A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Were you one of the more than 16,000 people who completed ABC's How 'mental health smart' are you? quiz a couple of years back? If so, a team of Melbourne University researchers would like to thank you. Your answers have provided important insights that could help shape future mental health education campaigns. "We certainly have [...]
While being diagnosed with a serious mental health condition like schizophrenia can have devastating consequences for patients, many don’t realise how much their physical health may suffer too. The life expectancy for people with schizophrenia is around 10 – 25 years less than the general population. They also have two to three times the risk [...]
When you think of paranormal experiences it often conjures images of ghosts, aliens or witchcraft. But it can also include hearing voices, out-of-body experiences, or even strong spiritual or superstitious beliefs. Such experiences are quite common – 75% of people in Britain have said that they have had one or more paranormal experiences in their [...]
If you can change the way you think, you can change your brain. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which finds that challenging unhealthy thought patterns with the help of a therapist can lead to measurable changes in brain activity. In the study, psychologists at King’s College London show that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strengthens certain [...]
Synthetic cannabis, of which Spice is an example, is linked to serious health issues ranging from difficulties breathing to psychotic episodes. But, despite well-known issues, these drugs are still in demand and homeless people, particularly, are at risk of mental health issues from their use. So what exactly are these drugs made of and why [...]
Flickr Images People convey meaning by what they say as well as how they say it: Tone, word choice, and the length of a phrase are all crucial cues to understanding what’s going on in someone’s mind. When a psychiatrist or psychologist examines a person, they listen for these signals to get a [...]
Two years ago, Melbourne man Jarrod was aged in his early 30s. From a middle class background, he had been privately educated, achieved a university degree, married and had a daughter. He was an IT executive and worked long hours, but had plenty of friends to spend time with on the weekends. He was also [...]
"People with first episodes of psychosis were three times more likely to be smokers," said a statement from King's College London's Department of Psychosis Studies, which took part in the meta-analysis. "The researchers also found that daily smokers developed psychotic illness around a year earlier than non-smokers. "It has long been hypothesised that higher smoking [...]
PARIS - People who suffer from psychosis are about three times more likely to be smokers, but scientists have long scratched their heads over which one leads to the other. On Friday, research published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggested daily tobacco use, already known to cause cancer and stroke, may be also be a contributor [...]
Some evidence shows it helps with pain and other problems, but obstacles to research are slowing further insights. - Aaron E. Carroll Source: Is There Anything Actually ‘Medical’ About Medical Marijuana? - The New York Times
