The Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing is empowering youth to break through mental health stigma and barriers to care through a variety of mental health innovations. Come learn about plans for an exciting new one-stop-shop designed to support young people facing early life challenges- like relationship breakups, bullying, gender identity, depression & anxiety- being designed by local youth and modeled after the innovative Australian headspace program. Hear directly from youth about the branding and marketing campaign we developed and how we intend for this to be the prototype for a national movement. You'll also hear winning ideas out of our first High School Mental Health Innovation Challenge and second Adolescent Mental Wellness Conference. Finally, this session will touch upon media messaging and mental health, highlighting the need for safe and appropriate suicide reporting and related controversy around mental health portrayals in both social and entertainment media.

1. Youth-Led Innovations in Mental
Health Stigma Reduction &
Advocating for Safe Media
Reporting and Portrayals

2. Center for Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing
Stanford Dept of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Spearheading a new national vision for adolescent and young adult
wellness and mental health support
Our Current Initiatives:
• Integrated Youth Mental Health
Centers
• Educational & Community
Partnerships
• Mental Health and Technology
• Early Psychosis Program Support
• Adolescent Mental Wellness
Conference
• Media & Mental Health
Our Driving Principles:
• Reducing Stigma
• Increasing Access
• Early Intervention
• Youth-Advised/Involved
• Community Based

3. The Adolescent Mental Health Crisis
HALF of all lifetime
cases of mental illness
start by age 14
75% start by age 24
79% don’t access care
The Incidence of Disease
Across the Lifespan

4. Youth Integrated Mental Health Centers
the “headspace”- like model

5. What is headspace? and Foundry?
● Stand alone one stop shop youth mental
health centers for young people ages 12-25
● Accessible (location & short wait time for
appointment)
● Low to no cost; serve everyone
● Provide 4 core components in youth
developed and friendly environment:
Ø Mental health support for mild-moderate issues
Ø Primary care support
Ø Alcohol and other drug early intervention
Ø Supported education and employment

6. Planning for the US-based Model
§ Working with Santa Clara County BHS to access
County Innovation Funds (MHSA) and
implement a 4 year pilot of two centers: San
Jose and Palo Alto/Mountain View
§ Providing technical assistance to several other
interested pilot sites across California and USA
§ Part of an international network implementing
these youth, integrated cared models.
§ Partnering with IDEO.org to create a new name,
identity and user-designed experience for the
U.S. version of the model.
Growing around the world:
ü headspace Australia- over
100 sites
ü headspace Denmark- 8
sites
ü headspace Israel – 1 site
ü Headstrong Ireland- 13
Jigsaw sites
ü Canada- BC- 5 sites and
soon more in Ontario and
Quebec

7. Youth Developed & Focused Marketing
Sarah vs. the Dreaded Butterflies:
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZvuZJSgQrg
Daniel vs. the Black Cloud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMg7q58LC4

8. Insights from Our US Market Research

9. How are headspace and Foundry innovative &
unique?
● Low to no cost
● Mild-moderate focus (no diagnosis
required; a public mental health care
model)
● Youth-centered, informed by Youth
Advisory Board
● Stigma-free / Normalizes mental health
● Youth-friendly, engaging, upbeat staff
● Strong youth outreach & marketing
● Integrated care (no wrong door)
● A consortium of youth serving agencies

10. headspace Youth Advisory Group (YAG)
● 27 youth ages 16-24 from Santa Clara
County
● Started February 2018, meet monthly
● Contribute to all elements of program
development including: intensive
sessions with IDEO.org on design and
brand development, physical locations,
conduct community presentations, etc.

11. High School Innovation Challenge

12. The Stanford Mental Health Innovation
Challenge June 2017
• 90 students from 26 different high
schools across two counties
• 40 mentors, staff, volunteers, 5 judges
• Pre-assigned teams of 5, mentors; social
innovation framework; 3 minute pitches
Goal: To give local students the opportunity to
deepen their understanding of the mental health
challenges that affect their communities and
develop innovative ideas to tackle these issues.
Through this event, increase knowledge and
awareness about mental health and social
innovation and practice what it takes to
effectively drive change.
o One $5,000 grand prize
o Four $1,000 prizes
o 1 year of mentoring & project support

13. The Stanford Mental Health Innovation
Challenge June 2017
Grand Prize Winner
Challenge prompt: Redefining Mental Health as a
Public Health Priority
Idea: Mind Yo Books –
Mental Health Book Fair
Challenge prompt #1
Increasing Access to Confidential, Affordable Mental
Health Services
Idea: “PS It’s OK” teacher-
student digital learning
Challenge prompt #2
Use of Media in Mental Health Stigma Reduction
Idea: Project Profile- stigma
reduction through stories of
lived experience
Challenge prompt #3
Defining and Normalizing Mental Health as a Core Aspect
of Life
Idea: “Outreach” peer-to-
peer program
Challenge prompt #4
Using Peer Influence Positively to Impact Mental Health
Idea: “Kind Minds”
elementary school game

14. Media & Mental Health
(News, Entertainment & Social)

15. The Complicated Relationship Between Social
Media & Mental Health
Researchers found a sudden increase in teens'
symptoms of depression, suicide risk factors and
suicide rates in 2012 — around the time when
smartphones became popular, researcher Jean
Twenge says.
Dec 17, 2017
(NPR Weekend
Edition), Lulu
Garcia Navarro
A platform for everything from seeking help... to live streaming one’s
suicide. Is it hurting more than helping? What needs to change?
“The Risk Of Teen
Depression And
Suicide Is Linked
To Smartphone
Use, Study Says”
-NPR,
December 2017

16. Media Portrayals of Suicide and Mental Health
“The way suicide is described
and depicted in the media can
actually raise the risk of
“copycat” behavior in a small
portion of those seeing or
hearing these depictions.”
- Jed Foundation
What do local teens think?
https://youtu.be/QVyOoG0iz7o

17. Media & Youth Suicide:
Best Practices for Reporting
1. PROVIDE A SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCE
2. DISCUSS WARNING SIGNS AND RISK FACTORS
3. AVOID INFORMATION ABOUT SUICIDE METHOD
4. FOCUS ON THE COMPLEXITY OF SUICIDE
5. AVOID SENSATIONAL LANGUAGE
www.reportingonsuicide.org

18. Media & Youth Suicide:
Safe Reporting Guidelines
• Media coverage of suicide deaths in the
Santa Clara County area, from 2008–2015
was found, overall, to deviate from
accepted safe suicide reporting guidelines.
• The most common violations included
descriptions of methods of suicide and
locations of suicide-related injury within the
text of the article.
• In 2015 only 40% of articles about suicide
included at least one suicide prevention
hotline number.
From: Epi-Aid 2016-018: Undetermined risk factors for suicide among youth, ages 10–24
— Santa Clara County, CA, 2016; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

19. Media & Youth Suicide:
Best Practices for Reporting and Storytelling
Key Takeaways:
• Hear first person perspectives from
youth on media influence.
• Understand the link between media
reporting/portrayal of suicide and mass
shootings and public health.
• Develop a trusted regional network of
media partners & mental health
professionals.
• Engage in skill building for early career
journalists & senior professionals.
• Uncover and highlight shared challenges
in following best practice guidelines.
• Review examples of compelling, non-
stigmatizing story ideas
Pre-Conference Symposium held
April 26, 2018 @ Microsoft Sunnyvale
50 news reporters & editors,
entertainment media producers,
social media leaders, public
information officers, student
journalists and advisors and suicide
prevention specialists
Video forthcoming!

20. Vicki Harrison, MSW
Stanford Center for Youth Mental
Health & Wellbeing
vickih@stanford.edu
@stanfordyouthmh Thank you!