In this episode of Unravelling, we are taking a moment to acknowledge September as Suicide Prevention Month, specifically World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10, 2025.  Host Mary Wilson had the opportunity to sit down with Dr Rachel Conrad, who serves as Medical Director of Adolescent Services at the Brattleboro Retreat.  Together, they discuss issues relating to youth suicide prevention, and how social media plays a role - in both contagion and prevention;  as well as how difficult it can be to recognize youth suicide risks in real life, and how our current medical systems could play a critical role in all of this.

Dr. Conrad is currently medical director of Adolescent Services at Brattleboro Retreat. She was previously medical director of Young Adult Mental Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at Emory University School of Medicine, her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, and her bioethics fellowship at the Harvard Medical School. She is on faculty at Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. Her academic work focuses on autonomy and psychiatric treatment of adolescents and young adults.  She received the Eisenhower Fellowship for her work in Youth Mental Health in 2022.

Resources: 988 suicide lifeline - please call or text 988 if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide. Help is available!

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