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The declining mental health of children and young adults is what former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy calls the crisis of our time. At the American Community Media national briefing experts discussed the drivers of poor mental health and what works at combating depression and anxiety. The importance of, and lack of culturally appropriate care was pointed out by Soo Jin Lee, LMFT, Therapist and Director of the Yellow Chair Collective.

More than 22 percent of Gen Z young adults reported having a major depressive episode in 2023, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health. Four out of ten children report persistent feelings of sadness.

Provide culturally appropriate care

Lee pointed out that mental health care is not just about therapy, it's about community care. She stressed the importance of incorporating all the ways that healing has already existed in our culture and identity. “We do sound baths, breathwork, Tai Chi, etc., as an introduction for intergenerational healing.”
Healing is not one-size-fits-all. It’s deeply personal, shaped by identity, history, and lived experience. That’s why it’s essential to create opportunities for students to share their stories and bring healing back to its roots. Cultural healing holds generations of wisdom that have supported mental and spiritual well-being. These practices offer grounding, connection, and meaning.

These are not alternatives to therapy, but essential parts of a broader, more culturally grounded model of healing, she continued. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy has lower relapse rates than medication

There are treatments out there that work, pointed out Dr. Osana Lefer. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been the gold standard treatment for anxiety and depression. There has been decades of research showing the effectiveness of this structured, skill-based form of psychotherapy.

“It helps a person recognize and challenge unhelpful thoughts and replace them with more adaptive thoughts. It targets behavior. It fights depression by encouraging people to engage in behaviors opposite of their negative emotional experiences. “Re-engage with activities that you have stopped enjoying, re-engage with activities that promote a sense of mastery and accomplishment,” the doctor said. Focus on action over thought. 

It has shown that 60-80 percent of young people with anxiety improved significantly with CBT. 

“We often observe moderate to strong benefits from CBT, which in many cases are comparable to those achieved through medication,” said Dr. Lefer. CBT has lower relapse rates than medication. It really is not needed lifelong. An average of about 16 sessions are required. 

CBT teaches lifelong coping skills to build resilience and confidence by encouraging gradual exposure to fierce situations.

“It can be done in clinics, in schools, hospitals, and increasingly, we've been working on bringing it online, taking care to the people in remote and underserved areas.”

It's truly powerful in that it empowers young people by giving them tools they can cope with. 

Of course, there's a caveat in this. CBT requires trained providers. Fewer than 6 percent of mental health professionals are people of color. 

Nonverbal communication as a form of healing 

There's a lot of ways where nonverbal communication can be a form of healing methods,” said Victoria Birch, Advisory Board Member, California State Office of Youth and Community Restoration and volunteer at Beloved Villa, who herself has dealt with mental issues of abandonment. “I think that my relationship with my mom has really helped me get through a lot of tough times this past year, because this past year hasn't been easy,” she said. 
Connection is a huge part of supporting people in mental health. Making them feel connected to you on a deeper level is very important, she shared. Birch was the only one in her family to be placed in a foster home. This was most bewildering and upsetting to her. She started to harm herself, and ended up incarcerated for almost 6 years from the age of 16.  

“Even if you're not talking or doing anything together, and you're just in presence with each other it helps a lot,” she said, with her mother now seated beside her. 

Loneliness from invisibility, underrepresentation, discrimination

Connection comes in more ways than one. “Loneliness isn't just about being alone, it is actually about being unseen, or being misunderstood,” said Dr. Kiara Alvarez, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health. 

Many youth are carrying a mix of academic pressures. economic anxiety and constant identity comparison shaped by social media. “Even though they're told to be authentic, quote-unquote, they're also constantly expected to perform on social media and in classrooms, and even at home as well.”

Systematic racism, whether through underrepresentation, discrimination, or invisibility in education, media, and healthcare play a very major role in the rising rates of depression and anxiety amongst the AAPI youth said Lee.

“When young people grow up, rarely seeing themselves reflected in stories or societal communication, and are being seen through specific types of stereotypes it sends a message that they don't fully belong in any of these spaces.”

For Asian American youth, all of this is compounded also by the cultural stigma around mental health.

Provide culturally appropriate healing in educational settings 

Integrating community care and culturally rooted healing into educational settings was suggested. “Catch the youth where they already are, " Lee urged.

“Youth are navigating a compounded weight of a lot of different sorts of things, like racism, family expectations, cultural stigma, and a lot of sense of invisible grief as well,” Lee said. 

Digital and telehealth tools, training providers, and bringing CBT where we can into schools, into healthcare settings was recommended. “The good news is that help is available.”