A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs and campaigns in Australia and internationally have vowed to stamp out bullying. The schools’ intentions are good, but often these programs have not been properly evaluated for effectiveness, and studies [...]
The more we persevere and sticks to life goals, the lower our risk of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in the decades that follow, a new study suggests. In the study, which was published recently in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers focused on three things in particular: goal persistence, self-mastery, and [...]
The Age newspaper recently highlighted the issue of so-called “helicopter parenting” at universities. The report talked of parents contacting lecturers to ask about their adult children’s grades, sitting in on meetings with course coordinators and repeatedly phoning academics to inquire about students’ progress. Over-parenting involves parents using developmentally inappropriate tactics that far exceed the actual [...]
When high-schoolers are completing their senior years, it can feel as if the whole family is doing Year 11 or Year 12, according to clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller. Parents have a vital role in helping their teens - and that includes helping them to manage their time, energy, and stress - and to get everything [...]
Protecting children from harm online is high on the political agenda right now. The UK government has set out plans to make social media companies legally responsible for protecting users, and MPs have criticised social media platforms for relying on users to report abuse. This is a serious problem, especially if people who come across [...]
By Rachelle Matheson What is resilience? It is the ability to ‘bounce back’ following a disappointment or adverse event. A child with good resilience generally has good social and emotional competencies for their age that help them name their emotions and their feelings, show good problem-solving capabilities and generally make good decisions. There have been [...]
Paulina Billett, La Trobe University; Edgar Burns, La Trobe University, and Rochelle Fogelgarn, La Trobe University Teachers are bullied daily by parents and students. They experience the kind of harassment that would be deemed unacceptable in most workplaces. But, in the case of teachers, such treatment is often dismissed as par for the course. Radio [...]
Kathleen Gallagher, University of Toronto Today’s young people deserve to be heard. But, because of all of our technological distractions and polarized political systems, listening to others is becoming increasingly difficult. Philosopher and political scientist Roman Krznaric recently wrote an eloquent column on the harrowing prospects of “short-termism” for young people. My research has delivered [...]
This BBC article profiles a group of teens who are making great strides in social, political and environmental arenas. Greta Thunberg is a Swedish teen activist has become a leading voice for climate change activism. Malala Yousafzai wrote and published an anonymous diary about her life in Pakistan under Taliban rule when she was just [...]
Laughing is fun, and it turns out that it’s also great for mental health, according to LYSN psychologist Noosha Anzab. As Anzab recently told BHG, laughter has a similar effect on the mind as exercise, and can reduce feelings of mental depletion, can change a person’s mood, strengthen the immune system, and even act as [...]
