Overall mental health among Americans – young and old – took a nose-dive during the pandemic. But the trend among teens has been worrisome for at least a decade now. Starting around 2012, suicide overtook homicide as a leading cause of death among 15-19 year-olds. In the most recent big survey of high schoolers the CDC does every few years, a quarter of students said they’d seriously considered suicide. Nearly half reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless. One thing is clear: Teen mental health in America is getting worse. What can we do about it? Let’s look at three areas for possible intervention for teens in crisis. A lot of doctors and families recognize that medication is often an effective part of mental health treatment. But others worry that we’re too quick to jump to prescription medications – particularly for teens. We’ll tackle the role of sleep: two-thirds of American teens are chronically sleep-deprived. We’ll look at the effects of social media, which seems like an obvious culprit – but outright banning it could actually make things worse for some teens.