We are experiencing a youth mental health crisis. Young people worldwide are increasingly struggling to manage the escalating stress and complications of everyday life. In 2021, 42% of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless for two consecutive weeks that they would stop engaging in their usual activities, up from 26% in 2009. Is there a way to eliminate the stigma around mental health and make kindness cool? We spoke to Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, Ed.D., LPC, MCHES, and Rahul Rangan, MBBS of Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, about the ways peer-to-peer support can benefit today’s youth, the vital mental health resources needed in schools, and the impact of Born This Way Foundation’s Be There Certificate and their Channel Kindness program on building a kinder and braver world.

<p>We are experiencing a <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20230524/mental-health-issues-for-adolescents-spiked-during-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">youth mental health crisis</a>. Young people worldwide are increasingly struggling to manage the escalating stress and complications of everyday life. In 2021, 42% of high school students reported feeling so <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://www.webmd.com/teens/news/20231009/less-than-half-of-adolescents-with-depression-got-help-in-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sad or hopeless</a> for two consecutive weeks that they would stop engaging in their usual activities, up from 26% in 2009. Is there a way to eliminate the stigma around mental health and make kindness cool? We spoke to <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://bornthisway.foundation/team/claudia-santi-f-fernandes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, Ed.D., LPC, MCHES</a>, and <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulrangan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rahul Rangan, MBBS</a> of Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, about the ways peer-to-peer support can benefit today’s youth, the vital mental health resources needed in schools, and the impact of Born This Way Foundation’s <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://bornthisway.foundation/current-programs/be-there-certificate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Be There Certificate</a> and their <a class="react-spectrum-RichTextEditor-link" href="https://www.channelkindness.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Channel Kindness</a> program on building a kinder and braver world.</p>

WebMD Chief Physician Editor Neha Pathak, MD, and Chief Medical Officer, John Whyte, MD, MPH, explore fascinating stories to find the unexpected things that help us understand our health.

Health Discovered

We are experiencing a . Young people worldwide are increasingly struggling to manage the escalating stress and complications of everyday life. In 2021, 42% of high school students reported feeling so  for two consecutive weeks that they...