Protecting Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory

Authors

Date of this Version

2021

Document Type

Article

Citation

United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2021

Preapred with several other interagency partners

Comments

United States public domain

Abstract

Conclusion

As we learn the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, and start recovering and rebuilding, we have an opportunity to offer a more comprehensive, more fulfilling, and more inclusive vision of what constitutes public health. And for a generation of children facing unprecedented pressures and stresses, day in and day out, change can’t come soon enough.

It won’t come overnight. Many of the recommendations offered in this Advisory require structural buy-in and change.

But everyone has a role to play in combating this mental health pandemic. Without individual engagement, no amount of energy or resources can overcome the biggest barrier to mental health care: the stigma associated with seeking help. For too long, mental and emotional health has been considered, at best, the absence of disease, and at worst, a shame to be hidden and ignored.

If we each start reorienting our priorities to create accessible space in our homes, schools, workplaces, and communities for seeking and giving assistance, we can all start building a culture that normalizes and promotes mental health care.

This is the moment to demand change—with our voices and with our actions.

Only when we do will we be able to protect, strengthen, and support the health and safety of all children, adolescents, and young adults—and ensure everyone has a platform to thrive.