Dr. Michael Gurian: Why Boys Are Struggling — The Male Brain, Screens & What Parents Can Do
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Part of why men and boys are receding from culture, part of why they are isolating and are lonely is that there is so much overreaction to everything they do. Because you think about, think about all the cancellations. What we're doing, what the culture is doing is canceling, you know, it's 99% men.
If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call One Call Placement. That's 888-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. Please, we're out of time. One Call Placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers.
Before we start the conversation today, I want to deliver a personal message. Every day, families across America lose someone they love to an overdose. Many of those deaths are preventable when communities have the right education, resources and support. That's why I've partnered with the CDC Foundation through their COPE, Community Overdose Prevention Efforts Campaign, and committed to matching every donation dollar for dollar up to $25,000. I've spent my life helping people recover from addiction, but if we can get to the place of prevention first, this would help save so many more lives. I hope you'll join me in supporting the CDC Foundation's overdose prevention work at cdcfoundation.org slash cope.
You can also visit the link below in the show notes to donate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. i sit across from families every day who are watching their sons slip away from anxiety isolation addiction and mental health struggles and the question i keep asking is did this start when the drug showed up or did it start way before that today i'm joined by dr michael gurian who spent his career understanding how boys grow into men i want to connect the dots what happens early in a boy's life that quietly sets him on this path. Thank you for being with us today. I really appreciate it. Thank you for fitting us in.
Thanks for having me.
Of course. What's the exact moment boys start to break? Is it parenting, school, or culture?
They're all important. Truthfully, I put culture. So my work is nature, nurture, and culture. So the way I would answer that question is we look at nature, we look at nurture, we look at culture. So nature is what they come in with, male brain, boys, male genes, testosterone, all those things that come in that are relatively immutable. And then nurture is the wraparound family, usually nuclear family, et cetera, and extended family that's kind of taking care of that nature. So I talk about nurture the nature. That's one of my books, nurture the nature. What works best is figure out who that is, nurture that. That's what's going to work best. Culture, third, right, and I would say least, has the least influence until, right, the kids get to be,
teens, late teens, adulthood, culture is having more influence there. So some things happen.
Do you know where I see it, doctor? I'm the blame the parent guy. I've always been the blame the parent guy, right? For the most part, but I shifted with the culture and the social media, right? And now I think that that's the most important. What do you, what do you think?
Well, I wouldn't I wouldn't say most important, but incredibly important. I mean, I'm definitely on record as one of those people who've since since the smartphone has been coming out and saying, nope. I mean, like saving our sons, minds of girls. Ten years ago, I wrote those books saying, nope, got to keep the kids off of this. This is damaging to the brain. So for me, it's a brain based issue. It's damaging to the brain. So there's that's no doubt about that. Early on in life, though, it's it's more the nurturing systems and the parents and and the school systems that are, you know, many of which are not on screens yet, but they're not understanding boys. And and in not understanding boys, it's hard for them to take to nurture the nature of boys to take care of boys.
And certainly the culture comes in where the culture pressures systems to act in a way that would be difficult for the boy.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–9:30
2
Why are boys increasingly anxious, isolated, and disconnected?
9:30–12:15
3
What role do nature, nurture, and culture play in a boy’s development?
12:15–22:40
4
How does aggression‑based “nurture” differ from empathy‑based nurturing?
22:40–37:36
5
Why does traditional talk therapy often fail for boys?
37:36–45:16
6
What practical changes can counselors make to reach male clients?
45:16–56:48
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from We're Out of Time
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