A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
A new study shows a strong, early penchant for gothic, punk, heavy metal and hardcore dance music can be a predictor of teens who will go astray. Lovers of "deviant" music by age 12 were "more engaged in minor delinquency in late adolescence", the four-year study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found. The bad behaviour [...]
The emerging youth mental health crisis makes it clear to mental health professionals, educators and researchers that for some reason our young people are having ever-greater difficulty controlling their mental and emotional content, their inner world. The situation reminds me of the iconic book by Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are.4 This book was published in 1963 and [...]
Of course we all know that relationships are central to teaching, and of course we all know that good relationships are pre-cursor to good teaching. But I wonder if we can clarify what a good Teacher/Student relationship looks like? In my experience good relationships in the classroom don’t depend on likeability as such. By that [...]
My tilt at sobriety came after 20 years of partying that had left me physically and emotionally spent. It was ironic, given my job. Sunday Age readers may remember an article I wrote at the time, in which I outed myself as the binge-drinking health reporter. During the week I wrote about Australia's booze-soaked culture. [...]
Sure, being financially and materially well off is a legitimate and worthwhile goal, and our ingrained drive for possessions and status keeps our consumer economy vibrant. But, as those great philosophers Lennon and McCartney remind us, money can't buy us love. via Material obsessions wither the spirit.
According to three new studies, Facebook can be tough on mental health, offering an all-too-alluring medium for social comparison and ill-advised status updates. And while adding a friend on the social networking site can make people feel cheery and connected, having a lot of friends is associated with feeling worse about one's own life. The [...]
97% of children play video games* 2% are addicted The recent story of an Adelaide mother who is struggling with her 17 year old son’s addiction to the online fantasy game Runescape probably rang alarm bells with many parents who suspect or know their teenager is in front of a screen far too often and [...]
1. Surround yourself with happy people Or surround yourself with people who surround themselves with happy people. A longitudinal investigationconducted over 20 years in collaboration with the Framingham Heart Study revealed that shifts in individual happiness can cascade through social networks like an emotional contagion (The researchers don't mean Facebook, btw, but physical, old-school networks — like live-in [...]
World-Leading Meditation Research from Australia Ramesh Manocha M.D. Here at last we have a book about meditation suited for use in all schools, from preschool through to Year 12 and beyond. This easy to read book clearly identifies findings from 15 years of Dr Manocha’s research and practice as well as presenting a meta-analysis [...]
The U.S. mental health system has huge gaps that prevent millions of people with psychological problems, including children and teens, from receiving effective treatment that could prevent tragic consequences, experts told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday. Just over a month after the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, experts told a Senate hearing that three-quarters of mental [...]
