A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
It may be time to invest in some blackout curtains, according to new research. A study published recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology found a strong association between even low-level nighttime light exposure and depressive symptoms among elderly adults. The researchers measured nighttime light levels in the bedrooms of 863 elderly Japanese adults by placing ceiling-facing light [...]
Fake Instagram accounts, often referred to as “finstas” or “spam accounts”, have become the norm for many teens – but their reasoning for creating these is not as sinister as you think. I’ve spoken with 50 Australian families – including 118 children aged 1-18 – about technology use, and am currently conducting a follow-up qualitative [...]
Cyber safety was at the forefront of a presentation for McGuire College students last week. Shepparton police Leading Senior Constable Dean Lloyd and Word and Mouth project manager Jim Gow were at the school, talking to years 7, 8 and 9 students about the importance of digital safety. ‘‘The tour covers a number of different [...]
Resilience is one of those buzzwords that was dropped in the lap of parents and educators a few years ago and has sat there since like a puppy – squirming, whining and demanding our attention. It’s adorable and you’d definitely like to keep it, but hold it too tightly and it will jump right out [...]
The year 2012 was the moment our kids lost their childhood. Recent research out of the United States reveals a sharp decrease in wellbeing among adolescents from 2012 onwards — the year when smartphone ownership became commonplace among teens. Using survey data from 1.1 million young people, the researchers found that adolescents who spent more time on [...]
When I was in fifth grade I wrote in my journal one day that I was upset about not having any real friends at school. My teacher reminded us, like she did every day, that our black-and-white composition notebooks were for our eyes only. She would read them only if we asked her to. That [...]
Alarmingly, the World Health Organization now considers depression as the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide. And for a great number of the people suffering there are simple, free and non-pharmaceutical ways of managing their mental health. Much of the research in the field of mindfulness explores the impact of thirty to forty-five minutes [...]
When stationery entrepreneur Jen Gotch and the heavyweights at jewellery brand Iconery sat together at a table, they decided to work towards ending the stigma around mental illness. Their intention in creating dainty ‘anxiety‘ and ‘depression‘ necklaces was, no doubt, admirable; Gotch is a popular businesswoman whose Instagram following of almost 200,000 was built upon candid [...]
Kathleen Cormier is trying to instil a sense of gratitude in her sons, aged 12 and 17. But sometimes she wonders if other parents have given up. Some of her sons’ peers, she says, are lacking in the basics of gratitude, such as looking adults in the eye to thank them. The saddest part, she [...]
Almost one out of every five adults suffers from mental illness in any given year. Mental illness resulted in a loss of nearly 200 billion dollars in earnings last year. For some, mental illness is a lifetime struggle. For others stress, grief, or other struggles can cause temporary mental health concerns. In any case, recognizing [...]
