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Mind Dive, A Podcast for Mental Health Professionals

Welcome to Mind Dive, Menninger's podcast MindDive episode 66 cover image featuring a headshot of Dr. Meredith Gansner for mental health professionals, with Robert Boland, MD, senior vice president and chief of staff, and Kerry Horrell, PhD.

Podcast Focus

Each month, they dive into topics that fascinate them as clinical professionals and hopefully fascinate you, too. They examine dilemmas faced by professionals here at Menninger and colleagues across the nation while working with some of the most challenging cases. They explore the latest research and other trending topics on the minds of psychiatrists, psychologists and others who are interested in the treatment and study of the mind.

Drs. Boland and Horrell also make it a goal to cover information that gets little attention in formal training programs.

Most Recent Episodes

Episode 66: The Digital Dilemma: Screen Time and Teen Depression with Dr. Meredith Gansner

Dr. Meredith Gansner discusses the complex relationship between teen depression and social media, drawing from her groundbreaking research and clinical experience as a child psychiatrist at Boston Children's Hospital. Far from offering simplistic condemnations of digital technology, she presents a nuanced view of how social media both helps and harms vulnerable young people.

The conversation reveals how depressed teens often turn to social media as a coping mechanism—finding temporary relief from symptoms through distraction, connection, and validation online. Yet this same engagement can paradoxically intensify isolation, disrupt healthy behaviors like sleep and exercise, and expose teens to potentially harmful content about depression and suicide that doesn't follow safe messaging guidelines.

Rather than advocating for rigid restrictions, she encourages a family-based approach to screen time, urging parents to model healthy digital habits and prioritize teaching digital literacy over relying solely on parental control tools. Dr. Gansner emphasizes the importance of open, ongoing conversations about digital media, steering away from abstinence-only mindsets. For more insights on supporting teens in the digital age, listeners are encouraged to check out her book, Teen Depression Gone Viral.

Transcript

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Meet the Hosts

Dr. Boland is an educator at heart with decades of experience teaching and mentoring psychiatry residents. In addition to his roles at Menninger, he is the executive vice chair of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.

A psychologist on our Compass Program for Young Adults, Dr. Horrell also loves teaching. She completed a predoctoral internship and postgraduate fellowship at Menninger and Baylor College of Medicine.

Both are well read, love canines (and have to resist rescuing too many) and are curious about many subjects.

Join Us

We hope you’ll join us on our podcast journey. And if you have a topic in mind that you would like us to dive into, drop us a note.

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