Written By Debra Murray

Having mental health issues is common among people of all ages but specifically among teenagers. According to Live Science, 1 in 5 teens suffer from a serious mental health disorder. Roughly 70% of teens with a mental health disorder, such as anxiety which is extremely common among people of all walks of life, don’t receive any treatment.

“Anxiety is easy to dismiss or overlook, practically because everyone has it to some degree,” said Philip Kendall, director of the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Temple University in Philadelphia in an interview with the New York Times.

Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder, seeing as one third of both adults and teens have anxiety. 10% of teens suffer from anxiety, but only one in five receive treatment for it. Even worse, those who suffer from an anxiety disorder are also prone to suffering from depression.

“Now so many students have internalized the anxiety. The kids at this point are driving themselves crazy,” said Madeline Levine, a founder of Challenge Success, a Stanford University-affiliated nonprofit in an interview with the New York Times.

Other common mental disorders among teens are OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), ADHD (Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder), Conduct disorder and depression. The percentage rate of teens with depression has risen 34% in a little over a decade.

National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-237-8255