A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Anyone raising a child today has likely fretted about screen time and wondered about the impact of devices on our kids. Does the technology affect their brains? Does it limit their social development? Could it harm them emotionally? Could it delay when they start talking? I had never thought about that last question until a [...]
Days after the Federal Government announced a uni student fee hike, a national report has found students have higher rates of mental health problems than non-students, and being loaded with debt doesn't help. The report by the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Orygen, lists some key reasons why uni students struggle with [...]
Most research into teen bullying tends to focus only on the victim. This means we know little about how the bully is affected. A new Australian study shows that teenagers who have been both a victim and a bully are at greatest risk of mental health problems, including self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Bullies are victims [...]
An Australian suicide study has shown a worrying failure in communication between family members and health professionals. Professor Brian Draper, lead researcher from UNSW, said the study identified a gap in the medical guideline about health professionals sharing information with relatives. The research team examined 74 suicide cases in New South Wales and Queensland, and [...]
A Growing Brain vs. a Static Brain A body of research that began in 2011 suggests that this aversion to mistakes can be a cause of poor learning habits. The research suggested that those of us who have a “growth mindset”—believing that intelligence is malleable—pay more attention to mistakes and treat them as a wake-up [...]
A recent story in the Atlantic examined solitude and found choosing to be alone can boost health, if it happens in the right context. “Solitude can be restorative,” Brent Crane wrote. “Yet, because the study of solitude as a positive force is new, it’s hard to speak in precise scientific terms about it: We don’t [...]
Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed depression as the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. Not lung cancer, obesity or heart disease (on their own, individual fronts), but depression -- a common and serious mood disorder that, today, will reach one in seven Australians alone at some point in their [...]
You’re always tired, but not sleepy. You find yourself breaking down for no apparent reason while getting ready in the morning. Simple tasks like grocery shopping can suddenly become overwhelming. If you are a person who suffers from anxiety, insomnia or depression, chances are that one of those statements, or maybe all three, resonate with [...]
A large needle is jabbed into the lips of a young girl. Instantly they become sausage-shaped. Another girl, oxygen mask over her mouth, has her nose cut into with a scalpel. Where did I see these images? In games targeted at children. With online gaming apps like Girls Plastic Surgery Doctor, Mermaid's Plastic Surgery, Princess [...]
Sadness is not usually valued in our current culture. Self-help books promote the benefits of positive thinking, positive attitude, and positive behaviors, labeling sadness as a “problem emotion” that needs to be kept at bay or eliminated. With the advent of fMRI imaging and the proliferation of brain research, scientists have begun to find out [...]
