Hi everybody, I'm Jill Wagner, and you are listening to a special edition of the Mono's

podcast.

There have been a lot of really troubling headlines recently about the declining mental

health of teens and the increasing rates of depression and suicide, particularly amongst

teenage girls.

So what's behind it?

And more importantly, what can we do about it?

I am joined today by Nero Feliciano, a cognitive psychotherapist and best-selling author.

You could often see her speaking on the third hour of the Today Show and BC News now.

And also in print on OprahDailyParents.com, in style and real simple magazine, where she

shares tips and strategies around mental health and parenting.

And she's also the author of this book, Won't Make You Happy, Eight Keys Definding True Contentment.

I love that title, by the way.

She hosts her own podcast, it's called All Things Life, Nero, great to have you on.

Thank you Jill, great to see you again.

Okay, so I want to just set the stage a bit here.

The CDC recently released some really startling statistics.

According to surveys, 57% of female teens in the U.S. struggled with feeling persistently

sad, and this is as of 2021.

And this is the last time that that survey was done.

Of the women surveyed 30% considered suicide, 24% planned suicide, and 13% attempted it.

And these numbers are up dramatically from just a decade ago.

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