Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month, Pulitzer Center

Posted by Pulitzer Center on May 16, 2023

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which can provide a catalyst to open up a conversation on youth mental health to last year-round. It can be challenging to talk about mental health crises with the young people in our lives, but doing so helps create a safe space to share difficult feelings, actively address the rising suicide rate among youth, and promote wellbeing in education spaces, at home, and in our communities.

For those looking for resources on youth mental health, we are sharing a new podcast and listening guide to support your work. In Conversations with Sydney, a solutions-oriented podcast, journalist Micah Fink and his teenager, Sydney, discuss their experiences with mental health and explore effective ways for parents, teens, schools, and communities to respond to teen mental health crises and suicide. Episodes address key questions such as: What do we know about the warning signs of suicide, and how can it be prevented? How can parents talk about mental health with their children? What role can educators and schools play in supporting student mental health and addressing this crisis?

Though these questions aren’t accompanied by simple answers, this listening guide provides an entry point to reflect on and open up dialogues around these themes. You will find guiding questions, key quotes, and reflection prompts for each episode. Coupled with research into mental health resources in your local area, we hope this guide can assist you in feeling more equipped to discuss mental health this month, and every month.

Explore the listening guide.