So since the Great Recession, rates of depression and suicide have been rising among teenagers in this country. The baseline reason is obvious; reduced economic opportunity. However, the rates of both depression and suicide have been rising much faster among girls than among teenage boys. As of 2014 (our most recent data on this subject), 17% of teenage girls and 6% of teenage boys struggle with depression, as compared with 13% and 4% respectively before the recession. Similarly, as of 2015 (our most recent data on this subject), suicide rates among boys had risen 31% from pre-recession levels, to 14.2 per 100,000, while among girls it fully doubled, to 5.1 per 100,000.
The gender difference in suicides is generally attributed to boys and girls tending to choose different methods in their attempts, as girls are far more likely than boys to attempt suicide. Boys most often choose reliable methods like firearms, while girls are more apt to attempt suicide by suffocation. However, more and more often, girls are now succeeding in their attempts. As much, one suspects, is likely the result of increasing reliance on drug overdosing.
The real point here is though is that so many of today's teenagers, and teen girls in particular, feel like their lives have little, if any, worth, and that there is also a massive gendered difference in self-esteem levels. What's at the root of that? My opinion, as someone who is around teenagers a lot in my job, is that the main reason for the gender difference is social media. That wasn't much of a thing before the recession, and it has greatly worsened both the commonality and magnitude of bullying and sexual exploitation that girls in particular experience in their day-to-day lives. I agree with the first linked article on that. What do you think is at the root of this phenomenon? Do I have something here?