Explore Outcomes

What is the state of youth mental health & wellbeing today?

Surgo Health ran a comprehensive and equity focused study on youth mental health & wellbeing, revealing the current experiences of youth today. Our data draws on the direct voices of 4,500+ youth across the United States​, surveyed in Spring 2024.

Thriving youth should be
the ultimate goal

Thriving means having both
good mental wellbeing and
good mental health.

Good Mental Wellbeing – Feeling content, socially connected, and having a sense of purpose and fulfillment


Good Mental Health – Having minimal poor mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Mental

Wellbeing

Half of young
people are
doing well

Mental

Health

47%* haven't experienced significant mental health struggles over the past 2 years, reflected that they were satisfied with life and felt happy overall.


* 15-24 year olds since life satisfaction
was only asked to 15+

Mental

Wellbeing

Mental health challenges and wellbeing can
coexist

Mental

Health

Even amongst young people* who said that their mental health was not good, 50% were still optimistic about their future and felt that what they did in life was meaningful

* 15-24 for comparability

Wellbeing cannot be overlooked, even in the absence of mental health symptoms

Even among young people without significant depression or anxiety symptoms, 22% reported dissatisfaction with life, a lack of optimism, or a sense of meaninglessness.

Thriving youth should be the ultimate goal

Thriving means having both
good mental wellbeing and
good mental health.

Good Mental Wellbeing – Feeling content, socially connected, and having a sense of purpose and fulfillment


Good Mental Health – Having minimal poor mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Half of young people are doing well

47%* haven't experienced significant mental health struggles over the past 2 years, reflected that they were satisfied with life and felt happy overall.


* 15-24 year olds since life satisfaction
was only asked to 15+

Mental health challenges and wellbeing can coexist

Even amongst young people* who said that their mental health was not good, 50% were still optimistic about their future and felt that what they did in life was meaningful

* 15-24 for comparability

Wellbeing cannot be overlooked, even in the absence of mental health symptoms

Even among young people without significant depression or anxiety symptoms, 22% reported dissatisfaction with life, a lack of optimism, or a sense of meaninglessness.

We are tracking and measuring a wide range of mental wellbeing and mental health outcomes to holistically capture youth experiences to help them thrive.

*Only asked ages 15-24

Reading this graph

The inner ring represents 0%, and the outer ring represents 100% of mental well-being and mental health.

We are tracking and measuring a wide range of mental wellbeing and mental health outcomes to holistically capture youth experiences to help them thrive

Key Takeaway

While it is true that a significant amount of young people are struggling with their mental health, a large proportion are 
also reflecting good mental 
wellbeing overall in 
their life.

Mental Wellbeing vs Poor Mental Health A visualization of the proportions at which youth experience mental wellbeing factors, shown on the left in green, and poor mental health factors, on the right in purple. Key Takeaway: While it is true that a significant amount of young people are struggling with their mental health, a large proportion are also reflecting good mental wellbeing overall in their life.

Reading this graph

The inner ring represents 0%, and the outer ring represents 100% of mental well-being and mental health.

  • Mental Wellbeing

    • Life Satisfaction: Reporting very satisfied or satisfied to the question “Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life?”

    • Happiness: Reporting slightly or extremely happy to the question “Overall, how happy or unhappy would you say you are?”

    • Meaning in Life: Slightly or strongly agree with the statement “Overall, I feel that what I do in my life is meaningful”

    • Optimism: Slightly or strongly agree with the statement “I am optimistic about my future”

    • Positivity: Slightly or strongly agree with the statement “I usually feel very positive about myself”

    • Social wellbeing: Slightly or strongly agree with the statement “I feel like I can do things to help others, such as in my family or with my friends, volunteering in my community, or giving to charity.”

    • Quick to recover and return to normal when things go wrong: Slightly or strongly agree with the statement “When things go wrong in my life I usually get back to normal quickly.”

    • Not hard to let go of bad feelings: Slightly or strongly disagree with the statement “I find it hard to let go of bad feelings”

    • Not hard to express myself to others: Slightly or strongly disagree with the statement “I find it hard to express myself to others”

    Mental Health

    • Poor mental health: Reporting most of the time or always to the question “During the past 30 days, how often was your mental health not good? (Poor mental health includes stress, anxiety, and depression.)”

    • Depressive symptoms: Based on PHQ2 which inquires about the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks.

    • Anxiety symptoms: Based on GAD2 which inquires about the frequency of nervousness, anxiety or worrying over the past two weeks.

    • Self-harmed: Ever engaged in or considered self-harm without suicidal intent

    • Loneliness: Felt lonely more than half of the days over the past two weeks

    • Mental health struggles: In the past two years, experienced mental health struggles so much that it made day-to-day activities a lot harder

    • Mental health diagnosis: Ever been diagnosed with a specific mental health problem by a mental health professional

  • LGBTQ+ youth* experience worse mental health and wellbeing outcomes. LGBTQ+ youth were 3x more likely to report their recent mental health was not good compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth.

  • Girls* report higher rates of poor mental health than boys*, and are 2x more likely to have self harmed or thought about it, and 1.4x more likely to have anxiety, but are not significantly worse in their mental wellbeing.

  • Youth experiencing financial difficulties also experience worse mental health & wellbeing outcomes: 1.7x more likely to report that their recent mental health was not good than youth with no experiences of financial difficulties.

What does mental health and wellbeing look like for intersectional identities?

Young people can have multiple identities and lived experiences that interact to impact mental health and wellbeing. Explore mental health and wellbeing outcomes for intersectional identities

Hear the Stories

  • "I think there's a common misconception that all teenagers have mood swings and whatnot. And it's just having extreme dips in mental health is just a normal part of growing up or something that everyone goes through. And I think those kind of feelings can easily be dismissed and kind of mistaken for that.

    16 years old

  • "It definitely means that you don't overthink, you don't, like, crumble when everything's falling down on you. You know, you definitely are able to cope very well with the stresses of life. Yeah, you just don't feel like you're constantly, like, hopeless. I guess that's what it means to me."

    15 years old

  • "When I think of mental health, I guess what comes to mind is just, like, trying to stay healthy, I guess, mentally, like, doing stuff that will de stress you, doing stuff that you enjoy, that make you happy and stuff like that, I guess."

    18 years old

  • “To me, I would classify bad mental health as in you're in a position where you don't feel supported in your life. You feel like you're alone and that you have no one to talk to. I think if you have good mental health, that means, like, you're equipped to deal with your emotions like, you understand them and you know how to, like, approach situations in a way that's good for you and not like, self sabotage.”

    16 years old

  • “Good mental health is when you have a community to be able to understand you, take you in, not judge you, and you're allowed to release yourself from a burden of mental health and feelings that you can't express. Poor mental health is just like carrying a burden on you, just not talking about your feelings. You rather talk to like yourself or like to a brick wall than an actual human about your, like, life that you're struggling with or stuff that you have problems with.”

    19 years old

  • “I kind of like to think of it as, like, being able to be the best person you can be and not necessarily, like, have the most successes in the most, like, understandable terms, like having the most money or having the best grades,. Yeah, but being able to flourish in the healthiest way possible.”

    17 years old

  • “I say that mental health means to me, like, being able to freely be yourself, having people around you that are there for you and stuff. Just, like, an overall good environment, like, I guess, at home and also, like, a work or school or maybe wherever else you may be.”

    18 years old

  • “I think good mental health is where you feel comfortable and safe, where you are, like in the headspace you're in now and then, like, bad mental health would obviously be like, you're uncomfortable in your, like, with yourself or just in general.”

    17 years old

  • “I feel like everyone knows, like, how to take care of themselves or knows that people may not be 100% working at their best all the time. But it's different when there's multiple things involving one's identity or other things that youth are going towards or through.”

    18 years old

A deeper dive—What’s associated with youth mental health and wellbeing?

We asked 50 questions pertaining to 12 protective and risk factors known to impact mental health and wellbeing in young people, as supported by existing literature. Our data shows 6 factors as the most closely linked to mental health and wellbeing.

Social Support

The availability of emotional support from family, friends, and close relationships.

Sense of Belonging

The feeling of acceptance and connection within a group, such as friends, family, school, or community, fostering a sense of inclusion.

Physical Health

The overall state of an individual’s physical wellbeing, reflecting how they perceive and experience their physical health.

Stress

The experience of overwhelming pressure or challenges that feel difficult to manage.

Only asked to 15-24 year olds

Negative Life
Experiences

Exposure to difficult or traumatic situations in life, such as violence, neglect, or family challenges.

Only asked to 15-24 year olds.

Social Media

The complex experience of social media on self-perception, relationships, and emotions, encompassing both positive connections and negative influences.

Hear the Stories

  • "Honestly just being able to have a job that meets the scheduled times I was looking for has helped me tremendously by being able to interact with other adults and feeling important and I have a place in this world doing something important. It makes me feel like I belong.”

    21 years old

  • "I would say that participating in group events has made the biggest impact on my mental health. Playing group sports, like softball, as well as volunteering at the food bank have made positive impacts, too."

    18 years old

  • “Connecting with loved ones has the most significant positive impact on my mental health. Whether through meaningful conversations, shared experiences, or emotional support, these connections provide comfort and a sense of belonging.”

    24 years old

  • “I've tried to find clarity in my thoughts through journal and creating list of things I need to get done and allow my self to feel a senses of ability to complete the task I wrote. I also enrolled in a martial arts gym to practice combat sports and surround myself with folks who share similar interests and find a place of community.”

    24 years old

  • “I joined a sorority to find some friends and have found a sense of belonging within my school community. On a personal note I have talked with my boyfriend and mom about stress management and how i need to take care of myself. I like my alone time and continue to use that to benefit my mental health”

    20 years old

  • “Some of the biggest positive impacts include being in nature, movement and exercise, and spending time with my mom.”

    23 years old

  • “Talking to online friends in the lgbtq+ community, drawing, watching videos that distract me from my life or my emotions.”

    16 years old

  • “Social media, it's such a double edged sword. There's so much good and community but so so much disgusting vile content. Misinformation, pressure, bullying, body dysmorphia, it's all too much.”

    18 years old

  • “Bullying, my home environment, school, and current events all stress me out, as well as politics and my future as a queer femme neurodivergent person in the US”

    18 years old

  • “The stress of maintaining high grades and meeting expectations can be overwhelming.”

    20 years old

  • “I think that outside things like injustice and things lawmakers do really really stresses me out because it directly affects me and my friends and then it becomes a conversation that is brought up and that adds to the stress.”

    16 years old

  • "Finances. It's the single biggest stressor for me and never fails to flip my mood very fast."

    19 years old

  • “My friends and family. They are always there for me to just talk about my day and make me understand I am not the only one dealing with stress or anxiety.”

    19 years old

  • “A lot of my problems are trauma-related. I deal with intrusive thoughts, emotional flashbacks, hypomanic episodes, depressive slumps, and anxiety, all of which are influenced by various factors in my life.”

    18 years old

  • “Having a community of people that have the same interest as you. It's like a second family and it can really help with support and getting to see things from a different perspective.”

    17 years old

  • “Singing and acting is an outlet for me that I use when I feel stressed-out anxious. I don't think I would've gotten through highschool if I didn't have my drama club. The community of friends also made me feel like I was safe and wanted and cared about.”

    17 years old

  • “I think the biggest positive impact on my mental health comes from my day to day interactions with friends, peers, and mentors. It doesn't really matter what we are doing or if it's even intended to help my mental health, somehow being around them reminds me that I'm contributing to a community and that I'm appreciated just for being myself.”

    22 years old

  • “Finding a way to calm down and take my mind off things (walking outside, listening to music, doing something I enjoy). It's also been really helpful to me finding a community online of people who had similar experiences as me and understood how I felt. I felt less lonely and also more optimistic that my feelings were something I could overcome.”

    18 years old

  • “The biggest positive impact on my mental health has been doing things I enjoy. I do backstage theatre and going in everyday and build sets or just hanging around with my crewmates really makes me feel like I belong.”

    18 years old

What do youth consider helpful for their mental health & wellbeing?

Our data shows that the activities youth find helpful for their mental health & wellbeing are closely associated the themes linked to mental health & wellbeing outcomes

Youth who found different activities helpful for their mental health
Activity Helpfulness (%) Category Additional Notes
Getting enough sleep 82% Physical Health N/A
Getting exercise 77% Physical Health N/A
Eating healthy 70% Physical Health N/A
Spending time with friends 85% Social Support More young people find connecting with friends to be helpful for their mental health than connecting with family or community activities.
Talking to a friend about my mental health 74% Social Support N/A
Activity Percentage of Youth Who Tried Category Additional Notes
Getting enough sleep 95% Physical Health Many young people are already engaging in activities beneficial for their physical health.
Getting exercise 92% Physical Health Many young people are already engaging in activities beneficial for their physical health.
Eating healthy 87% Physical Health Many young people are already engaging in activities beneficial for their physical health.
Spending time with friends 96% Social Support Many young people are already engaging in activities to connect with others.
Talking to a friend about my mental health 85% Social Support
Talking to a family member about my mental health 82% Social Support
Spending less time on social media 82% Social Media
Making or enjoying music, dancing, creating art 95% Hobbies
Spending time outdoors in nature 94% Hobbies
Engaging in solo hobbies like reading or journaling 89% Hobbies
Being part of a religious/faith community 73% Sense of Belonging
Using social media to learn about mental health or connect with others 77% Social Media
Joining a community group, such as a sports team 72% Sense of Belonging
Using other resources or media I found, like websites, podcasts, or TV 71% Resources
Talking to an adult like a teacher, coach, or faith leader about mental health 68% Social Support
Using resources from school, college, a counselor, or another adult 66% Resources
Volunteering or working to make change in my community 67% Sense of Belonging
Connecting with cultural background 64% Sense of Belonging
Using a mental health app, like a meditation app 54% Resources Fewer young people use mental health apps and other resources, which have mixed effects on those who do use them.
  • Chart showing the percentages of youth who found different strategies helpful for their mental health and wellbeing.
  • Percentages of youth who tried different strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing.
  • Many young people who engaged in activities that are beneficial for their physical health found it helpful for their mental health, such as getting enough sleep (82%), getting exercise (77%), and eating healthy (70%)
  • More young people find connecting with friends to be helpful for their mental health than connecting with family and engaging in community activities.
  • About half of youth found community activities to be helpful, such as talking to a non-family adult (58%), volunteering (60%), joining a community group or team (66%), or connecting with cultural background (50%)
  • Youth found being part of a religious community helpful (55%), spending less time on social media (61%), and using social media to learn about mental health or connect with others (49%)
  • Part 1: Young people find that engaging in hobbies and activities is more helpful for their mental health than using mental health apps and other resources.
  • Part 2: Young people find that engaging in hobbies and activities is more helpful for their mental health than using mental health apps and other resources.
  • Many young people are already engaging in activities that are beneficial for their physical health, such as getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and getting exercise.
  • More young people are already engaging in activities to connect with others, especially friends.
  • Many young people are already taking to family members and non-family adults about their mental health. 94% of youth are already spending time outdoors in nature.
  • Many youth are already trying art and music, solo hobbies like reading and journaling, using social media to learn about mental health, and spending less time on social media.
  • Many young people are already trying being part of a religious community, joining community groups and teams, connecting with cultural background, and volunteering.
  • Fewer young people use mental health apps and other resources, which have mixed effects on those who use them.

Social media can have both positive & negative impacts on mental health & wellbeing

Our data shows that many young people do see negative things on social media that make them feel bad about themselves and the world. However, social media is also often used in positive ways that support hobbies and interests, enable social connections and allow for the exploration of identities.

Social media helps me learn about issues in the world sometimes or all the time

78%

Social media is important for me to give and get emotional support to and from others

Youth with experiences of financial difficulties
50%

54% of youth with experiences of financial difficulties believe that social media is important to give and receive emotional support.

Social media is important for me in my hobbies or interests

Asian youth
69%

79% of Asian youth say that social media is important for their hobbies and interests.

Social media is important for me to connect with my friends

76%

3 in 4 young people reported that social media is important for them to connect with their friends.

Social media is important for me to explore my identity

LGBTQ+ youth
49%

72% of LGBTQ+ youth say that social media is important for them to explore their identity

I have tried to reduce the amount of time I spend on digital devices

64%

I use digital devices like mobile phones, laptops and gaming devices almost constantly every day

LGBTQ+ youth
84%

91% of LGBTQ+ youth report being on digital devices almost constantly every day

I see things on social media that make me feel bad about my appearance or body sometimes or all the time

Black youth
46%

Fewer (36%) Black youth see things on social media that make them feel bad about their appearance or body

I see things on social media that make me feel like I am not as good as other people sometimes or all the time

50%

I see things on social media that make me feel unhappy about the world sometimes or all the time

Multiracial youth
70%

84% of multiracial youth report seeing things on social media that make them feel unhappy about the world

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