A podcast on the New York Times series The Daily for August 30th 2022 is the best discussion of this often-neglected and surely under treated problem. The podcast builds on some important reporting by Matt Richtel,.notably “ ‘The Best Tool We Have’ for Self Harming and Suicidal Teenagers” in the Times for August 27th.
Here are six takeaways that I believe are really important for anyone who deals with adolescent (and pre and post adolescents) and for colleges and universities whose effectiveness is put at risk by this crisis. :
First. the HUGE upsurge in adolescent mental health problems is linked to the early onset of puberty in our society.
Second, puberty is not just what happens to the body. It also revs up the brain’s search for information about social relations, BUT the brain’s capacity for making sense of that information does not increase in a similar way, leaving the kid awash in material that seems senseless, out or control and impossible to manage. For adolescents everything may seem out of control, except their ability to infoict harm on themselves.
Third, the health care system is unprepared for the resulting mental health problems.
Fourth, pharmaceutical treatments may help in the short run, but they don’t do all that is needed.
Fifth, cognitive behavioral therapy works.
… Don’t take my crude summary as a substitute for the podcast itself.
Here are six takeaways that I believe are really important for anyone who deals with adolescent (and pre and post adolescents) and for colleges and universities whose effectiveness is put at risk by this crisis. :
First. the HUGE upsurge in adolescent mental health problems is linked to the early onset of puberty in our society.
Second, puberty is not just what happens to the body. It also revs up the brain’s search for information about social relations, BUT the brain’s capacity for making sense of that information does not increase in a similar way, leaving the kid awash in material that seems senseless, out or control and impossible to manage. For adolescents everything may seem out of control, except their ability to infoict harm on themselves.
Third, the health care system is unprepared for the resulting mental health problems.
Fourth, pharmaceutical treatments may help in the short run, but they don’t do all that is needed.
Fifth, cognitive behavioral therapy works.
… Don’t take my crude summary as a substitute for the podcast itself.