Shrinking It Down: Mental Health Made Simple

The COVID pandemic is like nothing most of us have ever lived through. This is especially true for kids and teens who are still developing mentally and physically. This week we talk with special guest, Annabel Reddick, a high school senior in Davidson, North Carolina about her experience living through the pandemic, and how things are going two years into it. Gene, Khadijah, and Annabel discuss th...

At what point are we pushing our young athletes too hard? We all watched 15-year-old Russian Olympic skater, Kamila Valieva, exit the ice in tears after a doping scandal. Where did the adults in her life fail her? What can be done to make sure situations like this don’t happen again? These are the questions Gene and Khadijah try to answer this week, with the help of former competitive skater turne...

Low self-esteem gets all of us down at one point or another. For kids, the goal is to help build them back up. Lots of things can lower our kids’ self-esteem like body image, cyberbullying, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and surprisingly, guilt (along with lots of other things!). This week, Gene and Khadijah break down the ways that we can help our kids elevate their self-esteem and their s...

The crisis in Ukraine feels to many like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Between the COVID pandemic, police brutality, the climate crisis, and now the war in Ukraine, the world may feel increasingly unsafe. Very young children, though, actually respond more to their adults’ distress than to the tragic events themselves. That said, repeated media exposure of horrific events can sometimes lea...

Turning on TV, opening a magazine, or going on our phones these days, kids are overwhelmed with images showing us what we should look like. Even on “reality” TV, none of the people look like your average person. With all of these images circulating in our everyday lives, it is easy for any of us to get caught up and judge our own bodies, but especially young people who soak these images in and can...

Our recent conversation with Dr. John Kelly of the MGH Recovery Research Institute reinforced even more how important it is to start talking with young people about about alcohol use and it's possible problems, early on. Let us help you get started! From child & adolescent psychiatrist Gene Beresin, MD, MA, here are a few ways to open to door to this ongoing conversation with your grade-school...

Did you know that 3 out of 4 addiction cases in the U.S. are alcohol addictions, and that kids who start drinking before age 15 are significantly more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder than those who wait? Alcohol causes more deaths each year than all other drugs combined, including around 5,000 deaths to children under age 21. Yet, culturally, we don’t tend to think of alcohol as a seriou...

COVID-19. We can’t seem to escape it no matter where we turn, even in our own homes. All of us – caregivers and young people, alike – are experiencing feelings of fear, frustration, and anger as we balance trying to stay safe and trying to move on with our lives. It’s mentally and emotionally draining. How do we keep going? That’s what Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins talk about tod...

If your child is struggling to go to school and regularly wanting to stay home, it's important to learn more about what's making things so hard for them. Talking about it can help. Here are a couple ways to start a conversation with your child or teen, from child & adolescent psychiatrist Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH. If you missed Khadijah and Gene's full discussion about school refusal, t...

Does your child get stomach aches at the thought of going to school? Does your younger child throw temper tantrums? Does your teenager spend all day in the school counselor’s office, or even refuse to leave the home? When kids struggle to go to school, it can be a really challenging situation. And since the pandemic, child psychiatrists Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins are hearing m...

As we lead into a New Year, we wish you and your loved ones physical and mental wellness. It has been a challenging two years, with more challenges to come. But together, we can manage this. So for tonight, unwind a bit if you can, draw strength from memories past, and look forward to a new year with new beginnings. Thank you for all you do to support the young people in your life. It really makes...

Mindfully enjoying the things we look forward to during the holidays is a great way for families to lessen stress and support well-being. What are Gene and Khadijah's favorite things about the holiday season? Tune in! From all of us at the MGH Clay Center, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. May your minds be merry and bright. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Families have felt tremendous stress over the past two years due to the pandemic. But for many, this is a special time of year that we fantasize about and look forward to, and it’s not healthy to go into the holiday season at this heightened state of stress and duress. Perhaps you're anxious about spending time with loved ones in a safe way, or fighting about house rules with your college student...

As we "fall back" this weekend, hold onto to some clinical wisdom from Bernard Kinane, MD, Director of the Pediatric Sleep Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. He joins Dr. Gene Beresin in this clip from a recent episode to answer the question: "If a child or young adult is sleep deprived, can they make up for it on the weekend or at other times?" Want more on sleep, kids, and mental health?...

If your young person is struggling in school, and you think it might be Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins has some ways to start a conversation with them. These conversation starters might help you learn more about what's making things so hard at school. Also, watch Dr. Booth Watkins' short video on recognizing signs of AD...

In today's episode of Shrinking It Down , we revisit some of the most helpful conversations we've had with clinical experts about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in kids and teens. First, we talk through what ADHD really is with Dr. Ellen Braaten (01:10), including the three types of ADHD and how the behavioral signs can be different in different children. Then, we take a closer lo...

If Instagram and social media are still on your mind after our last episode, but you still haven't talked to your teen about your concerns, here are some things to say to start the conversation. Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins says, it can actually be pretty simple if you approach the conversation with curiosity. Dr. Gene Beresin says, you might learn a lot about what's really going on in your child's...

We weren’t due for another episode until next week, but given the news of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and her disturbing claims that the company knows its platforms cause mental harm, including to teen girls, Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins are back early. They put on their shrink caps to process the concerns that Instagram poses to children and teens, and talk through gu...

Welcome back to Shrinking It Down – because mental health is anything but simple. What better way to launch Season 5 than by busting some mental health myths? In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins check in with each other after the summer break, and then share the facts on some common misconceptions about depression and anxiety, violent video games, "bad" parent...

Can six minutes of meditation really make a difference? Try it for yourself! In this excerpt from our March 17 episode, "Medicating with Meditation?" Dr. Darshan Mehta leads us in a 6-minute meditation - right in the middle of our workday. Follow along to take a break in your own day, and share with someone else in your life. Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH, is Medical Director of the Benson-Henry Institut...

It’s our last episode of the season, but never fear – we're signing off with tips to last you the summer long. Today’s episode is all about sleep! Sleep is so important to our overall health and well-being. So, very special guest Dr. Bernard Kinane, Director of the Pediatric Sleep Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, joins Gene and Khadijah to answer all of your questions about how to suppor...

We'll be back in two weeks for our season finale and we'll be talking about SLEEP, kids and teens, and mental health. Stay tuned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past year, the Clay Center has worked to support even more young people by translating our free, online resources for Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers. In this time, we’ve seen high readership on topics like emotionally supporting kids and teens during COVID-19, the importance of sleep for child mental health, and how to help young people manage anxiety&nbs...

Coming into April, Autism Awareness Month, we’ve noticed more families coming to our website with questions about high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some are seeking guidance on challenges families face, some wanting to learn more about behaviors stereotypically associated with ASD, and others wondering what happened to the Asperger’s diagnosis.   On today’s...

Everyone has been hit hard mentally and emotionally during the pandemic, but there’s growing research to suggest that young adults – that special 18-24 age group – are suffering more than we might think. GenZ and Millennials had already been flagged as possibly the loneliest generation , even before COVID-19. Now many are faced with increased social isolation and a devastating economy at a time wh...