Page 36 - JCBP-3-4

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
Confronting the mental health crisis: Addressing

depression and anxiety among adolescents
through prevention and social renaissance

1
Xiaoqing Xiang * and Sandra Thompson 2
1 High School, Keystone Academy, Beijing, China
2 Center for Student Development, Keystone Academy, Beijing, China

Abstract
This paper provides a comprehensive perspective on the mental health crisis, with a
particular focus on depression and anxiety among adolescents. These disorders are
non-communicable diseases and have emerged as chronic epidemics with societal
implications. The paper highlights the multifaceted root causes of these disorders,
including genetic, epigenetic, environmental, lifestyle, evolutionary, and social
factors. It also presents critiques on the current pharmacological and psychological
treatments, arguing that focusing solely on a treatment perspective disregards the
*Corresponding author: wider societal factors beyond medicine. Through this perspective, we advocate
Xiaoqing Xiang
(xiaoqing.xiang@student. for a holistic, prevention-oriented approach, emphasizing lifestyle modifications,
keystoneacademy.cn) social environmental enhancements, psychotherapy access, and psychoeducation
Citation: Xiang X, Thompson S. intervention, for addressing these disorders. A multitiered strategy engaging
Confronting the mental health educational institutions, clinical practitioners, and policymakers is proposed to foster
crisis: Addressing depression and an environment where adolescents can thrive.
anxiety among adolescents through
prevention and social renaissance.
J Clin Basic Psychosom.
2025;3(4):30-39. Keywords: Depression; Anxiety; Adolescent; Social determinants; Lifestyle modification;
doi: 10.36922/jcbp.8077 Social renaissance; Psychoeducation
Received: December 19, 2024
1st revised: January 20, 2025
2nd revised: January 30, 2025 1. Introduction
1
3rd revised: February 19, 2025 Rising rates of depression and anxiety are societal challenges that require our
immediate attention and actions. There were 5.0 million adolescents who experienced
Accepted: February 28, 2025
at least one major depressive disorder episode in the U.S. in 2021, and social anxiety
2
Published online: March 21, 2025 symptoms have collectively become the most common mental health disorder among
3
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). adolescents, necessitating immediate and effective interventions. However, the current
This is an Open-Access article interventions, including pharmacological and psychological treatments, are prone to
distributed under the terms of the
4
Creative Commons Attribution a high rate of treatment failures. The limitations of the current approaches will be
License, permitting distribution, analyzed.
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is This paper proposes that the rising rates of depression and anxiety among adolescents
properly cited. are significantly influenced by societal determinants such as urbanization, individualism,
Publisher’s Note: AccScience and modern lifestyle and that addressing these root causes through a social renaissance
Publishing remains neutral with can lead to effective preventive strategies. The term “social renaissance” is specifically
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional defined as a collective movement aimed at transforming societal values and structures
th
affiliations. to address the rising mental health crisis. Just as the renaissance from the 14 to the
Volume 3 Issue 4 (2025) 30 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.8077