this sunday, america's mental health crisis more americans say they are greszed and struggling >> let's get all americans the mental health services they

need >> my conversation with democratic senator john fetterman of pennsylvania, who opens up about his battle with depression >> i really scared my kids, and they thought, you won, dad, why aren't we enough why are you still so sad >> were there ever moments when you were there seeking treatment when you started to lose hope? >> i felt like there wasn't any hope sometimes >> his message on why seeking treatment saved his life and why he hopes sharing his story will help others come out of the darkness he experienced. >> as long as you stop the conversation and agree you'll never harm yourself, then you have hope. plus, searching for solutions. as the nation sees a rise in suicides and drug overdoses, what more can be done to help? and what role does social media play >> every research institution that has looked at this is pointing to social media as the problem. >> a bipartisan conversation on the path forward to improve

mental health care with republican governor spencer cox of utah and from colorado. and a special panel ofexperts on the front lines of this crisis former democratic congressman patrick kennedy of long island, and activist and podcast host victoria garrett brown welcome to sunday and a special edition of "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with kristen welker good sunday morning. the u.s. surgeon general calls it the defining public health crisis of our time -- mental health one in five adults experiences mental illness every year. depression rates are at an all-time high. a third of adults report being diagnosed with depression

sometime during their lifetime, a figure that is rising. nearly 50,000 americans died by suicide last year, more than any year on record the president says we are falling short. >> in 2020, less than half of all adults with mental illness diagnoses received care for it less than half for children, the numbers are even worse nearly 70% of our kids who seek care for mental health or addiction cannot get it. for all those brave enough and strong enough to seek help, and i mean that, brave enough and strong enough to seek help, we have to do better. >> in 2021, more than 12 million american adults thought about suicide, 1.7 million attempted it the youth meantal health crisis is overwhelming emergency rooms. nearly 60% of high school girls reported persistent feelings of

sadness or hopelessness. and for our nation's veterans, the crisis line is fielding a record number of cries for help. this morning in a special broadcast on the nation's meantal health crisis, we will have a conversation about all of it how do we talk about mental health how do we access treatment and care and maybe most importantly, how do we pay for it we start with pennsylvania senator john felderman barely a month into his service in washington after experiencing a stroke in may of last year, the senator checked himself in to walter reed national military medical center in february for clinical depression. i sat down with him in his senate office. senator fedderman, welcome to "meet the press. thank you for being here >> thank you >> when did you first realize that you were struggling deeply with depression? >> oh, that -- that started -- that started -- i got into the -- fully in life, that was the first time i entered the

race, and that would have been in january of '21 that i was seeing a lot of pressure and a lot of stress and everything and just kind of like a slow burn, how it kept going along, along, along. and i knew that my health was continuing to deteriorate. and then after the stroke hit, then i was on the other side, and it was a different kind of a challenge because i knew that everything and anything is going to be weaponized by the other side >> and you described this as a watershed moment at what point did you know you needed real help, that you needed to check yourself into a hospital >> at that point, i was able to keep myself some in check, where it's like i can hold myself together until the election. but that was october 25th, and the election was i think

november 8th so i was able to kind of keep myself enough to keep it together and then after the election, that's when things actually accelerated and got worse. and at that point, i wasn't able to leave bed and my kids -- i really scared my kids. and they thought, you won, dad why aren't we enough why are you still so sad why are you even more sad? and it was hard to explain why i was. and of course a 9-year-old child wouldn't understand that and it was -- it was awful and that's when it was -- continued to get more and more intense, and i pleaded not to go down to d.c. for kind of the orientation in the middle of november and was -- i tried to explain, i'm, like, look, i'm

probably going to need some time to get better. that's where i was at. >> how did you make that decision where did you find the strength to say i'm going to actually check myself in to walter reed >> oh, okay. walter reed, there was nowhere else to go and this is the conversation i've had with myself and anybody that allows -- or they're unable to di dress their depression, they start to have conversations with themselves about self-harm. and things continue to kind of tick off the list. and then i kind of hit the emergency brake to really go further along, was, like, i can't be -- i can't be a blueprint for my children.

i can't let them be left alone or not to understand why he would have done that earlier in the year, two friends of mine -- one had a stroke, and the other one had a bad heart attack, and they both have young children and they took their lives. and it was very devastating, and not because they were weak or i was strong or whatever it was just i got lucky. and i knew i needed help i didn't know what that really looked like, but it was presented, and i reluctantly kind of -- oh, no, i don't need to go in there but figured out, yes, this was the right choice, and that's where i ended up >> i know this is so hard to talk about, but just to be clear about what you're saying, you're saying that you had thoughts of

harming yourself >> yeah. yeah i had -- i've had that -- i've said that publicly at first i didn't. i thought at that time, well, if i can be of most service or i can be helpful to people, it's like i have to be fully honest about it and that's what i decided to do. and it would be my goal or is to -- if -- if somebody could hear this kind of a message and this conversation that we're having might make a different choice >> you did have a team around you, family around you who loved you very much, who loves you very much. >> yeah. >> you describe a bit of an intervention what did they say to you to make -- get you to make that final step to go and actually get help, to check yourself in for treatment? >> they just said that we

really -- they were very -- it just really got to that fork in the road, and is, like, would i have no idea what life would look like if i don't take advantage of this amazing opportunity, or what could possibly happen, and i could maybe even get better, even though i didn't think i could get better i decided i'll take the chance >> you also took the chance to speak publicly about it. >> mm-hmm. >> how worried fowere you about sharing, about being honest about what you were really going through? >> well, when it got released where i was and where i was going, it was a big story, and so i had assumed that, you know, that would be the end of my career and i don't know what kind of

impact that would have on my family or anything so, i really didn't know how -- what would happen at that point. >> were you scared >> yeah. i was, you know, desolate. for the first couple weeks >> can you talk about what it was like those first few days of being in treatment >> just meeting with people there and meeting other people that were there, as well and my family would visit. my brothers would visit. and i really wasn't really -- i wasn't -- i didn't like to have a lot of conversations i just kind of wanted to be left alone and just stay in bed >> were there ever moments when you were there seeking treatment when you startled to lose hope

>> yeah. every -- every day would end with "why? you know, like, it's a depression joke. every day. everyone day i felt like there wasn't any hope sometimes. and, like, what do i have left and feeling that there was no hope is what kind of drove me to that place and that's why i want people to know, that no matter how bad it might look right now, i'm begging you, it's not that bad it's not that bad. and even if you think that's true, hold on. just you have to hold on and you can't imagine how much better it can get if you make the investment and the commitment to just hold that line and work to get better on that >> what should people who are suffering with depression know about the treatment that you've received

what was it like every day was it a grueling process? was it a hopeful process >> yeah, well, to anyone that's feeling that right now, it's, like, i'm one of yours and i know how much pain it is and i don't really see it more different of a health challenge like cancer or heart -- although i have a heart -- you know, i have heart -- heart challenges too. and so, but it's real, and somebody may not look amount you physically -- it's like having nothing wrong physically, but you can't get out of bed it's a real thing. and something is wrong with you. but it's something that needs to be addressed and if you don't address it, you run the risk of a very dark

conversation with yourself and you have to promise yourself that you must never, ever, ever harm yourself. and if you're able to make that promise to yourself and to your family and to people that you p love, that allows you to, okay, that's off, so now i can face the depression and some of these other issues, and you know that you're able to deal with it. >> and you've talked about the fact that you made a choice in that moment. what was the choice that you made >> that made -- it wasn't so there was a choice made to me. it was more kind of like a life, a life that i thought was gone it was actually still there. and that gave me the kind of joy that this idea that i get a

second chance, i'm able to -- i'm able to be parent of their lives again and i'm able to get back into my life. and that gave me something to really, you know, double up my effort to really get -- get together >> your doctors advised you to stay off of social media how important was that to your recovery >> oh, everybody told me that. everybody does anybody walking down the corner would say, yeah, don't -- stay off social media and i made the mistake i had stayed off of it, but i made the mistake of -- to check it out in i think it was either somewhere in late -- or november, early december of 2022 and then it was kind of, like, oh, wow. it wasn't the things said, because i assumed that those were, but it was the volume, the volume, just the -- i mean, like, where is this coming from? like, where can there be so much

of it? it's, like, would this be the rest of my life? look what it's done to me. and more importantly, what has this done to my family my kids are afraid to go back -- they left social media behind, and we stopped posting family pictures and things like that. it's just astonishing that so many people want to take the time to hop online and to say things to a stranger that never did anything to you, especially, you know, members of my family >> do you think that social media may have made your depression worse at the time >> oh, yeah. anybody -- it's an accelerant, absolutely >> are you back on it? >> am i back on it selectively. maybe to post something. but i don't go around, like,

hey, leapt me find something really, you know -- you know that, yeah, there's going to be some mean things being said or whatever you know, i just -- i don't have to verify it myself. i just assume it's going on. and i would just warn anybody that -- social media -- i've never noticed anyone to believe that their health -- their mental health has been supported by spending any kind of time on social media and if they do, i 'd to meet tha person, who that is. >> let's go back to your recovery at a certain point, the medical team came to you and said you were in remission. what was that moment like? >> wow it's amazing you used that exact word yes. absolutely the lead doctor sat down, and i was thinking, okay, what's this? and he's, like, we've concluded your depression is in remission. and i was, like, really?

really and it was -- to me, it felt like you're getting pardoned or -- you know, kind of really, really because i had no idea. i didn't know how long i would be there or -- you know, the people -- the people observe the same things i feel and how i'm feeling differently inside and then when that was value dated, it was another kind of, like, wow, really? and that was kind of, like, the second part of the one-two punch that really allowed me to fully just get together and realize that i do have a life to come back to. >> what was it like once you left and you started reentering life >> i think it's just more -- i remind myself just how grateful i am it's really just grateful. and anyone that has put themselves up to the brink and

realized just how awful it feels, and it's so, so dark and awful, that to be able to get that close to it, to know i don't ever -- will ever get back to that. i will never allow myself to come back to that. and i've had a lot of challenges here over the year my father over the summer, he just collapsed in the kitchen and was -- died for 20 minutes and was on a ventilator and in a coma and i got the message actually walking out of this very room that we're in right now, and i found out what happened, and i jumped in the car and drove up to my parents' house, and i visited my father, unconscious in the hospital. and that was -- i never had -- a chance to have a conversation with him but my father would visit again

and again and again to me at walter reed. but now, it was my duty and honor to visit with him. and despite after such a catastrophic heart attack, he now is back and has made a virtual, 100% recovery >> just finally, senator, you could have tried to deal with this by not being completely honest about everything you were going through. why has it been so important for you to be 100% honest with the american public, with your constituents, about your health journey over this past year? >> well, it's -- it's a risk that i wanted totake because i wanted to help people and know that i don't want them to suffer the way -- or put any kinds of despair that i've been in. and if that conversation helps,

then i'm going to continue to do that >> our thanks to the senator for that conversation. if you are struggling, the suicide and crisis lifeline has support. calm or text 988 to connect with a crisis counselor, orb visit 988lifeline.org. when we come back, is social media to blame for our children's mental health republican governor spencer cox of utah and democratic governor jared polis of colorado join me next

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and learn how abbvie can help you save. welcome back a bipartisan group of 42 state attorneys general is suing meta, arguing the social media company designed features on instagram and other apps to purposefully addict children and teens. up to 95% of teens 13 to 17 report using social media

platforms with more than a third saying they use social media almost constantly. joining me now are the chair and vice chair of the national governors association, republican governor spencer cox of utah and democratic governor jared polis of colorado. they're initiative is an effort to encourage civil dialogue among leaders. welcome to "meet the press," boefts of you. >> thank you >> well, let's start by talking -- it is great to have you both here. leapt's start by talking about the youth mental health crisis the surgeon general, as you know, has called it the defining public health issue of our time. governor cox, i want to start with you do you agree with the surgeon general? >> i absolutely agree with the surgeon general, and i want to give a quick shout-out to governor phil murphy of new jersey, who was the former chair of the national governors association, who took this issue on as his initiative for a year.

we absolutely believe this is the issue of our time. we have seen a 63% increase in persistent loneliness and sadness over young women especially in the past 10 to 12 years in the state of utah again, suicide rates going up, depression, anxiety, self-harm rates skyrocketing and what we know also is it corresponds with social media becoming ubiquitous and cell phones becoming ubiquitous with our teenagers. those numbers you cited from the surgeon general are deeply troubling and really sad we have to take control of this. >> we are going to talk about social media, and i appreciate your bringing it up. but governor polis, let me just have you weigh in on how the surgeon general has characterized the enormity of this crisis. >> well, i think people of all ages are facing increased pressure and stress from a lot of causes, especially coming out of the pandemic. in colorado, we have an i matter

program that provides free counseling sessions for every student in our schools we e've had over 51,000 sessions with our young people who don't nowhere to turn and access professional help they need to avoid depression and anxiety, risk of self-harm. we think it's helping, but the need is great to make sure people of all ages have access to the mental health support services they need to thrive >> let's talk about smooepd as it relates to our youth. governor cox, you have put a lot of blame, as you just did here, on social media. in fact, utah became the first state in the nation to actually pass legislation designed to limit teens' use of social media. why do you think that was the right move and what do you think it's accomplishes do far? >> look, again, we want to be data driven in all of this, so we've been working with experts across the country, the smartest people that have looked at all

of the data, all of the research, and have concluded -- again, i think it's obvious to anyone who spends any time on social media or has kids -- i have four kids i've seen what's happened to them as they've spent time on social media and their friends, that this is absolutely causing these terrible increases, these hockey stick-like increases that we are seeing in anxiety, depression, and self-harm amongst our youth. by the way, it's bad for adults, too, but especially bad for our young people so, look, if you saw a 63% increase in cancer amongst young women in our country, we would be moving heaven and earth to do anything possible to change that and yet, we've kind of just sat on our hands and said, i guess this is the new normal that's unacceptable in utah. so, we passed the most aggressive legislation in the country to hold social media companies accountable. we're still in the process of implementing that. we've sued meta, sued tiktok we're taking a page -- they've

taken a page sadly out of the tobacco loblobby they know this is harming our kids they're doing everything possible to take advantage of our kids for their own gain. we won't stand for that. we're still pushing forward. we don't know what the results are yet, but we're confident we're going to do everything we can to protect our kids. >> governor cox, is there anything to be gained from social media for example, could kids find a sense of community there could they find a sense of identity there do you see any upside to it? >> sure. yes. there's definitely upside to social media when used properly and in the correct way but, see, that's not how these apps are designed. that's the problem they're designed to addict our kids, very intentionally, and these addictive features make it impossible for our kids to get the upside, the benefit out of that without all of the downside again, the access that they get to just terrible content, the

rabbit holes they end up going down, these algorithms that are destroying lives so, somebody has to step in. we're not trying to ban social media completely from your kids. we're trying to make it safe for your kids. >> governor polis, would you be open to more restrictions on social media in your state >> i think the responsibility belongs to the parents, not the government i have a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old we don't allow them on social media yet. we'll be having the conversation with our 12-year-old son soon in an appropriate way, allowing him to access that but i certainly agree with the diagnosis that governor cox did, and i have some sympathy for that approach. but i think at the end of the day, the government can't parent kids it's up to the responsibility of parents to step up i think in many ways it's an educational effort for outreach of parents many parents don't understand the full threat of different social media for their kids, and i think more parents need to step up and take on that

responsibility >> let's talk about a recent study by the cdc, which found student who is identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or nonheterosexual are about two times more likely than their heterosexual peers to feel persistently sad or hopeless, and almost 1 in 4 attempted suicide during this previous year governor polis, how big of a crisis is that how do you address that piece of this >> so, your question to governor cox about the upside of social media, there's a great potential for finding community there. imagine growing up the only gay kid in a conservative, rural community, thinking you're the only person in the world and finding there are others like you facing the same issues you face, being able to work through those issues there are upsides to this community. but there's also a need to show everybody. schools educate everybody, regardless of how you are or who you love, in every part of the state and every part of the country. we need to make sure we meet the

needs of every student >> governor cox, utah has joined 21 other states across the country, banning gender-affirming care for minors, including hormone treatments what do you say to members of the medical community, families, kids who identify as being transgender, who say that, this type of gender-affirming care helps, benefits their mental health makes them feel less sad and less depressed >> well, i would say that there's still debate in the medical community about whether or not that's actually true. we put a pause on those surgeries and those hormone therapies until we can get more information. until that debate can be better settled, that we're not doing more harm to the young people than good. i want to respond to something that governor polis said because i think it's important i think parents should be responsible for social media and it's the parents who are asking us for help they're desperate to get more

help because what the companies have done, found a way to get around parents we're providing more tools for parents. we're not trying as government to parent these kids we want parents to actually have control over what their kids are able to do with social media >> i want to end on a personal note with both of you. governor cox, i'll start with you. you hopefully heard my conversation with senator fetterman. the male suicide rate is four-times higher than it is for women. and men make up about 80% of all suicides governor cox, you've talked about experiencing suicidal thoughts when you were younger can you share with us, what do you think made the difference for you? >> yeah, i have. and i want to be just very open and transparent with this. when i was a teenager, my parents got divorced i was really struggling. i thought the world would be a better place without me. and i was very fortunate to be surrounded by good people, good

friends, good family, who cared deeply about me and got me the help that i needed here's what i want to say. as dark as it was at that time, i'm so glad i stayed and to anybody listening out there, teenagers, men, women, anybody, we need you to stay there is help available. 988. you can call that help line right now. please, please stay. we need all of you life is worth living and it does get better it gets so much better >> governor polis, i want to give you the last word by this and suicide by firearms is also increasing what is your message to people who are struggling in this new year >> there's small things that policy can do to help. we added a waiting period in colorado, three days, to purchase a weapon, to help eliminate the impulse suicides, get them to think about it guns are the main tools used in suicide. the key is destigmatizing it and

talking about it we know people in our lives that ended their lives that way my best childhood friend's brother, committed suicide and the first thing to do is to talk about it. for too long, suicide was swept under the rug, not discussed, people were left to suffer alone in their own silence and i think breaking on the barriers, having a discussion, making people have access to the help they need when they need it, is a critical piece to reducing the suicide rate. >> this is an important conversation such critical information. governors cox and polis. thank you so much for sharing your personal perspectives and policy perspectives on this. thank you. and when we come back, we have a special panel of experts on the frontlines of this crisis the panel is next.

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welcome back we have an expert panel joining us former congressman patrick kennedy, author of "a common struggle: a journey through the path and mental illness of addiction. and dr. jerry turner and victoria gerrick brown, founder of the hidden opponent and host of real pod thank you so much for being here, for this really important conversation congressman kennedy, i want to start with you you have been open about your struggles with addiction and you write about the fact that your late father, the late senator ted kennedy, was not

pleased with your decision to speak out. how did you push past that fear? >> like a lot of his generation, these were shameful issues he suffered terribly from the trauma of seeing both of his brothers assassinated. my mother suffered from terrible alcoholism and it wasn't anything we felt we could address because, frankly, it's the attitude that we can't really fix this problem. and that's the difference between our attitudes from yesterday to today we can make an enormous difference we can reduce the number of suicides, dramatically, if we have this sense of public health approach we can reduce overdoses. we had 200,000 overdoses last year we never kept in touch with any one of them. and 90% of those people are the ones that are successful later on in overdoses. why don't we wrap our arms around those people? in other illnesses, we follow

them outside of the e.r. to make sure they're properly taken care of we employee chronic-based care but in addiction and suicide, and major depression, it's acute, episodic treatment. we don't deal with these issues as chronic illnesses and furthermore, we don't pay for tillhe illnesses as chronic-based illnesses. there's a reason, as a pedia pediatrician, dr. turner, there's a 1,000% likelihood you will be out of network if your child is seeing a mental health provider, versus any other illness that they would find it in-network families have to pay a lot more to get care for their kids let alone pay cash, which, tragically, is the way most people pay for this care >> we're going to delve into that issue, the lack of access to health care i do want to stay on, basically, the big point you're making, there's no national plan to deal

with this crisis victoria, you've obviously been active in the effort to destigmatize mental health you talked about your own struggles with depression and anxiety, when you were an athlete, division i, in college. what's your message to people and what should they take from your struggle? >> i think there's so many more students now, athletes, as well, that struggle with health that we know. and personally, for me, i felt i had checked the boxes i was going to check going to this prestigious college. having these grades. having a starting spot everything on paper and on my social media looked picture-perfect. i was the lowest i had ever been mentally and i wasn't prepared to experience those emotions because the conversation around mental health was so stigmatized, that i viewed it as a weakness for someone that wanted to be an

overachiever and succeed, associating with weakness and feeling like i would fail in some way if i admitted i was struggling, i didn't want to do that and that prevented me from seeking help eventually, i got to a point where i felt i had nowhere else to turn. i'm grateful i confided in one teammate that gave me the confidence to see a counselor for the first time from there, i began learning about the insane pressure all students are under it wasn't just me that was this shameful, outlier, who should feel embarrassed but this was a major crisis. and that led me to the advocacy work i do now. >> that's the power of finding community, dr. turner. exactly what victoria is saying. she was able to open up to someone. we saw a record number of suicides last year what is going on here? and to the congressman's point, why don't we have a national plan to deal with this >> this has hit us at such a record pace, right

we, as americans, have been dealing with suicide and depression but in combination with the pan pandemic, with the isolation of the pandemic, we are not prepared on the prevention side. we're not equipping our first responders who are our first responders they are parents are parents able to have conversations with these children i have two teens myself. can you say to your child, you're struggling, i see it, are you having thoughts of death or dying? same thing for teachers. are we equipping teachers? school counselors, to be at the front lines for our children >> you talk about being at the front lines and prevention and i think about social media, exactly what i was talking to the governors about. how should we address that piece of this? >> i love what governor cox said if this were any other issue, we

would move heaven and earth to deal with it in covid, we responded right away everybody, inoculation, everybody out there. the long impact of covid is going to be mental health. we had tony fauci on the news. when are we going to get same level of attention for these issues that's what we have to do. and i love the fact that victoria got care. but most young people can't get care there's not enough providers back to the original point, there's no protections to make sure insurance companies, and frankly the federal government, treat these illnesses just like any other set of illnesses >> weigh in on that point, dr. turner >> access that senator fetterman's story was so powerful, right? he is coming forward he's addressing the stigma he's talking about his mental health but he had a place to go >> that's right. >> he was able that's, unfortunately, his black and brown peers, male and female, would not have

necessarily a walter reed to check into, right? and fortunately, he did. but there's so many others who do not have access to that level of care. >> victoria, with the last few seconds we have here -- how do you spread the word and get better access to care, especially for young people? >> i think social media can be part of the problem. it also can be part of the solution and i think if we can show up authentically online, if we can share our own struggles and break up this highlight reel we had going on, that's only contributing to this issue, that that can make a big difference that's something i try to do online i'm grateful that we have other powerful voices. experts, medical professionals are using social media to present tools and takeaways to help others. stay with us we're going to continue this conversation on the other side of the break you're all fantastic as recent anxiety and depression skyrocket, americans are not getting the mental health treatment they need.

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or call 1-800-4pd-info. the parkinson's foundation. better lives. together. welcome back we are continuing our great panel discussion dr. turner, we are talking about a lack of access talk about what the crisis text line is and why that is aimed at trying to improve access >> yes, all the time crisis text line is a national not-for-profit, that provides free, 24/7, mental health

support and crisis intervention. we are text-based only we're meeting our teens where they are and anyone can text help to 741741 and be received by a volunteer, trained, live crisis counselor, who is supervised by mental health professionals, in english and in spanish we're addressing the bilingual issues we are accessible to teens over 70% of our texters are under the age of 24. so, we're reaching that vulnerable population and we're reaching youth of color and lgbt youth, as well >> congressman, weigh in on this, that you have talked about no national strategy to address this what should a national strategy look like? >> when we have an emergency, fema comes in. they have housing, job opportunities, support, this and

that we need a strategy to understand that housing is critical to address the homeless epidemic, of people of mental illness and addiction. you need housing you need not only access to treatment, that treatment needs to be evidence-based unfortunately, we're way behind the curve where we have our providers practicing cognitive behavioral therapy, that is the better outcome if we get better outcomes, i guarantee that people will want mental health more they will see the transformation that can happen if people are delivered evidence-based treatments >> and you are making the point that there's a lack of good health care. >> it's quality and outcomes we don't measure that. let's be honest. we're playing catchup on all of this we've so underfunded the system for so long, why is it a big surprise we don't have providers in the field we don't pay them a fraction the public model, medicare and

med medicaid, pay a fraction of other professionals. dr. turner, you're at the lower end. commercial insurers take 70% of that people that are providing this care get paid peanuts. >> we have a workforce issue, what he's saying and we need not just to increase that pipeline, start paying providers what they need to be paid, ensuring there are providers for all different demographics honestly, people sometimes feel more comfortable speaking to someone who looks like themselves >> i do want to talk about this moment that we're in we're heading into the new year. victoria, you have spoken very personally about how at the height of your college career, you experienced burnout. and i think heading into the new year, the holidays, it's a time when people feel burnt out why are people so vulnerable in these moments? what is your message to them about getting through the tough

times that they might be feeling right now? >> yeah. i think we all can relate to that it's the irony that this should be the happiest time of year you inflict that guilt on yourself, that i don't deserve to be feeling this way i shouldn't bring other people's spirit down. really, it's so important to prioritize ourselves and our own mental health, taking a look at our habits i moved my phone charger to the office if i wake up and look at social media, i'm constantly comparing online and i'm having too much information at one time. so, i think it's looking at our habits, having open conversations with loved ones, as well. >> you talk about how damaging that comparison can be when you open up a social media app and you're looking at someone's life, who looks perfect. >> completely. and i think, you know, students these days, you talk more with your themes thumbs than your tos the first generation that's born and raised in a social media environment. you have 5,000 friends online and show up to campus and don't

have 1 person to connect with. we're so connected, more connected than we've ever been and disconnected at the same time >> congressman, you talked about how challenging the holidays can be the surgeon general has lwarned about loneliness and the threat that is in this fight. >> let me go back to the idea of access right now, in the crisis, you get so many denials of care. you remember perdue pharma and everybody was throwing bottles at perdue pharma and the sacklers perdue started the fire. they could have put out the flames but did they? no the race of denial the authorization with the retroactive review, means they are squeezing mental health system i want to thank the biden administration they put teeth into the mental

health parity act. the insurers are screaming right now. they will come to the hill and try to push that back in the next few months. i'm signaling you because this fight is in those areas. people watching this broadcast want to be involved, that's when we need to come forward, as consumers and families of consumers. >> dr. turner, the congressman is talk about what has been done so far what more needs to be done what role can be government play >> we have to invest in the crisis continuum we have prevention out to acute and chronic care it's building out that system, meeting the needs with mobile crisis units, with organizations like crisis text line and 988, so that everyone gets the right care at the right time for the right diagnosis. >> victoria, finally to you. your message to young people who are watching this and might be feeling that loneliness that the surgeon general talked about >> my message to young people

watching this is they are worthy of seeking help. you don't have to get to a place where you're diagnosed with depression or mental illness, to confide in a loved one, at the very least you're worthy. reach out. let someone know how you're feeling. >> you all have such a powerful message. thank you so much for making us smarter and better on this really important topic we appreciate it when we come back, what to expect from this broadcast in 2024 the chewy app has everything for pets. hungry pets, itchy pets, scratchy pets, and most importantly, your pet. every day great prices and 35% off your first authorship order. right to your door. download the chewy app.

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before we let you go, the team here at "meet the press" and i want to leave you with our vision for the new year, as we approach what will undoubtedly be a complicated election season we will seek to help you, our viewers, navigate it all, by highlighting voices from across this political spectrum and beyond yes, we will hear from the candidates, but we will also talk to community leaders, authors, advocates and everyone in between, to build upon the great tradition of this show, which is about accountability and earning your trust "meet the press" has always been a place for diverse voices and challenging conversations. it is essential to our democracy and who we are as a country. on behalf of everyone here at

m "meet the press," we wish you a very happy and healthy new year. that's all for today thank you for watching we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

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