Taking care of your mental health isn’t cheap. There are the expensive therapy sessions, the costly medications, the time-off requests and leaves of absence to deal with mental health issues or just combat burnout — even mental health apps can cost a pretty penny (although there are cheaper options on the market too). It’s all way more expensive than it should be, creating a system where only the wealthiest can maintain their mental health. But a new study aimed to quantify the cost of poor mental health in a new way: by measuring the effect of teen stress on their earnings as young adults.
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The study, published today in the journal PLOS Medicine, found that teens struggling with anxiety or depression are less likely to enter the workforce when they become young adults, and when they do, they’re likely to be paid less. And it’s not just those young adults who suffer the consequences; turns out that when it comes to the economy, we all do. The study found that if a fraction of those teens could be helped by a hypothetical policy to expand mental health care, it could lead to a whopping $52 billion in US budget savings.
The study used data from an ongoing Bureau of Labor Statistics study, starting with data gathered back in 2000. They checked the mental health of over 3,000 15- to 17-year-olds, paying special attention to questions about their levels of anxiety and depression. Then, they looked at the employment records of those teens 10 years later, when they were young adults, analyzing how their mental health history impacted their job prospects.
The results? Researchers found that 6 percent fewer people had a job as a young adult if they experienced clinical anxiety or depression as a teen. Meanwhile, young adults who experienced psychological stress as teens earned over $5,600 less in wages than those who didn’t. Finally, the researchers estimated that if a nationwide mental health expansion policy could reach just 10 percent of those stressed teens, the “labor supply impacts alone” would lead to an additional $52 billion in federal revenue over 10 years. Through subsequent calculations, the team determined that those savings could “plausibly provide significant offsetting returns” against the cost of the mental health policy itself.
“Our new research finds that, at the scale of the United States economy, improvements in adolescent mental health may bring many billions of dollars of federal budget benefits over ten years, potentially offsetting the costs of policy change that could cover critical services for young people,” summarized lead researcher Nathaniel Counts, chief policy officer for The Kennedy Forum, in a news release, per US News & World Report.
And while the study puts a spotlight on big-picture policies to address the teen mental health crisis, it’s a good reminder that this change can happen on the small scale, too. Parents can play a big role in helping teens improve their mental health. As psychotherapist and SheKnows columnist Zuania Capó writes, it starts with making sure you’re listening more and talking less when your teen is struggling. “Create a judgment-free zone where your teen feels they can share openly, knowing you won’t immediately respond with advice,” Capó advises. “Practice active listening — nodding, paraphrasing what they’ve said, and throwing in some open-ended questions to keep the conversation flowing.” Validating their feelings and making sure you’re present and engaged when you’re with them (not just on your phone or silently watching TV) are good strategies too.
While the economic impact might not be the first thing we worry about when it comes to the teen mental health crisis (more like, we just want our kids to be well!), it’s another reminder of how big this issue is and how it can affect every area of our teens’ lives. So while we continue to support large-scale mental health policy changes, remember to take some time to check in on your teen today. (Here’s a check-in approach that will actually work.) They (and maybe their future bank accounts) might just thank you for it.
Before you go, check out our favorite mental health apps:
