she persisted

Sadie Sutton started she persisted as a teenager while she was still in a residential treatment program for severe depression and anxiety. Years later, it has grown into one of the most respected mental health podcasts aimed at Gen Z listeners, and Sadie herself is now studying psychology in college. The show blends two things that rarely sit comfortably together: lived experience from a young person who has been through the hardest parts of treatment, and clinical interviews with therapists, psychiatrists, and researchers who work with adolescents. That combination is what makes it trustworthy. Sadie knows which questions to ask because she had to ask them for herself. Episodes cover dialectical behavior therapy skills, the practical side of being hospitalized, navigating medication as a teen, coping with self-harm urges, and rebuilding a life after a mental health crisis. Guests include well-known clinicians who usually speak to professional audiences, which means listeners get real evidence-based information instead of vague inspirational content. Sadie's interviewing style is curious, direct, and unafraid to press for clarity when something sounds too abstract to be useful. The show is especially valuable for teenagers and young adults who feel alienated by older mental health content, as well as for parents trying to understand what their kids are actually going through. It's thoughtful, clinically grounded, and quietly brave.