Mental Health & Wellbeing

I think my child is having panic attacks. What should we do?

Gemma Sicouri, UNSW Sydney; Annabel Songco, UNSW Sydney; Chloe Lim, UNSW Sydney, and Jennie Hudson, UNSW Sydney In the movie Inside Out 2, 13-year-old Riley, who has recently started puberty, has a panic attack during a hockey game timeout. Anxiety (the emotion responsible for the panic attack) becomes completely frenzied and there is a [...]

By |2024-10-01T10:20:06+10:00October 1st, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

Feeding young kids on a budget? Parents say the mental load is crushing

Kimberley Baxter, Queensland University of Technology and Rebecca Byrne, Queensland University of Technology Feeding babies and toddlers can be challenging at the best of times. But when families can’t afford enough food, let alone the recommended range of different coloured vegetables, or iron-rich meats, it’s tougher still. In our recently published research, parents told us [...]

By |2024-10-01T10:20:08+10:00October 1st, 2024|Categories: Diet & Nutrition, Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

‘Noisy’ autistic brains seem better at certain tasks. Here’s why neuroaffirmative research matters

Pratik Raul, University of Canberra; Jeroen van Boxtel, University of Canberra, and Jovana Acevska, University of Canberra Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference associated with specific experiences and characteristics. For decades, autism research has focused on behavioural, cognitive, social and communication difficulties. These studies highlighted how autistic people face issues with everyday tasks that allistic [...]

By |2024-08-20T11:47:59+10:00August 20th, 2024|Categories: Disability, Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

What can you do if you think your teen already has unhealthy social media habits?

Carmel Taddeo, University of South Australia and Barbara Spears, University of South Australia Many parents are worried about how much their children use social media and what content they might encounter while using it. Amid proposals to ban teenagers under 16yrs from social media and calls to better educate them about being safe online, how [...]

By |2024-08-19T14:43:46+10:00August 6th, 2024|Categories: Cybersafety, Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

Australia’s young people are getting lonelier

If you ask most people who they think is most likely to experience loneliness, they will probably describe someone in their later years – perhaps a widowed pensioner or an elderly person with health issues who lives alone. Twenty years or so ago, this was pretty much the case. Between 2001 and 2009, the [...]

By |2024-08-19T14:43:00+10:00July 29th, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

How parents can increase motivation and confidence in children: Part 1

Download article as a PDF Motivation is a slippery customer. Just when you want to rely on it, it puts its feet up, takes a few days off & generally wants to be about as active as a sloth on long service leave. Your ‘get up & go’ has ‘got up & gone’. A Brief [...]

By |2024-08-19T14:41:51+10:00July 8th, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Positive Psychology|Tags: |0 Comments

How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help

Lawson R. Wulsin, University of Cincinnati COVID-19 taught most people that the line between tolerable and toxic stress – defined as persistent demands that lead to disease – varies widely. But some people will age faster and die younger from toxic stressors than others. So how much stress is too much, and what can you [...]

By |2024-05-22T15:29:43+10:00May 22nd, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Resilience|Tags: |0 Comments

Stuck in fight-or-flight mode? 5 ways to complete the ‘stress cycle’ and avoid burnout or depression

Theresa Larkin, University of Wollongong and Susan J. Thomas, University of Wollongong Can you remember a time when you felt stressed leading up to a big life event and then afterwards felt like a weight had been lifted? This process – the ramping up of the stress response and then feeling this settle back down [...]

By |2024-05-21T17:14:04+10:00May 21st, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Mental Illness|Tags: |0 Comments

What is resilience? A psychologist explains the main ingredients that help people manage stress

Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Seattle University The word resilience can be perplexing. Does it mean remaining calm when faced with stress? Bouncing back quickly? Growing from adversity? Is resilience an attitude, a character trait or a skill set? And can misperceptions about resilience hurt people, rather than help? To sum it up in a sentence: Resilience [...]

By |2024-05-14T13:25:11+10:00May 6th, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Positive Psychology|Tags: |0 Comments

How to be kind to yourself (without going to a day spa)

Lydia Brown, The University of Melbourne “I have to be hard on myself,” Sarah told me in a recent telehealth psychology session. “I would never reach my potential if I was kind and let myself off the hook.” I could empathise with this fear of self-compassion from clients such as Sarah (not [...]

By |2024-05-14T13:25:31+10:00May 6th, 2024|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Positive Psychology|Tags: |0 Comments
Go to Top