New YouTube mental health & wellbeing tools – built just for teens

At YouTube, we’ve built specific age-appropriate experiences for our younger users for more than a decade. Today, we’re announcing our newest offering – mental health & wellbeing content in a dedicated surface built just for teens.

When seeking out age-appropriate information on common mental health and wellbeing topics like depression, anxiety, ADHD, and eating disorders, teens will now see a shelf of videos from trusted sources. Our goal is to make it easier for them to find credible information that is tailored to their developmental stage of life.

These shelves will start rolling out for teens in Australia in the coming weeks. They’ll also be rolling out in other markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

For a video to be eligible for inclusion in the shelf, the content needs to be evidence-based, teen-centric and engaging. To meet these requirements, we worked with local organisations who specialise in providing mental health and wellbeing information for teens to produce the videos. All of the organisations understand the importance of reaching teens on platforms where they already turn to for information, one of which is YouTube.

In Australia, we are proud to partner with leading mental health organisations and creators to provide this local, teen-centric content. Our launch partners include Black Dog Institute, ReachOut, and Dr Syl. Here is what some of our partners shared about this new initiative:

Black Dog Institute offers research-backed animated content that uses teen-friendly language to help adolescents understand the signs of and support for depression and anxiety.

"When sharing mental health resources, it's vital they are evidence-based, accessible, and tailored to the needs of those seeking support. In today’s digital landscape where misinformation can easily spread, the availability of expert-backed content is especially valuable. This aligns with growing evidence that young people actively seek mental health information online, and that safe, verified content can play an important role in increasing mental health literacy, reducing stigma, and encouraging help-seeking." – Nicole Scott, Director of Corporate Affairs at Black Dog Institute.

ReachOut Australia offers practical, relatable articles and videos that provide teens with actionable tips and support for navigating everything from exam stress to relationship challenges.

"According to research by ReachOut, nearly three-quarters of young people report turning to online platforms, including YouTube, for mental health information. Young people are digital natives and it's so important that they have access to safe, free and evidence-based mental health information and support in their online worlds. ReachOut is partnering with YouTube on this initiative to help ensure that more young people can turn to trusted sources of mental health support when they need it.” – Tracey Campbell, Director of Marketing and Fundraising.

And Dr Syl has created content that offers engaging, medically-informed advice for teens on topics like managing stress and understanding their mental health.

"Teens on YouTube are actively searching for answers to questions about their mental health that they might be afraid to ask out loud. As a creator, educator and doctor, my goal has always been to bridge the gap between complex medical information and content that is engaging, relatable, and easy to understand. This new teen mental health shelf is a vital step in cutting through the noise, and it will directly connect young Australians with credible, supportive, and evidence-based information when they need it most. I’m proud to partner with YouTube on this initiative." – Dr Syl, YouTube Creator and Psychiatry Trainee.

We’ve invested deeply over the years to help people who have questions about their health find information from high quality, credible sources – everything from health source information panels that let viewers know that the person they are hearing from is a licensed healthcare professional, to dedicated shelves of content for specific health conditions.

We’ve also invested specifically for teens, including working with our Youth and Families Advisory Committee to develop teen-specific guardrails on both recommendations and content. This work is all supported by industry-leading policies on what content is allowed on YouTube and what can earn ad revenue. We regularly update these policies and recently strengthened our guidance around content promoting eating disorders to better protect our users.

It’s important to everyone at YouTube that this is a platform where teens can safely explore their interests and also find answers to their questions - including questions about their health and wellbeing. As a doctor and father of four, it makes me happy to see so many health organisations from around the world recognise the role YouTube plays in helping to reach teens with health information when they need it.