Dr. Meredith Gansner - Depression, Diagnosis & Digital Culture in Teens

Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!

Digital media is changing the way young people experience—and express—mental health struggles, particularly depression. Child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Meredith Gansner, joins us to discuss themes in her new book Teen Depression Gone Viral.

🔍 Topics We Explore:

• What inspired Teen Depression Gone Viral and the choice to focus on digital media’s role
• Current trends in teen depression—what’s driving the rise?
• Why are so many teens turning to social media for psychiatric education?
• How digital culture alters the presentation and self-understanding of depressive symptoms in adolescents
• Understanding the addictive properties of digital devices and their emotional withdrawal effects
• The risks of social media self-diagnosis—and how clinicians and parents can respond
• Social contagion and the viral spread of mental health content online
• Engaging teens who reject a depression diagnosis
• Screen time: symptom, cause, or both?
• When online communities are helpful—and when they’re harmful
• The critical role of sleep in teen mental health—and how screens disrupt it
• The corrosive impact of pornography
• Online identity-based diagnoses: ADHD, ASD, and the “diagnosis du jour” effect
• How social media shapes teens' attitudes toward psychiatric treatment
• Setting digital boundaries in ways that foster trust and connection

Meredith E. Gansner, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Clinically, she works at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she specializes in the evaluation and treatment of youth with mood disorders, self-injurious behaviors, and emerging psychiatric risk profiles.

Dr. Gansner’s research centers on the intersection of digital media use and adolescent psychopathology, with a particular focus on how online environments shape the presentation and course of depressive symptoms. She is widely published in the areas of psychiatric misdiagnosis, social contagion, and screen-related mental health trends, and is recognized as a leading expert in how digital culture influences youth mental health. Her new book, Teen Depression Gone Viral, was recently published by Guilford Press.