THE SUCCESS TRAP

Dr. Slavin makes plain that we can never hire enough therapists to manage the levels of anxiety and depression in adolescents.

But we can push back against a culture that has kids (and their parents) putting in sixteen-hour days between school, homework, practices, and checkmarks on an achievement list that's making them sick. We can help our kids recognize the mindsets that are hurting them, and how to reframe the cognitive distortions that make them miserable. We can stop seeing tech as the sole culprit, and instead make changes to the environment that kids are using Minecraft and TikTok to escape.

Both an anthem and a guide that identifies and describes the problem, THE SUCCESS TRAP charts a path forward, outlining the steps that parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, coaches, and teens themselves can take to stem and reverse this crisis.

Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, a nationally recognized well-being expert, has several lenses that inform his view of the current child and adolescent mental health crisis: A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Slavin practiced general pediatrics for 17 years at UCLA. A medical educator throughout his career, Dr. Slavin has extensive experience in teaching and in curriculum development and evaluation. As a researcher, Dr. Slavin has conducted studies involving the mental health of medical students, medical residents, medical education staff, and in recent years, high school and college students. A parent and a former school board member at a private school, Dr. Slavin has experienced and witnessed first-hand the toll that achievement culture can have on kids and families.