Kate Cohen and Alexander Vesely-Frankl on Why Kids Are Struggling With Their Mental Health (And What We Can Do About It)

Today’s conversation is going to hit home with so many because we are talking about kids. We are going to discuss mental health issues among children and adolescents.  According to a recent CDC report, ER visits for suspected suicide attempts were up 50% among teenage girls in the winter months of 2021 as compared to the same time frame in 2019. The CDC also reported that suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death in 2019 for people between the ages 10-34.  It’s absolutely frightening. Rates of depression, anxiety, addiction, and prescription medications have also soared. What’s the answer? What needs to change? What can be done?

 

While we all wish we could just wave a magic wand and cure this horrific epidemic, it’s clearly not that simple. With that said, a great first step is raising awareness which is what my two guests today are doing.

 

Meet Kate Cohen and Alexander Vesely-Frankl. Kate is a producer and co-founder of Straight Up Films which she started with Marisa Polvino in 2008. Kate has worked with many A-List celebrities including Johnny Depp, Natalie Portman, and Morgan Freeman. Their latest endeavor, Straight Up Impact which Kate and Marisa started along with Pam Roy is on a mission to create commercial films that inspire audiences to enact social change. This includes “Man’s Search for Meaning,” a film adaptation of the highly popular memoir by Viktor Frankl. Tony Robbins and screenwriter Angela Workman are involved in the making of the film as is Alexander Vesely-Frankl a licensed psychotherapist and the grandson of the late Viktor Frankl. Alexander has also collaborated with Straight Up Impact to help create a compelling short film series entitled “Meaning in Madness” addressing the root causes of the current mental health crisis among our youth.

 

We will be discussing two of these films today, one of which is called “Mackenzie” chronicling the real-life experiences of a 17-year-old high school student as she struggles to perform well in a demanding school while privately coping with depression.  We also chat about their other film “Luna,” follows a 15-year-old girl who shares her experience growing up on prescribed psychiatric medication since she was 8 years old.

 

Today we cover it all. We talk about what brought Alexander and Kate together to do this and discuss the premise and mission of their current projects. We have an in-depth discussion about what is causing the massive spike of the mental health issues of kids and the role that the school system, expectations, environment and performance-based metrics are playing. We get into what the school system could do differently, why it needs an overhaul, and how parents can know if their child is struggling. They share how Viktor Frankl’s pioneering therapeutic approach could help and why having “meaning” and “purpose” is crucial for thriving at any point in life. Our convo also gets into prescription medication and how it’s affecting the health of the youth.

 

Topics discussed:

 

What brought Kate and Alexander together to do these projects? 

 

What's the main mission behind their films? 

 

What are the issues that are causing the spike of kids struggling with their mental health?

 

How can people give the message to kids in a way that they can relate to and understand, so that it's on their level, and they're inspired to change their perspective and take some action for the positive?

 

If given a chance, what’s something that Kate and Alexander would add to the school system

 

How meaningful is stress?

 

What would Kate or Alex tell people about their film, the premise of it, what it's about, and what they can expect to get from it

 

What advice can Kate give to parents so they could see the signs if a kid is struggling

 

The importance of acceptance

 

What could the school system do differently?

 

The impact of technology and social media on kids

 

 

Connect with Kate and Alex (Straight Up Impact)

 

Website: https://straight-up-impact.com/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straightupimpact/

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/straightupimpact

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcFBD06p9tPa6I-7HTmj2Lg

 

Kate's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katecohendavis/

 

Alexander's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex_d_vesely/

 

Connect with Doug:

 

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/dougbopst

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dougbopst/

 

Website: https://www.dougbopst.com

 

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