A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
New research published today in The Journal of Neuroscience identifies a molecular mechanism in the reward centre of the brain that influences how recovering cocaine addicts might relapse after stressful events. Importantly, the study identifies a potential mechanism for protecting against such relapses with treatment. - University of East Anglia Source: Cocaine changes the brain and [...]
Children who are bullied are at greater risk of mental health problems in later life than those who are maltreated by adults, according to research. The authors of the study say it is time that bullying is taken more seriously. They found children who were bullied were five times more likely to experience anxiety and [...]
Repeated alcohol exposure during adolescence results in long-lasting changes in the region of the brain that controls learning and memory, according to a research team at Duke Medicine that used a rodent model as a surrogate for humans. The study, published April 27 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, provides new insights at the [...]
Positive Psychology has become the ‘buzz’ trend among educators and others who work with children. Living our best life, and helping our youth to find greater joy, purpose, contribution and meaning does sound appealing. But is positive psychology all it’s cracked up to be? Is the evidence base solid enough for us to change entire school wellbeing [...]
Many children find doing tests stressful and experience negative impacts on their wellbeing. Tests lead children to suffer from: lost sleep, absenteeism, stress, fear of failure. Encouraging children with these 7 Steps to Success for Tests can be a great opportunity to teach valuable resiliency skills that can be applied to all areas of life! Understand The Power Of Thinking. Teaching children to understand the difference between helpful and unhelpful thinking (e.g. “I [...]
Frayed emotions? A new book argues "distress tolerance" is what sets successful people apart. Photo: Canberra Times I live by a motto that what doesn't kill you hardens you, turning you brittle and bitter or breaks you open, softening you and creating resilience and strength. Interestingly, this idea of having emotional space to [...]
We've had disturbing reports this week about a game which "locks out" players for increasingly long periods of time if they don't play every day, leading to kids having melt downs as they realise all their progress will be lost. Apparently this game locks out players for periods of time from 5 minutes to 5 [...]
Entry to prison presents an opportunity to identify mental illnesses and provide treatment that will continue after release. Photo: nando viciano/Shutterstock, used by The Conversation People with mental illnesses are greatly overrepresented in our prisons. Prisoners are two to three times as likely as those in the community to have a mental illness [...]
Are we in the midst of an ice epidemic? Was the Prime Minister correct to say, when launching the National Ice Taskforce, that ice (methamphetamine) is our “worst drug problem” that it’s a “pernicious and evil” drug, and is “far more addictive than any other illicit drug”? Or is this another cycle of drug alarm [...]
1. It’s not your fault and you are not a bad parent. Powerful evolutionary forces make us instinctively move away from people who hurt us. Kids and teens hurt us. They hurt us big time. Put that hurt together with the amount of time, energy and stuff we give our kids – this means resentment [...]
