Mental Health on Playing with Marbles

Brain Canada’s podcast is back and it is exploring youth mental health

A Brain Canada – Vocal Fry production, Playing with Marbles returns with Katie Jensen as host. This season is produced with support from RBC Future Launch, and it is all about young people and their mental health : six episodes, six people, six mental health conditions. 

Half of Canadians will have experienced mental illness by the age of 40. Young people are especially vulnerable to mental illness. Whether due to societal pressures, post-pandemic stress, or the current political climate, young Canadians often find themselves grappling with mental health issues at disproportionately high rates.

“One in four young people need to access mental health services every year. It’s actually becoming more and more present, and it’s not because we’re aware of it, it’s because the need is rising, and we need to acknowledge that and act on it now.”

Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada

Join host Katie Jensen and travel deep inside six unique brains. In this season of Playing with Marbles, you will learn first-hand about what it is like to be a young person living with anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, OCD, dissociative identity disorder, and an eating disorder. You’ll also hear from neuroscientists and clinicians. They will discuss what they think is actually going on inside our brains and some of the latest treatments out there.

“Every episode this season follows the story of a real person living with a real mental health condition. Since most mental illness starts when we’re young, that’s where we’re starting this season.”

Katie Jensen, host of Playing with Marbles

Season 3 of Playing with Marbles will feature Brain Canada-funded researchers Dr. Jo Henderson, Dr. Tamara Vanderwal and Dr. Sheena Josselyn, as well as special guests:

• Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada
• Dr. Brandon Unruh, MD, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Medical Director, Gunderson Residence McLean Hospital, Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
• Dr. Valerie Taylor, MD, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry. University of Calgary
• Dr. Jamie Feusner, psychiatrist, and researcher at CAMH, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Chief Medical Officer at NOCD.
• Elizabeth A. Bodalski, ADHD Researcher, PhD Student, University of South Carolina
• Shari Botwin, LCSW, Psychotherapist, Certified Trauma Expert in Court of Law, Book Author, International Media Contributor.

Now available wherever you get your podcasts.

Quick Facts:

• Globally, one in seven 10- to 19-year-olds experiences a mental health disorder.
• By the time people in Canada reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have, or will have had, mental illness. Importantly, young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness than any other age group.
• Up to 70 percent of mental health challenges begin during childhood or teenage years.
• The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the mental health of young people in Canada. Only 42 percent of youth in Canada aged 15 to 24 years old reported having excellent or very good mental health in late March and early April of 2020, compared to 62 percent in 2018—the largest drop of any age group.
• Less than 20 percent of youth struggling with their mental health receive appropriate treatment.