A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
THE murder of schoolboy Luke Batty last year shocked a nation. His mum, Rosie, talks to APN Newsdesk about why she has spent the past year lobbying for changes to our attitudes towards and responses to family violence, and why she is supporting our campaign. CALL her what you like - Australian of the Year, [...]
Rosie Batty has been named Australian of the Year for her campaign against family violence in an award ceremony that saw four women take the nation's top Australia Day honours for the first time in history. Ms Batty rose above her personal tragedy and the great loss of her 11-year-old-son, Luke, who was murdered by [...]
The Royal Commission has released a report examining issues related to the effectiveness of practices in out-of-home care in preventing child sexual abuse within institutions. Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the report, prepared by the Parenting Research Centre and the University of Melbourne, makes valuable findings which will be used to shape the Royal [...]
While the elderly are more likely to live alone, younger adults are likelier to have their life expectancy cut due to growing isolation, the researchers said. Loneliness is defined as living alone and social isolation as being lonely even when “surrounded by lots of people” said the study conducted at Brigham Young University in Utah, [...]
As a foetus grows, it's constantly getting messages from its mother. It's not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play to her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta. A new study, which will be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that this [...]
A new study has revealed that almost two thirds of people identified as being harmed by the drinking of others in a 2008 survey, were still being harmed three years later. And it’s not your age, gender or the number of times that you go out that is most likely to determine whether you are [...]
One of the largest and most detailed studies to date on the experience of auditory hallucinations, commonly referred to as voice hearing, found that the majority of voice-hearers hear multiple voices with distinct character-like qualities, with many also experiencing physical effects on their bodies. The study also confirmed that both people with and without psychiatric [...]
The flipside of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect is where we experience negative symptoms because we expect them. Our minds are more powerful than most of us realise. The placebo effect accounts for as much as one third of symptom relief in sick people, according to the American Cancer Society. When we believe we will [...]
As a brand new school mum, I've recently discovered that schools have assumed the role of the Lunch Box Police. Every morning tea and lunch is a test to see if kids and their parents have faithfully followed the laws of healthy eating. It's a nice idea, but it's questionable whether this has anything to [...]
Living your life with a strong sense of purpose may lower your risk for early death, heart attack or stroke, new research suggests. The finding is based on a broad review of past research involving more than 137,000 people in all. "Psychosocial conditions such as depression, anxiety, chronic stress and social isolation have strong associations [...]
