Jack: Welcome to "MetroFocus".

The state of teen mental health across the nation is urgent.

Last year the Surgeon General declared a national emergency in teen mental health.

More than one and three high school students reports feeling persistent hopelessness, a 40 percent increase since 2009.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents.

To raise awareness of these issues as well as to raise money for research into depression, more than 275 teenagers and their families recently took part in a 5K run along the west side Highway in New York City, the first to be held in the city and apparently the first in the nation to focus on youth.

Joining me to talk about the race and what's nests -- next to treat depression, the executive director of the hope for depression research foundation and 17-year-old Hayden Lucas, a New York City high school junior who came up with the idea to hold the teen race of hope and is ambassador.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This is such an important topic.

Let me ask you first, to get a backdrop for our conversation, the talk about your organization, how did it get started and what's its mission?

>> The hopeful depression research foundation is a nonprofit that is fighting depression by gathering together the top neuroscientists around the world, to work together to find answers to treating and preventing depression.

We've been around for 17 years.

It was found in 2006.

So, we've been focused on finding answers for depression for a long time.

Longer than we've actually been talking about it in society.

Jack: 17 years ago, you look at the numbers that I mentioned in the introduction, and they are stark and they are troubling.

Is there some type of an explanation that you folks and the experts are looking to you as to why we have seen such a dramatic increase?

>> oh my goodness, well, of course your question is a very complex topic and we do known -- we do know that the number one risk factor for developing depression is stress.

And certainly, we have created a world where there are a lot of stressors in our environment.

Jack: Especially for our children.

>> exactly.

Jack: Hayden, what got you invested in this area?

Hayden: Well, I would say that when I first even heard about hope for depression and the work that they were doing, it really opened my eyes to the more global issue of mental health as a whole.

I think that when -- well, before I was introduced to hope for depression research foundation, I always saw mental health as almost like a gray area where it's OK to talk about, but at all costs, you really want to avoid talking about it just to avoid the awkwardness.

However, I think that's really what we are addressing out hope for depression research foundation.

Going back to the question of the cause and increase in these past years, I definitely believe it has something to do with that stigma surrounding it, which is the main area we try to address.

Jack: Let me follow up on that.

I did a story a number of years ago on wooded warriors coming back from combat, having suffered serious combat injuries and how they would re-have of those.

And I interviewed a young man who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan, and he came back and couldn't wait to start his rehabilitation.

He talked about and others talked about how he would do more than anybody wanted him to do.

He told me, at one point in our conversation he could not recognize in himself and share his mental and emotional turmoil that came from this.

And his answer was, it is not part of the warrior eat those.

Talk about the notion of people your age, and that unwillingness to open up about these mental and emotional difficulties.

Why do you think that is?

Hayden: Absolutely, yeah.

Thank you.

Addressing your question, I think it's institutionalized, almost.

The stigma surrounding mental health and even discussing depression is so, as I said before, awkward to uncommon listeners that whenever it's discussed, immediately red flags go up.

I feel like the example you just described of that soldier who came back and discussing his mental health issues was not possible for him.

I see it all the time, especially throughout social media.

And there's one specific trend that really addressed this issue and really brought light to it, which is, I will get on it later.

However, the blessing and curse of what social media does to mental health.

This trend was called core court.

It was seen on the social media app TikTok, and people were really discussing the lack of -- they weren't so much discussing, however, they were highlighting the lack of mail open is to talk about mental health and mental well-being through popular media.

And clipping popular media together and posting that into videos and then posting it onto to the greater app.

What I'm getting to with this is that, when people were clipping the specific segments of popular media and them into videos, they were really highlighting how mental health isn't addressed in popular media and how that stereotype of strongmen never tell their feelings.

Even though that isn't encouraged anymore, it still hinted throughout.

And even though people feel as though this generation is the one to change it, which it definitely could be, we are still fighting the issue of the stigma and trying to be over that strongmen type of mentality.

Jack: How do events like this help?

You talk about research, but also increasing awareness, not just awareness, but a better understanding of this circumstance.

Hayden's idea and the rays and other things you are doing, how do they contribute to increasing that awareness?

>> that's a great question, thank you.

A lot of people might be surprised to know that teenagers don't reach out when they are struggling with mental health issues.

This statistic is, less than 50% of teenagers reach out.

Here's a place where we can make impact immediately on a problem that's complex and there are long-term solutions and short-term solutions.

The short term solution is, my goodness, if we can start life-saving conversations by getting kids together in a way that's festive and fun but also serious, we could really make a difference.

We can plant a seed in 18's head that, there might be a reason for me to go speak to a trusted adult.

I might not feel comfortable going to my parents, so I will find that teacher at school that I can confide in.

So we feel raising awareness can make an immediate impact in so many lives.

Jack: Let's talk about the race.

Give me a sense of how did it go , the planning that went into it and what did you feel came out of it?

Hayden: Of course, thank you.

The race was fantastic, it was an amazing turnout.

We had over 200 runners and we were able to raise -- I just laugh at it -- over $31,000.

It's amazing to say out loud sometimes.

Jack: Good for you, well done.

Hayden: Really, there was so much planning going into this race, but mostly the planning required recruiting, fellow teens who I knew would be interested in reaching out to schools to promote the race, reaching out to possible sponsors, all of this was made so easy with the guidance of what Luisa, Catherine, Megan, just other people who work at hope for depression research foundation.

But addressing that third-party your question, what was the result, I believe it was a really great afternoon -- sorry, a really great morning, but I feel like the people who attended really were able to understand what it means to be open about mental health and really what's going on with teenage mental health specifically.

Just referring back to the first time I ran the race and what I took away from it and connecting it to the people who ran this time.

When I first went, I -- my eyes were opened by the statistics and I was able to run that day and really think about, I'm not alone.

In that sense, it has so many meanings behind it.

Mental health as a whole.

However, I'm not alone as in, this is an awkward topic.

However, everyone thinks of it as an awkward topic.

When I was there for the day, saying, I'm not alone, if we all think of it as that awkward topic, is to stigma.

If we address the topic and say, it might be a little awkward, the ratio for -- the ratio response of being able to make that first step of saying, hey, this is what I'm going through, that's so important.

That is what saves a life and that's but that run really taught me that day.

And it taught me how mental health is OK to talk about.

And I really hope that's what people learn during the day of the race.

Jack: It certainly sounds like it.

We could go on forever.

But such good work by Luisa, your organizations, Hayden, you and the people that work with it.

You're not alone, especially it's OK to talk with people about it and you are doing wonderful work, both of you and all the folks working with you.

We will check back in with you and see how you are doing down the road.

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