The latest Maine Youth Integrated Health Survey offers some good news. Students' mental health is improving, and substance use is down.
One of the survey questions asks students if they felt so sad or hopeless for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped their usual activities. Two years ago, 35% of high school students answered yes. But this year, that dropped to 28%.
And the number of students who reported having thoughts of attempting suicide also decreased, says Sheila Nelson. She's the program manager for adolescent health and injury and suicide prevention at the Maine CDC. Nelson says the results are promising.
"We can't say for sure that that's going to continue," she says. "We're really hopeful it will. But, you know, it's certainly a relief to feel like maybe we're making some progress in that area, certainly making sure that students are getting connected to the help and support that they need."
The survey also suggests that students are reducing alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and vaping consumption.
