Young people have questions. Science has answers.
Young people are talking about mental health and looking for answers, especially on social media, where information is not always grounded in science. Researchers, for their part, generate information that often fails to directly reach young people.
“With La Minute mentale, la voix des jeunes, we wanted to create a space where these two sides could come together,” explains Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy, Canada Research Chair in Youth Suicide Prevention, psychologist, researcher, and project lead.
Each episode focusses on personal experiences and questions brought forth by young people. Researchers and mental health professionals then offer their insight in an effort to help our youth better understand the issues being addressed.
The topics, which are chosen by a youth council, focus on issues that directly affect them: suicidal thoughts, sexual and gender diversity, the impact of armed conflicts on families, substance use among young athletes, social media and isolation, and the mental health of boys.
The series aims to demystify mental health issues, reduce stigmas and encourage young people to reach out for help when they feel the need to.
The project was made possible thanks to funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec. In addition to involving youth partners from the Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health in the creative process, the project also plays a role in training the next generation by giving doctoral and postdoctoral students the opportunity to develop their skills in science popularization and knowledge mobilization.
Since some of the issues addressed in the series require additional guidance, young people and their loved ones can also turn to resources offered by the Youth in Mind Foundation and Tel-jeunes. The team would like to thank them for their collaboration and commitment to the well-being of our youth.
La Minute mentale, la voix des jeunes is, first and foremost, the result of a collective effort by the next generation of academics, namely Marjolaine Rivest-Beauregard (coordinator and scriptwriter), Sasha MacNeil, Léa Perret, Claudia-Ève Therriault and Chelsea Cuffaro (scriptwriters), Nathanaël Corre (director) and Ryan Barnett (consulting director), and our youths Joe, Fabien, Charles, Domitille, Yaz and Chelsea, who shared their stories and interviewed the guest experts.
La Minute mentale, la voix des jeunes is now available.