The struggle for a life worth living: the social roots of youth suicide

The struggle for a life worth living: the social roots of youth suicide

Author: Charts & Leisure September 25, 2024 Duration: 30:47

In this episode of Unravelling, Mary interviews Anna Mueller, a sociologist and leading expert on youth suicide and prevention. Anna’s groundbreaking work examines the social roots of suicide and how these underlying factors create vulnerability in young people. Drawing from her fieldwork and new book, Life under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What to Do About Them, she sheds light on suicide clusters and the social contagion of suicide. Challenging the common view of suicide as an individual issue, Anna emphasizes the importance of understanding the societal pressures that impact young people. She discusses how certain communities, with rigid cultural norms, create an environment where deviation from perfection is met with shame—putting youth at greater risk. 

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There’s a thread that connects our inner lives to the culture we live in, and Unravelling pulls on it to see what emerges. This isn’t a lecture series, but a conversation guided by therapist Kurt White and journalist Mary Wilson, who bring their distinct perspectives to every discussion. They explore how mental health is woven into everything from our daily fitness routines and societal pressures to the art we consume and the relationships we keep. In each episode, you’ll hear from experts who study the mind alongside individuals sharing their personal, lived experiences, creating a dialogue that feels both intellectually rigorous and deeply human. The aim is to move beyond simple definitions, examining how anxiety, resilience, joy, and struggle shape our collective reality. Produced by Charts & Leisure, this podcast provides a space for nuance, challenging the idea that our psychological worlds exist in a vacuum. It’s for anyone who has ever felt the tension between their private thoughts and the public world, offering not easy answers but a more textured understanding. By listening, you become part of a broader exploration into how compassion, for ourselves and our society, can actually be built from a place of genuine curiosity.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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