According to Mental Health America’s August 2024 report on the State of Mental Health in America:
“The nation’s youth continue to present cause for concern. One in five young people from ages 12-17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year, yet more than half of them (56.1%) did not receive any mental health treatment. More than 3.4 million youth (13.16%) had serious thoughts of suicide.”1
What tools are available to help teens cope? Matt Hirshberg is a research psychologist with the Center for Healthy Minds. In my second interview with him, we discuss his research into innovative techniques designed to improve teenage mental health.
Dale Kushner: As a research psychologist who studies well-being, what models would you suggest parents teach their children for better mental health? Did your research yield any practical advice for parents or teachers of teens?
Matt Hirshberg: Step number one is for parents to take good care of themselves. It is no surprise that adolescent mental health has been declining alongside adult mental health. The best first thing a parent can do is try and be a good model—this means being honest about one’s own wellness and struggles and modeling adaptive approaches to working with our challenges. An important point is that we don’t have to be perfect or perfectly happy to be good models for our kids; we just need to be honest and embody useful ways of working with the challenges that life inevitably throws at us.2
DK: Why do you think it would be more useful to focus on “teenage flourishing” rather than on “teenage mental health”?
MH: I’m not opposed to talking about teenage mental health, but flourishing includes mental health, and more. I like flourishing because it is not defined—mental health flourishing for each person will differ based on their interests and proclivities; it means each person gets to choose what brings them the greater meaning and purpose in........