A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
If you are finding it difficult to raise the issue of mental health and cannabis, try talking about paranoia. Almost every child, regardless of whether they have had contact with cannabis or not, is aware that this is a side effect of using the drug. Although it may seem quite harmless, paranoia can actually be [...]
There are a number of ways in which parents can lessen the effect of peer influence. Possibly one of the more important is for parents to correct the common teenage misperception that ‘all teenagers drink lots of alcohol’. This false belief leads some teenagers to feel they need to drink to excess in order to [...]
Last month the national depression initiative launched its youth campaign, Youthbeyondblue with the startling news that around 160,000 young people aged 16-24 years live with depression, making it the most common of all mental health problems in young people. But the real tragedy is the news that there can be a delay of anywhere between [...]
Did you know that the prospect of their child becoming a victim of bullying is now the top fear among Australian parents? Six-in-ten parents nominate bullying as their biggest concern, ahead of their children becoming a victim of crime (46 percent) or performing poorly at school (44 percent). Make no mistake - online bullying is [...]
In a study of adolescent medical consultations, adolescent patients were asked whether any of the seven sensitive topics (behavior, mood, getting along with others, their parent's mood, family stresses, sexuality/birth control, and drugs/tobacco/alcohol) were raised by their doctor. Adolescents who were asked about one or more of these sensitive topics were significantly more likely to [...]
Almost a million Australian children are being given unfettered access to the Internet, new research released today reveals. The revelations come from Generation Next, a national parenting seminar organisation being supported by anti-depression initiative, beyondblue, and Australian Government-backed youth mental health foundation, Headspace. Their research finds 22 percent of parents of children aged 4-18 [...]
Limit children's total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day. Remove television sets from children's bedrooms. Discourage television viewing for children younger than 2 years, and encourage more interactive activities that will promote proper brain development, such as talking, playing, singing, and reading together. Monitor the shows [...]
