling the Stigma: Exploring Barriers to Mental Health Support Among U.S. Teens, JED found that fears of not being understood or having their privacy respected are among the top barriers to help-seeking among youth. Stigma-related causes play less of a role, although they are more present among Asian, Latine, Black, and LGBTQIA+ teens.
JED continues to prioritize centering youth voices in the conversation about mental health. Last year, we teamed up with Young Invincibles to launch the Youth Advocacy Coalition. The initiative includes college students from across the country and aims to drive change through education, policy advocacy, and storytelling. We also partnered with the PINK with Purpose Project to award $25,000 each to 10 Gen Z advocates whose unique projects work to strengthen their communities or promote positive mental health.
In 2025, we will again name one high school student and one college student as the recipients of the annual Student Voice of Mental Health Awards. These outstanding young people are committed advocates who raise mental health awareness among their peers.
Listening to and learning from students at every school with which we work is a core component of all our school-based programs. Understanding young people’s needs and centering their voices is an ongoing, ever-evolving effort. We will continue to pursue opportunities to ensure that we continually learn directly from youth through our work and on our platforms.
Grappling With Artificial Intelligence
A sure bet for 2025 is that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to grow throughout virtually all areas of society, including education and mental health. So, too, will questions and concerns about AI’s impact on youth. How effective is AI software that aims to identify students at risk of self-harm? What about bots that serve as virtual best friends — or therapists — listening to the innermost thoughts of a young person seeking support? What impact will AI have on the job market for new high school and college grads?
As AI becomes more ubiquitous, we must continually work to understand its evolving implications for young people and how to support them effectively. And it is imperative that discussions of ethics remain central to the conversation about AI and that regulatory policy catches up to the technology, even as AI continues to evolve, improve, and be adapted at breakneck pace.
Making Social Media Safer
Social media provides young people valuable connection points for friendship, support, information, and even health care. At the same time, the risks of social media are well documented, including exposure to harmful content and cyberbullying. Important discussions about young people’s use of social media and digital technology, such as whether to ban cell phones in schools, will continue to occupy educators, parents, mental health practitioners, and others throughout this year.
It is past time for tech companies to prioritize the safety and emotional well-being of their youngest users, and for regulators to establish guardrails protecting youth from the harms of social media. JED’s Can the Metaverse Be Good for Youth Mental Health? report outlines the rights all youth should be entitled to in online spaces, and offers common-sense recommendations for keeping them safe on social media, including centering youth and prioritizing their rights. JED will continue to work with companies interested in improving the safety of their platforms and advocate for the government to play a stronger role in ensuring the safety of young people online.
A New Administration
Of course, one of the biggest and most public changes we’ll see in 2025 is the new presidential administration. Any major transition can bring with it a certain amount of uncertainty, which can lead to stress and anxiety. The aftermath of the election, coming inauguration, and changes the new administration might enact all may bring up strong emotions in some young people. Political anxiety may spike during certain periods, but it can be present year-round — and it’s manageable with effective strategies and support.
When it comes to policy, the new administration is undoubtedly going to usher in an array of shifts. We expect to see an increasingly large share of government funding for youth mental health programs coming from the states, either directly from their budgets or from federal block grants that states administer. States will look to dedicate increased budgets for youth mental health programs, and some have already begun to do so. In Maryland, for example, Governor Wes Moore recently announced $13.5 million in grants to enhance behavioral health crisis services statewide, while in North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper unveiled a $1 billion road map for behavioral health and resilience investments. JED looks forward to working with both state and federal legislators and the new administration to deepen our collective commitment to the emotional well-being of our nation’s youth.
Meeting the Moment
At JED, we are ready to meet this moment in support of our nation’s young people, in schools, in communities, and online. In 2025, expect to see the launch of the first cohort of the JED and AASA District Mental Health Initiative, which grew from a pilot program of 15 school districts last year, and an expansion of our work with community-based organizations.
We’ll look continuously for new opportunities to hear from and elevate the voices of youth and to partner with influencers amplifying our messages of self-care and help-seeking. And, as always, we remain prepared to collaborate with all those who are pursuing a future of improved mental health for our nation’s youth.
Oregon: Prioritizing data-driven policy development, Oregon uses insights from statewide surveys to implement regular mental health assessments and strengthen culturally responsive services, reflecting the diverse needs of its student population.
But there’s a hard truth to consider: Nearly one in six high school students made a suicide plan last year. And more than half of teens with major depression aren’t getting the treatment they need.
