This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
Social media challenges, the spread of misinformation, expectations for perfect academic performance, impending college applications, the news — these are just a few stressors teen Benjamin Sabin deals with on a daily basis.
On top of that, there was a highly publicized instance of antisemitism at his public Chicago high school this past year. All of this made Sabin more withdrawn at school and intensified his struggles with anxiety and depression.
Through therapy, attitude shifts and open communication, Sabin reached a better place, but he didn’t want other Jewish teens to feel similarly isolated in their struggles. That’s why he joined the Teen Mental Health Committee at the JCC Chicago.
“Feeling like you’re in a mental health crisis is terrible, it’s the worst thing that can happen to anybody, except feeling like you’re in a mental health crisis and feeling like you’re alone,” Sabin said. “Giving people resources and others to talk to, breaking the stigma, letting people know that it’s normal, makes something that’s terrible a lot better.”
The American Psychological Association calls the spike in cases of anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses among young people following months of isolation during the pandemic and the rise of social media, an “ongoing mental health crisis.”
For Jewish teens, the crisis has been compounded by global events like the war in the Middle East and safety concerns at schools. This is where the Teen Mental Health Committee in Chicago aims to fit in. Through open conversation, event planning, resource sharing and online education, the committee provides a platform to advocate for mental health support and awareness among teenagers in Chicago’s Jewish community.
Samantha Savin, a youth clinical worker at the JCC Chicago and founder of the Teen Mental Health Committee, wants teens to benefit from the committee’s distinct Jewish approach.
“When you’re in those teen years where you’re trying to figure out your path in life, it’s really overwhelming when you turn on the news and everything feels like a big unknown,” Savin said. “But I think what is really powerful and what can be really grounding is the Jewish community.”
On the committee’s blog, teen participants share about their own mental health journeys. Sabin wants struggling teens like him to know that what they are going through is normal and to provide them with some helpful coping mechanisms.
During an event, in which the Teen Mental Health Committee collaborated with BBYO and other Jewish youth groups following Oct. 7, teens wrote letters to soldiers fighting in Israel. (Samantha Savin)
“It’s like if you took a test at school, say a math test, and you failed, you would feel very very down on yourself,” Sabin said, “But if you found out 75% of your class failed, it still sucks, but it makes the situation a little bit better.”
Sabin has undertaken some mental health awareness endeavors outside of the committee too, including a podcast with his friends called Mind Matters which won the John Drury High School Radio Award in 2023. The podcast covers topics relevant to mental health like stress, anxiety, friendship, time management and forgiveness from a high school perspective, weaving in both personal experiences and expert opinions.
“Just talking about mental health, spreading the word throughout the community and the world, is the most important thing we do,” Sabin said about the podcast.
Dayla Rosen, a senior at Lake Forest Academy, uses her role on the JCC committee’s Instagram team to reach struggling teens. She launched a series called “Mental Health Mondays” about specific disorders, resources and coping strategies.
Rosen joined the committee in September of 2024 for its Jewish support network. “There’s not a large Jewish population at my school,” she said, “So it can be difficult to deal with issues of antisemitism on my own.” Rosen sees the committee as a space where she can commiserate with other Jewish teens about struggles unique to them.
Like Rosen, many U.S. Jewish teens’ well-being is affected by issues unique to their Jewish identities. according to a 2024 study of 2,500 U.S. teens sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America’s BeWell program, “Jewish teens are experiencing heightened tension over recent geopolitical conflicts and increasingly prevalent antisemitism.”
Rosen became involved in mental health advocacy after struggling with it herself for many years. “All of middle school, I struggled with an eating disorder, and I didn’t want to speak up or get help because I was so ashamed,” she said. “When I did get into recovery for that, I wanted to make sure other teens didn’t have that experience, where they felt like they couldn’t speak up because they were ashamed or didn’t have the resources or people to look up to to know they weren’t alone.”
Rosen’s first blog post for the JCC website was about her experience with her eating disorder. “I had never really shared my experience publicly, and it was really nerve-racking,” she said. The feedback from teens who had similar experiences to her made the effort worth it.
“We need to be able to understand the issue of mental health from all perspectives — and the Jewish perspective is a very important one,” said Rosen.
Judaism plays a key role in the committee’s endeavors. It incorporates Jewish values like resilience and charity into their discussions about spreading awareness, and it distributes resources to organizations serving Jewish teens.
Last October, it worked with BBYO and other Jewish youth groups to host an event supporting teens impacted by Oct. 7 and had them write letters to soldiers serving in Israel.
At committee events at the JCC, teenagers received mental health support like therapy dogs from Paws for Patrick and massage therapy around AP exam or finals season. The committee held a resource fair to connect teens with mental health professionals and organizations such as Gabriel’s Light and JCFS Response for Teens, and it frequently collaborates with BBYO to provide mental health services at regional conventions.
For BBYO member Charley Finn, a sophomore at Buffalo Grove High School, the resources provided by the committee at national events provided a safe space.
“Convention can be very overwhelming and overstimulating, so I loved having the quiet room and the mental health kits to use when everything felt like way too much,” Finn said.
The kits, which the committee also distributes to Jewish Student Connection clubs at schools in the Chicago area, consist of fidget toys, essential oils and cards with mental health resources. Finn also used the quiet room set up by the committee — a space for teens to decompress, access stress-busting gadgets and other resources, and participate in mindfulness activities like meditation.
Gabriela Lutpakin, clinical director at the Jewish mental health organization Bamidbar, recognizes the benefits of youth advocacy groups like the committee in the current moment.
“I’m seeing higher rates of anxiety and depression come up in the past year, and it’s tough right now for a lot of young people to be Jewish and express their Jewish identity out in the world,” she said. “Teens need a safe space to explore and express who they are and feel comfortable reaching out for the support they need. Without specifically supporting the Jewish community, we lose a lot.”
Working in a Jewish teen focused space, in the past year she has seen a growth in teens who want to get involved in advocacy and “aren’t shying away from the difficult stuff.”
“I hope that the kind of work these teens do both builds stronger support systems and destigmatizes mental health,” she said, “The more we talk about it, the more comfortable people are with it and the easier it is to access support.”
This is Sabin’s approach, as well. “It’s most important to let other teens know that it’s normal, that they are not alone,” he said.
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