CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Concerns about teen mental health are rising as more in North Carolina are calling the national suicide and crisis lifeline.
In North Carolina, people ages 13 to 17 are calling 988 more than any other age group. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in the last 12 months, about 6,500 teens called the crisis lifeline for help.
A virtual mental health service geared toward teens says inquiries on their site have grown 10 times in North Carolina since last summer.
"We have seen a huge uptick for adolescents needing these services," Brittany Ratterree, a clinical outreach manager for Charlie Health said.
A lot of teenagers who need help don't know where to start.
Isabel Zachariah is a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill from Concord. She shared that she's struggled with anxiety since high school but didn't know what it was until much later.
"I always just expressed it to my parents that, 'Oh, like, my face gets very warm, I'm experiencing these types of things.'" Zachariah told WCNC Charlotte's Julia Kaffuman. "But I don't think we fully put a label on it until I got into college."
She said she educates herself on mental health to learn how to cope with anxiety. Plus, she now helps others through NAMI: The National Alliance on Mental Illness.
"So many young kids are lost because of the hardships they face," Zachariah said. "They don't know how to directly cope with those kinds of things."
Charlie Health works to help teenagers by offering emergency counseling, resource connections, and support groups.
"It's a really amazing thing to see when we are able to provide hope and provide same-day access," Ratterree said.
Many treatment centers are 18-plus, which creates a roadblock for children seeking help.
"For adolescents, in general, if you need mental health support, there's not many here and locally to our community," Ratterree added.
As experts call for more mental health services for children, there are a couple of projects in Charlotte working to address that need.
StarMed Health Care is working on a project estimated to cost more than $60 million, called the Katie Blessing Center. It will be a full-service mental health facility for people 18 and under in east Charlotte. The city is contributing $2.5 million to the project.
Plus, Hopeway opened a clinic for teenagers this year that is also in east Charlotte.
If you or a loved one are facing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, there is help readily available. You can call Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat with them online. There are also resources in North Carolina available here and in South Carolina available here.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.