A new study shows that more Utah teens appear to be struggling with mental health, with nearly 1 in 4 teens in some areas of the state reporting that they recently had seriously considered suicide.
Of more than 34,000 teens statewide who completed questionnaires last year, more than a quarter reported that their feelings of sadness and hopelessness had gotten so bad that they had stopped doing some of their usual activities, according to research released Wednesday by the Utah Department of Health.
“Unfortunately, what stands out most in this report is that the measures we use to track adolescent mental health are all trending in the wrong direction,” Michael Friedrichs, an epidemiologist with the state, said in a news statement.