Approximately 9.5 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 living in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ. Even before the pandemic, these kids were 4 times more likely than heterosexual youth to attempt suicide.
Those numbers have risen; LGBTQ youth are now 5 times more likely to attempt self-harm. As a psychiatrist who works extensively with LGBTQ youth, and as someone who identifies as a gay man, I am advocating for this particular group, as I have witnessed their struggles.
In California, a person under 18 can marry with the consent of one parent and a judge. The state is one of only nine in the nation that do not set a minimum age for marriage.
People married as children or teens are more likely to experience domestic violence, contract sexually transmitted infections, have early pregnancies, and end up divorced, research shows. Marriage under 18 also contradicts age of consent laws in many states.
During my nearly 15 years as an adolescent psychiatrist, I have worked with hundreds of young people and their families. But, until last year, I had not seen hopelessness so prevalent in young people.
The pandemic affected teens and young adults in fundamental ways not necessarily associated with the coronavirus or the social isolation often blamed for spiraling youth mental health.
Hundreds of young people across California are sparking conversations in their schools and communities about what healthy relationships should look like and how to recognize abusive behaviors. The California Health Report spoke with six of these youths about their activism and the experiences that motivate them.
All the youths we interviewed saw an urgent need to help more young people recognize abusive behaviors in themselves and others.
A statewide research initiative called Reimagine Lab is deploying strategies from the product design world to identify the root causes of family violence and find new ways to prevent it.
As a researcher and as someone who, like many in my generation, has faced sexual harassment on more occasions that I care to consider, I hope my research team’s new study, “Measuring #MeToo in California,” will help show how prevalent sexual harassment is, so we can work to end it.
I blame no one for my daughter’s death, but looking back I recognize that there were opportunities for the teachers, coaches and family members to intervene and possibly save her.