Anxiety, Screens, and Self-Esteem

Northern Michigan therapists weigh in on youth mental health

By Kierstin Gunsberg | Nov. 8, 2025

If adulting feels hard sometimes, let it be a reminder that growing up can be, too.

Data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness shows that one in six Michigan adolescents ages 12-17 experience a depressive episode each year, while the University of Michigan Medicine’s psychology department reports that before they’ve even hit their teen years, 70 percent of grade schoolers fret over grades, friendships, and fitting in.

But what happens when those worries or down-in-the-dumps days become chronic, and how can parents tell when it’s time to reach out for professional support?

Dr. Rebecca Swenson of Traverse City’s Birchwood Psychology says sudden changes like big dips in energy, trouble sleeping, eating less than usual, or recurring complaints about headaches and stomachaches can all be telltale signs that your child is struggling, especially if it’s happening “in the morning before school or Sunday night,” she says.

Of course, some withdrawal from parents and family is pretty normal as kids get older, Swenson adds. “Lots of teens like to hang out in their bedrooms.” But if they’re consistently turning down family outings or time with friends, that’s “a clue that they might not be feeling so great.”

Swenson, who opened her practice in 2020, specializes in eating disorders, OCD, and anxiety, the latter of which she’s seen increase among northern Michigan youth in recent years.

“Kids have a lot of social concerns, a lot of academic concerns, and I think that’s often what drives them into treatment, because they’re having difficulty going to school or having difficulty making friends or parents notice that they're avoiding situations that they used to like to do,” she says.

Lingering Anxiety

Emily Knapp, who works with youth and families at her practice Leelanau Life Counseling, is noticing the same thing. “There’s a lot of anxiety still lingering from COVID,” she says.

Spending some of their most formative years in the forced isolation of the pandemic, combined with the boon of crowd-avoidant tech (like being able to order, pay for, and pick up a coffee without ever saying a word to another human) has left Gen A and Gen Zers unrehearsed—and shying away from—first dates, school dances, and other social milestones.

“They are expected to be moving forward, yet a lot of teens don’t feel comfortable, which is causing anxiety,” Knapp says, later adding that “phones and texting have replaced the art of direct human interaction.”

Driving is another rite of passage (and expectation) more teens are hesitating on, she adds. According to Bridge Michigan, the number of licensed teenagers in 2021 was down 10 percent from 2000, a trend that’s continued since. But it’s hard to ignore that practical factors (like Michigan hailing as one of the country’s most expensive for insurance rates) could be contributing to those anxieties or even creating new ones for young people maneuvering a landscape that’s changed a lot from the one their parents grew up in.

Always Online

As the pandemic solidified phones and screens as a permanent fixture of everyone’s back pocket, it’s given kids—and, let’s be honest, the adults too—more exposure to violent news, says Swenson.

“Kids have anxiety about being in a public place like a school or the mall or, you know, Cherry Festival.” Part of her work is helping clients put those worries into perspective. “We don’t want kids to start limiting their lives, not going to school or sports events, because of this fear that something bad could happen.”

Another peace-disrupter she’s seeing more often is pornography exposure. Data from the American College of Pediatrics shows that 15 percent of kids view pornography before age 11, and over half by age 13, with some studies linking early exposure to antisocial behavior.

“It’s totally normal and natural that kids want to explore and learn about sexual development,” Swenson says, but unfettered screen time can lead them to disturbing content. She adds that open, age-appropriate conversations about sexuality and firm screen boundaries, especially taking devices away at bedtime, are the best ways to help prevent it.

That same kind of parental engagement helps kids and teens get more out of therapy sessions.

“Most teens are open to having parents [join them] in therapy on occasion in order to help understand them better,” says Knapp, who encourages parents to let their kids bow out of extracurriculars if the pressure of participating in them is affecting their child’s mental well-being. “I like to remind parents that they were once teenagers, and that life today looks very different than it did when they were young.”

Still, even if every generation has faced its own set of challenges (and the angst that comes with them) professionals like Knapp and Swenson say it’s important for kids and teens to build coping skills that’ll expand their horizons instead of shrinking their world through avoidance, whatever that world looks like.

Knapp says one of the best ways parents and caregivers can help their kids achieve those skills is through confidence-building, because a confident kid is better equipped to handle life’s obstacles.

But “self-esteem is tricky,” Knapp admits, especially during adolescence. “Most teens already know what’s causing their self-esteem issues and are motivated to address them in proactive ways,” she says.

That starts with making sure that any negative self-talk is flipped around to “be more positive,” says Knapp. “We expect others to be kind to us, but we also have to be kind to ourselves.”

What Teens Are Saying

A group of 14 northern Michigan teens proved just how ready they are to take charge of their mental health in 2023’s Youth Wellness Initiative. The 29-page report, published by the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation and led by those teen researchers, surveyed 530 high school students across the region to better understand youth mental health Up North.

Forty percent of respondents reported experiencing moderate or severe anxiety, while nearly a quarter said they struggle with moderate or severe depression. Schoolwork and grades were listed as their top sources of stress, followed by being at school, being in crowds, and keeping up with the news.

To cope, students say connecting with friends and family helps most, along with scrolling social media (despite expert advice to the contrary). But for northern Michigan teens, the biggest stress relief comes from maybe the most accessible resource available around here: being out in nature made 55 percent of them feel “much less stressed.”

They recommend that to foster better mental health, schools should provide quiet “chill spaces” to decompress and incorporate the outdoors as much as possible—plus a field trip here and there—into the school day.

Someone get these kids a megaphone, because they’re onto something.

Decades of research link time in nature with better mental health outcomes, and the National Institutes of Health reports that while nearly 90 percent of youth want to spend more time outside, most actually spend less than previous generations thanks to packed schedules, heavy homework loads, and too much screen time.