Mental Health & Wellbeing

Unwrapping The Cotton Wool Kids

Flickr Images When I went to school a few decades ago, myself and my classmates certainly looked different to children the same age today. I don't only mean the unfashionable haircuts or the width of flare on our trousers, but rougher looking. Grubbier, with dirt under our fingernails and probably with more bruises, [...]

Is Grief A Disease?

Flickr Images A new theory is challenging the way psychologists understand mourning. For something so fundamental to being human, there’s still a great deal we don’t know about the grieving process. It wasn’t until the 20th century that psychologists and psychiatrists claimed expertise over our emotions, including grief. The conventional wisdom about grieving [...]

Stress ‘Changes Brains Of Boys And Girls Differently’

Thinkstock Images Very stressful events affect the brains of girls and boys in different ways, a Stanford University study suggests. A part of the brain linked to emotions and empathy, called the insula, was found to be particularly small in girls who had suffered trauma. But in traumatised boys, the insula was larger [...]

Children’s Health, Privacy At Risk From Digital Marketing

Flickr Images For the first time, researchers and health experts have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the concerning situation in the World Health Organization European Region regarding digital marketing to children of foods high in fats, salt and sugars. The World Health Organization (WHO) has published the report, which calls for immediate action [...]

Abused Children More Likely To Be Seriously Ill As Adults

Flickr Images Children who suffer abuse, violence or other trauma at home are more likely to become seriously ill as adults, a report has concluded. The report, the first nationwide study of its kind produced by a public health body in the UK, argues that the reasons are not simply cyclical – that [...]

Interactive: A Picture Of Mental Health

Flickr Images Following a damning National Mental Health Commission report in 2014, public consultation started Monday on a new plan to coordinate efforts tackling mental illness across state and federal bodies. It’s the first step in fixing a system the report described as having "fundamental structural shortcomings”. The situation is urgent, as the [...]

How To Teach Happiness At School

Pixabay Images Research demonstrates that happy people are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, relationships, health, longevity, income, and academic and work performance. They are better able to multitask and endure boring tasks, and are more creative, trusting, helpful and sociable. So how do we teach the skills of wellbeing to students? [...]

Survey Shows Australians Happy And Optimistic

Flickr Images Mateship is what makes Australians happy, according to a new national survey on the nation's emotional wellbeing. The Australian Psychological Society's (APS) Compass for Life survey has found people who connect with family, socialise with colleagues and are actively involved in their local community are the happiest people in Australia. Those [...]

The Sun Matters More For Mental Health Than We Think

iStock Images More and more, researchers are understanding the affect of the sun on our physical, emotional and mental health. It's the best and most natural form of vitamin D and, if we get too little of it, we are at risk of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But, a new study reveals that [...]

Wellbeing Linked With When And How People Manage Emotions

Flickr Images Reframing how we think about a situation is a common strategy for managing our emotions, but a new study suggests that using this reappraisal strategy in situations we actually have control over may be associated with lower well-being. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for [...]

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