Note: This story does talk about suicide, if you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call or text 988 for help.
Schools routinely conduct Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.
The one in 2023 found 61% of high school students in Oneida County answered yes to having experience anxiety, depression, or self-harm in the last year. 16% of students have made a plan about how they would attempt suicide.
In that same survey, more than half of students said that they rarely or never get the help they need.
Marshfield Clinic Program Coordinator Jennifer Smith said the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health reached out to Marshfield to help put together a teen mental health resource page.
“The internet is expansive. I think that's probably a piece of the challenge: is knowing what's reliable, what's not. Where do I even start?” said Smith. “I think part of our goal was to take that legwork out of it and look for what we know are reliable sources and compile those in one place.”
The teen mental health resource page breaks down different topics ranging from emotional regulation and self-care to social media wellness and building healthy relationships.
“We took some topics that we were aware of from some youth program providers. We had conversations with them about what are some of the more common topics that you are seeing kind of pop up, and so we started with that initial list,” said Smith.
Smith says the first part of the resource page is focused on the teens themselves and how to navigate different mental health challenges.
The second part is for educators and adults working in teen spaces that are looking for tools and resources. The last part is for parents and guardians.
The resource page is available on the Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance (WOSTA) website, a program of Marshfield Clinic.
The resources page is intended to support, not replace, professional mental health care. Anyone experiencing an immediate mental health or suicide crisis can call or text 988.
