Peer Support Group Helps Teens Combat Mental Illness

A San Francisco-based nonprofit is helping teens deal with distress through online peer support groups. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, about 20 percent of adolescents have a diagnosable mental health disorder.

Social media and screen time are increasingly linked to mental illness in teens, but the group, called Give Us The Floor,leverages the power of social media to dogood by hosting closed Snapchat groups,providing anonymity in a teen-only, online community. Trained teens facilitate confidential chats, and the members help each other with common mental health and social issues such as isolation, anxiety, body image, bullying and relationships.

After a year of beta testing, 94 percent of teens say their chat has helped them feel less lonely, and 97 percent say their group has helped them improve the way they feel about themselves.