Nobel Conference Blog

Growing Up Unequal

Whether it’s disabilities, race, or other factors, the situation a child is born into can lead to stark mental health inequities later in life.

More Connected Than Ever, More Alone Than Before

Many uses of digital technology, such as opportunities to find new social groups, can benefit mental health. But not all uses are positive.

Hard to Navigate: Growing Up In A Rapidly Changing World

Growing up is never easy. But in today’s world, rocked by old issues and connected by novel technologies, growing up is accompanied by new challenges.

Nobel Conference Speaker Joseph P. Gone

Dr. Joseph P. Gone. His conference lecture is titled, “Anticolonial Approaches to Community Mental Health Services for American Indians: Enacting AlterNative Psy-ence.” Native American people suffer mental health issues just like any other community in the world. Many community members struggle with substance abuse, depression, and associated distress. But living on reservations also presents unique […]

Nobel Conference Speaker Daniel Eisenberg

During the pandemic, it has not been difficult to identify new, pressing challenges faced by young people—challenges that can have a significant impact on their mental health. Likewise, we can quite readily identify the impacts of new technologies on young persons’ mental health. However, while it is undoubtedly the case that both the pandemic and […]

Nobel Conference Speaker G. Nic Rider

Dr. G. Nic Rider. Their lecture at the conference is titled, “Radical Healing and Inclusive Change-Making: Centering Transgender and Gender Diverse Communities.” Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people–those whose experiences of their gender do not match the gender they were assigned at birth–face substantial health disparities when compared to their cisgender counterparts (persons whose gender […]

Nobel Conference Speaker Manuela Barreto

Dr. Manuela Barreto, Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Exeter. Her lecture will be “It takes a village to make someone lonely.” In 2018, 55,000 people completed an online survey, the “Loneliness Experiment.” It was the largest study of loneliness to date. Among its findings: young people (16 to 24) reported feeling lonely […]

Nobel Conference speaker Brendesha Tynes

Dr. Brendesha Tynes is Dean’s Professor of Equity and Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Southern California. Her lecture at the conference is “Adolescents’ daily race-related experiences and mental health outcomes.” Access to digital media permeates our society, perhaps particularly among young people. In one recent survey of middle and high schoolers, […]

Nobel Conference Speaker Meryl Alper

Dr. Meryl Alper is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University, where she is a Faculty Scholar with the Northeastern University Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research. Her lecture at the conference will be “Supporting Mental Health among Autistic Youth in the Digital Age.” The impact of technology on young people’s mental […]

Nobel Conference speaker Priscilla Lui

Dr. Priscilla Lui is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Southern Methodist University. Her lecture at the conference will be “Scientific understanding of racism and discrimination experiences: A path toward mental health equity.” Young people are exhibiting symptoms of depression at alarmingly high rates, and responding to them with maladaptive coping mechanisms such as substance abuse […]