A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
The hormone melatonin is being handed out too readily to children who are struggling to sleep, despite the fact little is known about the long-term risks of taking it, experts have warned. Melatonin, a hormone the body produces naturally in reaction to darkness that helps prepare us for sleep, has been authorised for use among [...]
Many people have probably heard the term “positive psychology”, but know little about what it means in practice. Positive psychology aims to find ways to make life better for people, and ensure they’re the most mentally healthy person they can be. Officially established in 1998, positive psychology is a relative new field. It has quickly [...]
When you put a load on a piece of metal you stress it. That’s what the engineers call it. Stress. There’s actually a profession that deals only with understanding how much of a load any material can take. They’re called stress engineers. And these folks know everything about what happens when you exert a lot [...]
Lorraine Pascale, a chef and regular guest on the BBC’s cooking programme, Saturday Kitchen, recently admitted that she struggled with an eating disorder. For many, it would seem counter-intuitive that a person with an eating disorder would spend so much time around food. But an obsession with food is often linked with eating disorders, highlighting [...]
Facebook will allow users to livestream attempts to self-harm because it “doesn’t want to censor or punish people in distress who are attempting suicide”, according to leaked documents. However, the footage will be removed “once there’s no longer an opportunity to help the person” – unless the incident is particularly newsworthy. The policy was formulated [...]
Teenagers’ late-night mobile phone use is harming their sleep and potentially their mental health, say researchers who advised that “physical boundaries” be set over use of such devices in the bedroom. A longitudinal study of 1,101 Australian high school students aged between 13 and 16 found poor-quality sleep associated with late-night texting or calling was [...]
Smacking is associated with more aggression, more antisocial behaviour, more mental health and cognitive problems, and poorer relationships with parents, according to the most comprehensive analysis of the research to date. And, it appears that the detrimental effects may also reach into adulthood. 2014 data from UNICEF revealed that around the world, 80 per cent [...]
New research has revealed that apps installed on smartphones can be used to significantly reduce anxiety. Published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, the study is the first ever meta-analysis of all published evidence on the effect of smartphone-based therapies on anxiety in 1,837 people. The research is a collaboration between The University of Manchester, [...]
Four of the five most popular forms of social media harm young people’s mental health, with Instagram the most damaging, according to research by two health organisations. Instagram has the most negative impact on young people’s mental wellbeing, a survey of almost 1,500 14- to 24-year-olds found, and the health groups accused it of deepening [...]
Were you one of the more than 16,000 people who completed ABC's How 'mental health smart' are you? quiz a couple of years back? If so, a team of Melbourne University researchers would like to thank you. Your answers have provided important insights that could help shape future mental health education campaigns. "We certainly have [...]
