CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Happiness in young people in the United States is falling, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report. 

What You Need To Know

  • Youth mental health in the U.S. fell by twice as much as older adults over about a 12-year period
  • Mental health professionals say parents should check in with their children daily and be the experts on their child's behavior and health
  • The Alexander Youth Network says it sees the impacts of worsening mental health on young people in North Carolina and across the country

The United States ranks 10th in happiness out of 143 countries for people 60 and older. It ranks 62nd in happiness out of 143 countries for people 30 and younger. When comparing the numbers taken from 2006-10 to those taken in 2021-23, happiness fell by twice as much in young people as it did in older people in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Mental health professionals in North Carolina say they are seeing the impacts of increasing mental health issues in youth.

The Alexander Youth Network has campuses in Greensboro and Charlotte, serving children 5 to 17 years old. The nonprofit offers facility-based crisis care, residential treatment and day treatment.

Ashley Sparks is the executive director of the Child and Adolescent Facility-Based Crisis Center in Greensboro. She says she is seeing more 7- to 10-year-olds who are having suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

"We talk a lot about social media and that instant access. We weren't really designed to carry the weight of the judgments and opinions of everyone around us," Sparks said. "It used to just be your family and a handful of friends, but I think now with social media that's at your fingertips." 

Sparks says parents should monitor their children's interactions on social media and check in with them daily. She says consistently sharing good and bad news with each other will make children more likely to speak up when something is bothering them.

Alexander Youth Network's Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility in Charlotte houses 41 students for about four months at a time. Executive Director Xavier Dunbar says while their beds consistently stay full, they are seeing an increase in the levels of anxiety and depression their patients are experiencing.

"The behaviors we are going to see are going to be verbal aggression, physical aggression, property distruciton, suicide ideation," Dunbar said. "Our job is to get those children stabilized and develop coping skills to be able to transition back down to a lower level of care."

Dunbar says he has done mental health work for 20 years.

"It's important for them to understand that while they may have experienced some adverse childhood experiences, there are adults and other individuals around that care, that want to help," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar says they are there to provide support, and they rely on parents to be the expert on their children.