IJB partners with TVO Today to launch new podcast In Our Heads

Out now, the series is based on the Investigative Journalism Bureau’s inaugural project with the Toronto Star, Generation Distress

June 14, 2023

Toronto – Generation Distress, the Investigative Journalism Bureau’s award-winning inaugural investigation with the Toronto Star, is now the subject of a TVO Today podcast called In Our Heads. The series takes a deep dive into the spiking youth mental health crisis across Canada and the dangers of systemic gaps in the country’s response.

Generation Distress is the largest-ever Canadian cross-border investigation, involving more than 70 researchers, reporters, academics and journalism students from 10 Canadian and U.S. universities. The ongoing project, launched in 2020, is based on thousands of documents and mental health data from 40 universities and colleges, exclusive public polling and interviews with more than 200 young people, academics, clinicians, post-secondary administrators and teachers.

“Generation Distress is a legacy journalistic project with remarkable impact, coming alive again in audio format through the deeply felt and powerful voices of its characters,” said Robert Cribb, director of the IJB. “TVO Today has recast the project’s deep body of research into a compelling podcast narrative, shedding new light on one of the most pressing social issues of our time.”

Hosted by TVO’s Tiffany Lam, weekly episodes will feature candid conversations with youth, experts and others about how young people are struggling today, the challenges of finding mental healthcare services and emerging ideas to help address the crisis.

“In Our Heads untangles what teenagers and young adults are facing right now,” says John  Ferri, VP of Current Affairs and Documentaries at TVO. “The series is compassionate, insightful and, at times, heart-rending. You need to hear this.” 

New episodes of In Our Heads will drop Wednesdays on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

How to heal with the land – In Our Heads

Reconnecting with their roots has proven to be most transformative for Indigenous youth struggling with mental health – so what would land-based mental health and addictions treatment look like? Mental-health systems often try to treat patients with the same techniques. However, not all strategies work for everyone. This is where we find land-based treatment, an Indigenous approach to mental health, unlike what is generally prescribed to people in need. Land-based treatment, stemming from traditional knowledge, focuses on the power of nature to heal and re-centre an individual.  How does it work? What can Indigenous concepts of wellness teach us about healing? What does success mean for youth coming out the other side of mental-health challenges? And why would some communities benefit from something different than the Western approach to mental-health treatment?   In the final episode of “In Our Heads,” host Tiffany Lam reports on how cultural competence in mental-health care can affect health outcomes. The episode features a graduate from Gwekwaadziwin Miikan on Manitoulin Island, a publicly funded, land-based mental health and addiction program for young adults between the ages of 19 and 29.  Read the transcript here: https://www.tvo.org/article/how-to-heal-with-the-land ***  If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, visit any of the following resources for support:    Wellness Together Canada  https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA    To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:  call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth  call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults    Kids Help Phone  Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868.    The Government of Ontario’s Mental Health Support Resources  https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support    —  Stay up to date with what’s happening in Ontario: https://www.tvo.org/  Donate to TVO: http://tvo.org/give Listen to other TVO podcasts: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts  Follow TVO on social media:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetvo/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/tvo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVO  Subscribe to TVO Media Education Group newsletters: https://www.tvo.org/newsletters  Get the TVO Today app:  App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-today/id1616182112  Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.tvo.tvomediaapp&p  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1. How to heal with the land 48:39
2. When your therapist is an app 36:39
3. The risks of youth psychiatric medication 42:34
4. How one hub model reimagines mental-health-care access 37:25
5. The costs of success at post-secondary schools 44:41

Episode 1: What do we mean by ‘mental health crisis’?

Episode 2: The costs of success at post-secondary schools

Episode 3: How one hub model reimagines mental health care access

Episode 4: The risks of youth psychiatric medication

Episode 5: When your counselor is an app

Episode 6: Reclaiming ‘madness’ and embracing neurodivergence

Listen to a series trailer and the first episode of TVO Today’s In Our Heads. Subscribe, review, and share to help others discover the series.

About the IJB:

The Investigative Journalism Bureau is an impact-driven, collaborative newsroom that brings together professional and student journalists, academics, graduate students and media organizations to tell deeply-reported stories in the public interest. Based at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the IJB has published numerous investigations in partnership with the Toronto Star and received a string of national reporting honors since its inception in 2020.

Media contact: ijb.dlsph@utoronto.ca

Find the Investigative Journalism Bureau on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.