A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
The tech giants are racing to get digital assistants into our homes - the Amazon Echo Dot currently has a 40% discount during Amazon Prime Day - but debate rages over whether they are suitable for children. There have certainly been teething problems. Toy giant Mattel abandoned its "AI babysitter", Aristotle, last year following privacy [...]
People who have autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may have different challenges, but the ailments might arise from a common set of genes. Researchers compared genetic analyses of 700 human brains from deceased individuals who had one of those three disorders, major depression or alcoholism with brains of individuals who had none of the conditions. They [...]
Four out of five teenage girls who have been sexually assaulted are suffering from crippling mental health problems months after their attack, new research has found. Victims were found to have anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious conditions four to five months after being assaulted. Experts said the findings confirmed that becoming a [...]
Far from wrapping children in cotton wool, a growing number of WA public schools are doing the opposite, giving their students the opportunity to race around on rollerblades, fly off ramps in crates and slide down trees. They are setting aside injury concerns to help children build resilience and squeeze in much-needed physical activity, in [...]
Broadcast advertisers should be subject to a new duty of care to protect young people’s mental health, NHS leaders have said. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is being urged to clamp down on advertisements which fuel body insecurity among teenagers. Senior health officials are demanding a meeting with the organisation’s chief executive to discuss concerns that too [...]
When her daughter Abbey began suffering severe mental health issues at the age of 14, Pippa Beveridge desperately sought help from Western Australia's mental health system. As she found out over the next two years, that support was not easy to come by. "We would go to [Princess Margaret Hospital] and wait for hours," Ms [...]
Even before you download an app to help you meditate, or to manage your depression, it's speaking to you. Apps' marketing often implies that everyday stresses should be seen as mental health issues, and that you're on your own (with the help of the app, of course) to fix whatever is wrong with you. These [...]
As a family member, encouraging a loved one to seek mental health treatment is one of the thinnest tightropes we can walk. “I’m fine!” “I’m not the crazy one - you are!” “I don’t need help!” Too often, encouraging a loved one to seek mental health treatment turns into a stalemate with long-lasting hard feelings, [...]
A recent study has found that positive parenting is related to certain characteristics of both the mother and the child; and when controlling for maternal factors, only child’s affection (e.g., infant sharing positive feelings and expressions with mother), and general cognitive abilities (e.g., basic problem solving, language abilities) are related to positive parenting. The study also found that girls received more positive [...]
The Disrupted Childhood Report explains commonly-used strategies, and highlights how automated technology both leverages and reinforces human instinct, in order to trigger habits and behaviours. Variously called ‘reward loops’, ‘captology’, ‘sticky’, ‘dwell features’ and ‘extended use strategies’, persuasive design strategies are deliberately baked into digital services and products in order to capture and hold users’ [...]
