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Note: For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis or potentially considering suicide, you can always call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, text HOPELINE to 741741, or talk to the school psychologists in room 2070.
The results of the 2021 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, released last December, revealed high levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts among Wisconsin high school students, especially among those who identified as female, gay, lesbian, bisexual, Latino, and Asian.
Overall, 52.2% of Wisconsin high school students reported significant problems with anxiety, while 33.7% said they experienced depression. Additionally, 18.1% of students reported considering suicide and 14.8% of students had planned to take their lives, while 8.5% had actually attempted to do so. All of these figures have ticked up since the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administered the survey in past years.
Julianne Zygmunt, a psychologist at West High School, said that the figures for anxiety and depression fit with what she has seen at West, observing “an increase in… anxiety and depression last year specifically. We had a lot of kids come up that had thoughts about suicide, especially when they were at home over the pandemic, but had never told anyone.”
Still, she found the figures regarding suicide to be higher than expected. “We do… screeners [regularly] to see if students… have thoughts about suicide or have planned suicide and… the students that get flagged… definitely wouldn’t be 15%,” Zygmunt said. Then again, she noted that students may be more comfortable sharing in an anonymous survey than in a school screener and that “it’s sometimes hard to differentiate [whether] there are more kids who are experiencing anxiety and depression or [whether] our schools and our society are becoming more open to allowing kids to talk about that and get help.”
“There [are] a lot of reasons why young individuals may experience difficulties with mental health,” Zygmunt explained. She listed contributing factors such as time “struggling in silence” during the pandemic; pressure from large social settings; academic struggle with the expectations of in-person school; harmful content on social media, television and radio; online harassment and bullying; lack of strong and supportive relationships; burden of lower socioeconomic status; and identification with marginalized groups.
The survey also uncovered significant disparities between several demographics. Anxiety and depression, as well as suicide considerations, plans, and attempts, were roughly twice as common among female students compared to male students. Furthermore, Asian and Latino students reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than white and Black pupils, but these gaps tightened for questions regarding suicide. Meanwhile, gay, lesbian, and bisexual students experienced significantly more mental health struggles than their heterosexual peers: 80.5% reported anxiety, 66.1% reported depression, 48.0% considered suicide, 37.9% planned suicide, and 22.4% attempted it.
“Learning environments that foster a sense of belonging take on a different significance for LGBTQ+ kids and students of color because the world at large is not always safe for them,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly said, raising the alarm in a press release accompanying the publication of the survey’s results. “The reality is that hateful rhetoric and misguided policies are only exacerbating the stress this vulnerable population of students already feel.”
Underly called for more action to address the state’s mental health challenges. “Our children and youth in Wisconsin are in crisis, and they have been for too long. It is past time to take drastic measures to do something about it,” Underly declared. “We must focus our efforts on what will create the most impact, because our kids are hurting and what we have done as schools and communities has not been enough to prevent that.”
In the press release, the Department of Public Instruction encouraged school districts to help students feel like they belong at school, discuss mental health issues with supportive adults, and access mental health resources. The survey found that 60.8% of students felt that they belonged at their school, 82.4% felt comfortable asking an adult for help if necessary, and 22.4% said they usually got the support they needed. Furthermore, in September 2022, the department requested an additional $235.8 million for mental health services from the state government, as well as $36 million to support mental health professionals in schools.
Zygmunt pointed out that West High School has just three psychologists and two social workers for more than two thousand students, over half of whom, the survey indicated, may be struggling with mental health challenges. “That’s impossible for five people to support over a thousand kids,” she argued. “We need to increase our mental health supports so we can see more students.”
Another step, she said, is to “increase the number of times we go into the classroom… talk about mental health, [and] give these screeners that help identify people that might be struggling in silence.”
To students struggling with mental health, Zygmunt had a clear message. “You are not alone… and we want to help you,” she emphasized. “Go get support, or if you know a friend who’s struggling, help them go get support.”
Note: For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis or potentially considering suicide, you can always call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, text HOPELINE to 741741, or talk to the school psychologists in room 2070.
The results of the 2021 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, released last December, revealed high levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts among Wisconsin high school students, especially among those who identified as female, gay, lesbian, bisexual, Latino, and Asian.
Overall, 52.2% of Wisconsin high school students reported significant problems with anxiety, while 33.7% said they experienced depression. Additionally, 18.1% of students reported considering suicide and 14.8% of students had planned to take their lives, while 8.5% had actually attempted to do so. All of these figures have ticked up since the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administered the survey in past years.
Julianne Zygmunt, a psychologist at West High School, said that the figures for anxiety and depression fit with what she has seen at West, observing “an increase in… anxiety and depression last year specifically. We had a lot of kids come up that had thoughts about suicide, especially when they were at home over the pandemic, but had never told anyone.”
Still, she found the figures regarding suicide to be higher than expected. “We do… screeners [regularly] to see if students… have thoughts about suicide or have planned suicide and… the students that get flagged… definitely wouldn’t be 15%,” Zygmunt said. Then again, she noted that students may be more comfortable sharing in an anonymous survey than in a school screener and that “it’s sometimes hard to differentiate [whether] there are more kids who are experiencing anxiety and depression or [whether] our schools and our society are becoming more open to allowing kids to talk about that and get help.”
“There [are] a lot of reasons why young individuals may experience difficulties with mental health,” Zygmunt explained. She listed contributing factors such as time “struggling in silence” during the pandemic; pressure from large social settings; academic struggle with the expectations of in-person school; harmful content on social media, television and radio; online harassment and bullying; lack of strong and supportive relationships; burden of lower socioeconomic status; and identification with marginalized groups.
The survey also uncovered significant disparities between several demographics. Anxiety and depression, as well as suicide considerations, plans, and attempts, were roughly twice as common among female students compared to male students. Furthermore, Asian and Latino students reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than white and Black pupils, but these gaps tightened for questions regarding suicide. Meanwhile, gay, lesbian, and bisexual students experienced significantly more mental health struggles than their heterosexual peers: 80.5% reported anxiety, 66.1% reported depression, 48.0% considered suicide, 37.9% planned suicide, and 22.4% attempted it.
“Learning environments that foster a sense of belonging take on a different significance for LGBTQ+ kids and students of color because the world at large is not always safe for them,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly said, raising the alarm in a press release accompanying the publication of the survey’s results. “The reality is that hateful rhetoric and misguided policies are only exacerbating the stress this vulnerable population of students already feel.”
Underly called for more action to address the state’s mental health challenges. “Our children and youth in Wisconsin are in crisis, and they have been for too long. It is past time to take drastic measures to do something about it,” Underly declared. “We must focus our efforts on what will create the most impact, because our kids are hurting and what we have done as schools and communities has not been enough to prevent that.”
In the press release, the Department of Public Instruction encouraged school districts to help students feel like they belong at school, discuss mental health issues with supportive adults, and access mental health resources. The survey found that 60.8% of students felt that they belonged at their school, 82.4% felt comfortable asking an adult for help if necessary, and 22.4% said they usually got the support they needed. Furthermore, in September 2022, the department requested an additional $235.8 million for mental health services from the state government, as well as $36 million to support mental health professionals in schools.
Zygmunt pointed out that West High School has just three psychologists and two social workers for more than two thousand students, over half of whom, the survey indicated, may be struggling with mental health challenges. “That’s impossible for five people to support over a thousand kids,” she argued. “We need to increase our mental health supports so we can see more students.”
Another step, she said, is to “increase the number of times we go into the classroom… talk about mental health, [and] give these screeners that help identify people that might be struggling in silence.”
To students struggling with mental health, Zygmunt had a clear message. “You are not alone… and we want to help you,” she emphasized. “Go get support, or if you know a friend who’s struggling, help them go get support.”