Let's start this off with a question. Would you want to publicly discuss your mental health issues? We're talking about explaining your fears, anxieties, and worries in depth to strangers. I'd be scared to do that. And so were two local teenagers. But they faced their fears and did it. Now, they're leading by example and hoping to inspire others to do the same.
Lizzy Thurow and Autumn Heffernan, seniors at the University School of Milwaukee, host the podcast Wish You Knew. It's a podcast hosted by teens for teens. The two co-hosts talk about their own mental health challenges and interview other teenagers about their struggles.
“If you asked me 2 years ago, like, 'Are you going to come on a podcast and share your mental health journey?' No, like no. Why would I do that?" Lizzy Thurow said.
Little did she know, she would go on to record about 15 episodes talking about mental health. The podcast is recorded inside a room owned by the Friendship Circle of Wisconsin in Fox Point.
“I’ve had my struggle with mental health, and I wanted to stay silent, but I was presented this opportunity, and I knew if I could be that change and help people not feel alone like I did, like my uncle did, I wanted to do that," Thurow said.
Her great-uncle died by suicide. For teens and young adults, the suicide rate increased by 62 percent from 2007 to 2021, according to a 2023 Centers for Disease Control study. The Wish You Knew podcast hopes to reach other teens, so they don’t feel alone in their battle with mental health struggles.
“The more stories you hear, the less there is that this is the only mental health journey there is. So when we have diverse, you know, stories, we get that more well-rounded view of (mental health issues)," Heffernan said.
The podcast started in 2023. New hosts are picked each year. It was started by the Friendship Circle because the organization wanted to give teens a platform to share their voices.
“I have a teenage kid myself now, and when adults talk to teens, it’s just not always the same as when teens talk to their peers. It’s a much more genuine, real conversation. And they just kind of relax, pull the microphone up and talk about their story," Levi Stein, the president and CEO of the Friendship Circle of Wisconsin, said.
Watch - Podcast for teens by teens opens up conversation about mental health
The podcast episodes aren't published immediately. There’s an oversight committee consisting of a social worker, psychiatrist, and psychologist who screen each episode before airing. The committee has stopped episodes from being published after realizing the interviewee may not have been ready to share their story.
"So while we recorded (the episode) we didn't air it. And a year later, we reached back out to her again and we said, 'Do you think you're ready now?' And she said, 'You have no idea how terrified I was of it airing then.' Because the next week she ended up back (in) a hospital for mental health," Stein said.
A new episode airs every other week. You can listen to Wish You Knew anywhere you get podcasts. You can follow the podcast or submit yourself for an interview by going to the Friendship Circle website.
"The real message is that you're not alone, and teens, a lot of them, feel that they are alone, and we want them to stop feeling like that," Heffernan said.
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