What 10-Year-Olds Know About Mental Health That the Rest of Us Forgot | Dr. Niobe Way

NYU developmental psychologist Niobe Way draws on nearly 40 years of longitudinal research with teenagers to argue that we’ve been mislabeling a loneliness epidemic as a mental health crisis. She proposes the concept of 'social health' — that connection is the root and mental health is the symptom — and shares the moment around age 15 when boys start hiding their feelings to fit cultural norms of masculinity. She also explores the gendered patterns where boys sacrifice relationships to protect themselves, while girls sacrifice themselves to protect the relationship, and offers simple practices to rebuild belonging at home and in daily life.