How young adults can take care of their mental health

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, we're still seeing lingering mental health impacts -- especially for young adults.

Sarah Esparza is a Behavioral Health Manager at Kaiser Permanente in Fresno.

She explains that besides the pandemic, other traumatic events have also played a roll.

"We have your 24-year-olds who were born right after 9/11," she said. "We've had, unfortunately, significant things happen inside of schools."

Numbers from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, show that among young adults from ages 18-25, one in three experienced a mental illness, one in 10 experienced a serious mental illness and nearly 4 million had serious thoughts of suicide

"It makes sense that now in their young adulthood, they're experiencing this anxiety showing up and now, the numbers are really starting to present themselves at this point," Esparza said.

NAMI reports it also saw increased alcohol and drug use in their 2020 study.

Esparza tells Action News that another negative coping behavior is oversleeping.

That's why early intervention is vital.

Unplugging yourself from social media can also help.

Health experts say normalizing the feelings of stress and anxiety let people know they're not alone.

There is a safety net behind them, offering help no matter how dark things may seem.