Mental health issues on the rise: program helps parents, adolescents cope
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, according to an analysis by KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), and from 2010 to 2020, the suicide rate increased 62%. The number of adolescents experiencing anxiety and/or depression also increased 16% between 2016 and 2020. And in 2021, 55% of adolescents reported experiencing emotional abuse, 24% hunger and 11% physical abuse. In a segment focusing on the mental health challenges children and teens are experiencing, Univision’s Hazel Ortiz invited Karla Martinez to share resources available to parents struggling to help their children cope with the mental health issues they face. Martinez is family support manager with Breakthrough, an Embrace Families Solutions program that connects families to essential mental health services.
