Four Lessons from The Mayo Lab Podcast for Mental Health Awareness Month

Since 1949, the United States has marked May as Mental Health Awareness Month. In 2023, we’re in the midst of a youth mental health crisis—with one in six American youth suffering from a mental illness each year, but only half receiving treatment, according to NAMI. 

That’s why awareness of mental health issues and action to address them are more important than ever. The Mayo Lab Podcast with David Magee and its companion podcast Inside the Mayo Lab—both of which launched earlier this year and wrapped up the first half of their first seasons in April—brought together key educators, researchers and advocates on mental health- and substance misuse-related issues. 

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we consolidated four key takeaways that podcast guests offered so far on season one:

1. Daneel Konnar: Just saying “mental health” doesn’t necessarily solve the problem, or even start the conversation. 

To learn about the mental health of children, teens and young adults, who better to hear from than a college student himself? On this run’s final episode of Inside The Mayo Lab, we sat down with Daneel Konnar, a student at the University of Mississippi. 

Among other points, Konnar dove into how more discussion of mental health hasn’t necessarily led to better results for himself or his peers. 

“[Mental health] used to be seen as this taboo … And now with our generation, one problem that I’m seeing now … is that we just throw the terms ‘mental health’ and ‘mental wellness’ out. Well, what does that actually mean?” he asked. “We can’t just say, ‘Oh, let’s check in on your mental health and your wellness.’ What does that actually mean?”

Konnar said, however, that he’s hopeful that breaking down the stigma will eventually lead to more honest, meaningful conversations that will positively change lives. 

“Just recognizing that it’s a real thing will hopefully change the narrative to let students and the generations as they come up understand that these are things we all as humans struggle with,” he said.

2. Matthew Stefanko: Language matters, especially when it comes to men’s mental health. 

The CEO and founder of MANUAL, a men’s health company, Matthew Stefanko has dedicated his professional life to improving the mental wellbeing of young men. 

For Stefanko, one of the biggest barriers to mental healing for men is language. The typical buzzy phrases in the mental health space—”How are you feeling?” or “If you need help, reach out”—he argues, simply don’t resonate. 

“All of that language is stuff that is totally at odds with these guys. They don’t want to deal with their feelings. They want to optimize. They want to self-improve,” Stefanko said. “But that’s not the messaging that they’re receiving. And so, they stay away from it.”

MANUAL is trying a different approach when it comes to talking to men about their mental health challenges, focusing on self-improvement and personal growth rather than feelings and vulnerability, though those things eventually come up. 

“Sometimes the first conversation [with MANUAL] is about sleep or sexual performance or just fitness or whatever it might be, because that’s something they want to improve on right now. They might not want to improve on their mental health, but they want to sleep better and they want to be better at sex,” Stefanko said.

3. Dr. Nicole Ashpole: Marijuana experimentation oftentimes indicates an untreated mental health concern.

As much of the U.S. has legalized recreational marijuana use, cannabis has become less and less stigmatized. This is especially true among young people, who often see marijuana as harmless. 

But Dr. Nicole Ashpole, talking with The Mayo Lab Podcast, cautioned listeners from that assumption, mainly because even researchers just don’t know the long-term impacts of marijuana use. New methods for consumption, such as vaping or oils, only further complicate the picture. 

Another major myth many Americans, both teens and parents have internalized, is that marijuana use in middle or high school is just about having fun. But, for Dr. Ashpole, it’s easy for cannabis use to mask deeper mental health concerns. 

“Are they doing this because they were trying to relax and have fun at a party every once in a while? Or is this because they need to talk to a therapist, they need to see a doctor and maybe talk about mental health in a bigger picture?” Dr. Ashpole asked. 

4. Alexis Lee: Sometimes you have to teach yourself about mental health. It doesn’t have to be that way.  

On the first episode of The Mayo Lab Podcast, Alexis Lee, program manager for The Mayo Lab, opened up about her experience as a NCAA volleyball player—and how mental health fit, or didn’t fit, into life as an athlete. 

“In all my life as an athlete, you’re taught how to run drills. You’re taught the best form to work out in, so you don’t hurt yourself. You’re taught how to fuel your body,” Lee said. “But you’re not really taught how to have mental health conversations. You’re not taught how to take care of the mental side of the game other than being mentally strong.”

After a series of personal struggles, including injury, led to her leaving the volleyball team, however, Lee realized she needed to learn about how to care for her mental wellbeing. 

“Ever since 2016, [I’ve been] learning about mental health, how to take care of myself, how to share that wisdom with others, and that’s really why I’m here,” she said. 

It’s true: mental health is personal. But conversations about it don’t need to be secret, shut-off and stigmatized. Encouraging these genuine, transformative conversations is a key aspect of the mission of The Mayo Lab.