{"id":324,"date":"2026-05-26T11:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=324"},"modified":"2026-05-26T11:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:04:07","slug":"how-can-colorado-help-kids-facing-mental-health-struggles-these-teens-have-ideas-for-the-next-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=324","title":{"rendered":"How can Colorado help kids facing mental health struggles? These teens have ideas for the next governor."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The pressure to be perfect has stalked recent high school graduateSwarali Dhamal since she was in middle school, at once motivating and suffocating her while consuming more of her hours both in and outside of school.<\/p>\n

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Recently, that nagging voice telling her to be flawless has grown louder because of carefully curated posts by friends and influencers flooding her social media feed. Long before, the voice drove her to maintain impressive grades and keep up with peers in her classes as part of the inherent societal pressures that kept building.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of normalized in society where you have to be perfect or you have to accomplish something in life to be successful,\u201d Dhamal, 18, said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s where a lot of my peers feel like mental health struggles arise from.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people may say that it gives you room to grow and it provides you a push forward,\u201d she added, \u201cbut if this constant pressure is consistently pushing down on you, I feel like it\u2019s more suffocating than a place for you to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

That gravitational pull toward being nothing less than the best is quietly contributing to a mental health crisis among Colorado students, a crisis that has improved over time in some ways and worsened dramatically in others. That\u2019s why both students and state health officials are calling for youth mental health to rank among the top issues that Colorado\u2019s next governor addresses, proposing on Day 1 specific policy plans to improve kids\u2019 access to mental health support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t address this and the next governor does not address this in an appropriate, prioritized, resourced way with leadership and accountability at the very top of our state, we will lose this generation,\u201d said Dr. K. Ron-Li Liaw, director of the child and adolescent mental health division at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado. \u201cThey\u2019ve already gone through COVID. They\u2019ve already gone through an economic downturn. They\u2019ve gone through a number of conflicts here that most kids should not have exposure to. They\u2019ve seen too much already. This is our opportunity as trusted adults, as adults in leadership, to turn this around for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers behind kids\u2019 ongoing battles with mental health tell a nuanced story: The rate of suicide among Colorado kids ages 10 to 18 in 2024 dropped to its lowest since 2007, a noteworthy shift in a state where the suicide rate among young people has long exceeded the national average. The state counted 39 deaths by suicide in that age group in 2024, a sharp dip from the high of 87 deaths by suicide in that age group in 2020, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention.<\/p>\n

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How to ask for help<\/h4>\n