Mental health stressors don’t hit all ages the same. For teens it’s loneliness and social media.
For young adults, burnout and climate dread. For midlife adults, it’s anxiety and money.
For older Americans, untreated illness and isolation.
Here’s the 2025 readout.
Teens (12-17)
- 18% — about 4.5 million teens — had a major depressive episode in the past year.
- Girls report far higher depression (26.5%) than boys (12.2%) in two-week snapshots.
- Anxiety diagnoses hit 11% of kids 3—17; depression around 4%.
- Loneliness is epidemic: 1 in 4 U.S. youth eats every meal alone, up 53% since 2003.
- Half lifetime mental illness starts by 14, three-quarters by 24.
Young Adults (18-25)
- The hardest-hit age group: 36% report any mental illness, 11.6% serious mental illness.
- Burnout peaks around 25 years old — work, finances, and mental health pile up.
- Climate anxiety is real: nearly 60% are extremely worried about the environment; 20% say they may not have kids because of it.
- They’re more likely to feel they don’t belong, or that the world is tilted against them.
Adults (26-49)
- 29% of adults in this bracket reported mental illness in the past year.
- Anxiety leads the way: nearly 15% overall.
- 7.6% suffer serious mental illness, but only about half get treatment.
- Drivers: money stress, work burnout, and raising kids while stretched thin.
Older Adults (50+)
- Prevalence drops, but still 13.9% report mental illness; 3% serious mental illness.
- Depression rates dip — 8.7% of adults 60+ report symptoms in two-week windows.
- Suicide risk is stark: 35 — 64 year-olds account for nearly half U.S. suicides, while 75+ still carry elevated rates.
- Only 52.7% of those with serious illness get treatment, leaving millions untreated.
Predictions
America’s mental health cracks are generational fault lines. Teens buckle under loneliness and digital pressure. Young adults are burning out before 30, living under climate dread and economic precarity. Midlife drowns in anxiety and cost stress, while older adults suffer quietly, too often untreated. Pills, patchwork, and platitudes aren’t solutions. Until prevention, equity, and real support replace crisis reaction, every age group will keep carrying invisible scars.
