A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
The link between the two has been talked about for years, but a causal connection had never been proven. For the first time, University of Pennsylvania research based on experimental data connects Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram use to decreased well-being. Psychologist Melissa G. Hunt published her findings in the December Journal of Social and Clinical [...]
The discomfort of loneliness is as essential to humans as thirst or hunger. A survival instinct, it kicks in reminding us to reconnect to the group when we become isolated. But new research, Australia's most comprehensive study of loneliness to date, reveals not only its prevalence, but its paradox; the lonelier people feel, the less [...]
Anxiety can be defined as ‘a state consisting of psychological and physical symptoms brought about by a sense of apprehension at a perceived threat’. Fear is similar to anxiety, except that with fear the threat is, or is perceived to be, more concrete, present, or imminent. Presentation The psychological and physical symptoms of anxiety vary [...]
No dairy, no gluten, no meat and no sugar. In fact, Ashlee Thomas would allow herself so little food, her parents were forced to do the unthinkable. Force feed their daughter, with a tube, all because she refused to eat. Appearing on Channel 9’s 60 Minutes program on Sunday, the teenager revealed she became so [...]
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to hold a royal commission into mental health if Labor wins the November state election. Last week’s announcement comes a couple of weeks after the federal government asked the Productivity Commission to inquire “into the role of mental health in the Australian economy and the best ways to support [...]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with severe disability face many barriers to fully accessing the support offered by the NDIS. This group of people has already experienced long-standing isolation and are particularly vulnerable to being left behind, again. The prevalence of disability among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is twice that experienced by [...]
The photograph was so disturbing, the first time I viewed it, I had to look away, as I felt as though I was intruding on someone’s deepest personal pain. The picture showed James Packer at the Crown Resorts Annual General Meeting in Melbourne in 2016, looking bloated and overweight, his eyes red and watery and [...]
The blurb on the back of the book had an enticing promise: "Take a few minutes out of your day and colour your way to peace and calm". After decades of grappling with acute anxiety, perhaps this mindfulness colouring book would be my magic bullet. I bought a pack of fancy pencils and got to [...]
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is required by law to provide “reasonable and necessary supports” to help eligible people with a disability live more independently. Determining what supports are reasonable and necessary involves subjective assessments by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which administers the scheme, or its contractors. This makes for a tricky process. The [...]
Stigma marks a person as ‘different’. The World Health Organisation defines stigma as “a mark of shame, disgrace or disapproval which results in an individual being rejected, discriminated against, and excluded from participating in a number of different areas of society.” Unfortunately, stigma often arises when people who don’t have a full understanding of someone [...]
