A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
New research discovers early childhood depression increases the risk that a child will be depressed throughout their formative school years. Washington University researchers discovered children who had depression as preschoolers were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from the condition in elementary and middle school than kids who were not depressed at very young ages. [...]
Chronic disease and injury caused by alcohol has significantly increased over a decade, causing 15 deaths and 430 hospitalisations each day in Australia, according to a new report. The VicHealth and Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s Alcohol’s burden of disease in Australia report, released today, shows the number of alcohol-attributed hospitalisations and deaths has increased by [...]
Lets face it, watching the evening news bulletin rarely makes for cheery viewing, but in the last few months it seems to have been particularly harrowing. Plane crashes, war zones, suicides and urban shootings have seemingly dominated the headlines. As an adult I’ve found it hard to watch. As an educator I’ve found it harder [...]
Robin Williams’ death earlier this week has unleashed an outpouring of grief. It’s undeniable that Williams brought much joy and laughter to the world, but he also talked openly about his depression and problems with alcohol and cocaine. Depression, alcohol and drug dependence are killers – and they’re indiscriminate killers. It doesn’t matter how wealthy, [...]
The number of children who self-harm has increased by more than 70 per cent in the past two years to record levels, according to new figures. The Health and Social Care Information Centre said some 6,500 children – just under 6,000 of whom were female – aged 10 to 14 had been treated after deliberately [...]
We were pretty good at keeping computers and televisions out of bedrooms, but as technology developed we somehow missed that phones and tablets ARE computers. One of the main conversations I have with parents is about their exhaustion at parenting with so many devices in the home. Parents feel out of control. At my seminars [...]
These days every Australian knows that sooner or later they will experience poor mental health, either personally or within their own family. What they may not know yet is that they will struggle to access the same quality healthcare that we all take for granted when we develop physical health problems. Less than half of [...]
Mental illness is not a communicable disease, but there’s a strong body of evidence that suicide is still contagious. Publicity surrounding a suicide has been repeatedly and definitively linked to a subsequent increase in suicide, especially among young people. Analysis suggests that at least 5 percent of youth suicides are influenced by contagion. - Margot Sanger-Katz [...]
Around this time each summer, many parents and children begin to get worried about returning to school and the potential for getting bullied again like last year. The summer offers a respite from school bullies, but does this break from bullying have to end because the summer ends? Schools today offer massive anti-bullying campaigns that [...]
In last weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald, I read an article that stated, “Homophobic bullying rife in high school PE lessons.” The article went on to say that a study funded by beyondblue, found 98 per cent of students had heard casual homophobia in their PE classes, while more than 80 per cent heard it frequently. [...]
