Calling All Members of The Tortured Poets Department: The Rise of Mental Health Concerns in Young People (Part 1)

The topic of Taylor Swift’s artistic merit seems to be as divisive as the great cilantro debate (a flavor to be savored, or a soapy abomination to the herb world?), yet critics and fans alike have praised the inspired verses of her latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” (TTPD).

Celebrated for their vulnerability and relatability, her latest lyrics, capture many of the current mental health struggles felt by today’s youth. Her words speak to numerous and seemingly unrelated struggles felt by young people and younger adults in this era of technological and cultural revolution, in particular. Perhaps this revelation, stated eloquently through a comforting and familiar voice, is why she has captivated so many.

“All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February.

I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary.”

-Taylor Swift, Fortnight

In addition to the general life stressors we all experience, the start of this decade also brought with it…

• Isolation, loneliness, distress, loss of control, and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Seemingly ever-growing social and economic inequalities.
• An uptick in school shootings.
• An almost doubling of unintentional drug overdoses by young people.
• Waves of intolerance, disruption, and division between both intersecting and divergent populations.
• A spike in LGBTQIA+ identity among young people and challenges related to this identity (family tensions, coming out, questioning, belonging, social worries, etc.).
• Higher expectations in work, school, and extracurricular pressures leading to burnout and loss of motivation.
• A rise in ecoanxiety due to findings on climate change.
• Seemingly unending wars, violence, and feelings of powerlessness to help those caught in those conflicts.
• Political polarization and the uncompromising line-in-the-sand between blue and red America.
• General edginess, feelings of hopelessness, and worry created by this perfect storm of collective trauma.

It appeared as if the world was imploding all at once. Some of these issues still linger, some have produced inexorable extended consequences, and the energy surrounding the rest seems to have manifested into new instruments of affliction. And yet, the rise of the current mental health crisis in adolescents and young adults was not triggered by this storm.

In fact, experts argue that the escalation began years ago, with more adolescents and young adults experiencing serious mental health concerns in the late 2010s than in the years prior (CDC, 2020; Odgers & Jensen, 2020; Twenge et al., 2019).

Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Recent data collected by the Centers for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that feelings of hopelessness and persistent sadness in young people and teens rose by 40% between 2009 and 2019. In that same timeframe, suicidal ideation and thoughts of committing suicide among young people and adolescents rose by 44%.

In a livestream discussion hosted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on April 25, 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called the rise of youth mental health issues the “defining public health crisis of our time.” This came after an October 2021 joint statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association calling the state of youth mental health a national emergency.

And so, just as Chairman Taylor Swift entered into TTPD evidence her “tarnished coat of arms”, we enter into evidence the above catalog confirming the need for dedicated mental health support for our young people. In the coming segments of this blog series, with the help of TTPD lyrics, we will discuss hinderances to youth mental health support and how we can overcome them. 

Click here for Facing the Mental Health Crisis (Part 2).