Storm Lake, IA: "In increasing number of IA high school students grapple with mental health issues"

Dec 27, 2017, Storm Lake (IA) Pilot Tribune: Mental health issues growing among Iowa high school students http://www.stormlakepilottribune.com/story/2471763.html Facing intense academic demands and ever-present peer comparisons through social media, an increasing number of Iowa high school students grapple with mental health issues and enduring problems previous generations seldom confronted, an IowaWatch High School Journalism Project has found. … School counselors and student advocates say they are seeing an increased number of students coping with mental health problems, and a state survey shows the number of 11th graders, especially females, contemplating suicide and experiencing depression and anxiety are creeping up. “I see more and more mental health issues and social/emotional problems and deficiencies,” Derek Ziesmer, the guidance counselor at Forest City High School in northern Iowa, said. Ziesmer said students also face more technological distractions, including social media, that previous generations didn’t confront. … In Iowa, 17 percent of 11th graders reported having seriously thought about killing themselves in the previous 12 months, an increase of nearly 2 percent since 2012, according to the Public Health Department’s Iowa Youth Survey of students in grades 6, 8 and 11. … It’s not just an Iowa problem. Mental health problems like depression and anxiety affect one in five children, according to the Centers for Disease Control. …