The U.S. surgeon general is sounding the alarm about a youth mental health crisis amid the pandemic.

Dr. Vivek Murthy warned that the pandemic intensified mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, that were already widespread in the spring of 2020

Murthy wrote, "The pandemic era's unfathomable number of deaths, pervasive sense of fear, economic instability and forced physical distancing from loved ones, friends and communities have exacerbated the unprecedented stresses young people already faced."

Clinical psychologist Dr. Stephen Taylor says for many young people, the adjustment from a year of remote learning to being back in the classroom can be difficult. For others, the loss of a family member to the virus adds another layer of stress.

"The isolation is dramatic and traumatic for them. And once you get used to it, it's hard to get back," Taylor says.

Taylor works for Tru Outreach in Ronkonkoma, which provides teletherapy mental health services to families. It was founded in 2020 in response to the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic.

He says teenagers or children need to keep reaching out and talking to adults if they are feeling depressed.