By India McCarty
Stress levels and general mental health issues are on the rise in teens. This expert has an answer as to why — and what parents can do to combat it.
“Adolescent mental health is best understood by understanding what adolescents are going through, and there is new science that helps explain it,” journalist Matt Richtel told CNN. “They have a highly sensitized brain in a period of time when the world is moving very quickly, and they are receiving a ton of information. Sometimes what they experience is a kind of information overload that looks like intense rumination, anxiety and other mental health distress.”
Richtel recently published How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence after spending four years researching teens.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matt Richtel’s investigation of adolescence is out now!🎉
Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls HOW WE GROW UP “essential reading”, and The New Yorker praises the book’s “warmth and sympathy.” pic.twitter.com/kvGaugpfxF
Related: Is Social Media Really Causing the Youth Mental Health Crisis?
— Mariner Books (@MarinerBooks) July 8, 2025
While he acknowledged smartphones and social media have a hand in this issue, Richtel also pointed to our “fast-changing world” that can make anyone, teen or adult, feel unsure.
So, what can parents do to help their teens feel more stable?
“We need to teach our kids coping skills,” Richtel said, listing methods like taking a cold shower to calm down, or exercising to get extra energy out and “allow your neurotransmitters and neurochemicals to settle down.”
He also counseled parents to let their children share their emotions without trying to jump in and rationalize everything.
“It’s hard for them to be rational in the midst of overload, so wait until they’re ready to listen to you,” Richtel said. “Parents really are the biggest influencers in their kids’ lives.”
A synopsis of How We Grow Up shared that Richtel explores and answers questions like “What explains adolescent behaviors, risk-taking, reward-seeking, and the ongoing mental health crisis? How does adolescence shape the future of the species? What is the nature of adolescence itself?”
Richtel spoke to Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper about his new book, saying, “Our understanding of adolescence has radically shifted. And adolescence itself has radically shifted.”
“The upshot of those two things is this: If you really want to understand what’s happening with the adolescent and the phone, you got to understand the adolescent. And if you really want to know how to parent, or educate, or be an adolescent, it’s vital to understand how this pivotal life period has shifted and how the science has shifted,” he continued.
Richtel added, “I believe this is a gift. The reason it’s a gift is that we don’t have any choice but to help our teens embrace this crisis. If they do, they are going to be equipped to be happier longer than we ever were.”
Richtel’s research and new book explore important new factors of the ongoing conversation about the teen mental health crisis and give parents a different view of what their child might be going through.
Read Next: Want to Improve Your Teens’ Mental Health? Expert Says Do This…
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