A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
My 13-year-old daughter literally cringes when I touch her. Any attempt at showing affection to my once cuddly and affectionate daughter is now met with resistance. You know, the I’m-a-teen-and-I’m-way-too-old-for-this attitude that consumes our children sometime between the ages of 11 and 16. When I fall victim to this melancholy temperament, I’m quickly driven into [...]
Divorce was never supposed to happen to us or to our kids. It takes us off the path we envisioned for our families. Once we get through the initial shock and awe that follows the divorce, divorcees struggle to define the new family relationships, including the ones with our ex-spouses. We are also left to [...]
Teaching kids sleep hygiene may be an easy way to reduce crime. People comparing current crime rates with those of past decades tend to agree that today’s numbers should be lower. And new research points to a relatively easy way to do that: Help teens get more sleep. Researchers found that teens who reported feeling drowsy in [...]
Youth homelessness is Australia’s national disgrace, with 44,000 kids sleeping rough right now YOUNG people with a mental illness are three times more likely to wind up homeless, after which their prospects of positive health and social outcomes dwindle significantly. A new report by the charity Mission Australia will be released, identifying the major risk factors that [...]
New study by UCR psychology professor finds that children pay close attention to potentially threatening information and avoid eye contact when anxious We spend a lot of time looking at the eyes of others for social cues – it helps us understand a person’s emotions, and make decisions about how to respond to them. We [...]
Past research has indicated that physical punishment, such as spanking, has negative consequences on child development. However, most research studies have examined short-term associations -- less than one year -- between discipline and development. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that physical discipline experienced during infancy can negatively impact temperament and behavior [...]
An increasing dependency on activities associated with the brain's excitement-pleasure circuitry is partly to blame for the rising levels of anxiety and depression in teenagers today. Prominent in this cerebral circuitry is social media. A psychiatrist speaking to a group of teachers at the beginning of the school year warned of the "anxiety tsunami" that [...]
If you suspect your child is suffering from anxiety or if your child has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, you may feel rather overwhelmed and not knowing what to do. Beyond seeking help and support from a mental health professional, there are other things you can do to empower yourself as a conscious parent. [...]
Friendships can be complicated. The childhood fantasy of a BFF who is always nice, kind, empathetic, available… is generally shattered relatively early when they come to the realisation that friendships are complex relationships that ebb and flow, weaken and strengthen and have other relationships attached to them. We all want and need friends. One, two, [...]
IPPR thinktank says permanently excluded children in England face significant disadvantage because of ‘broken system’ Half of all pupils expelled from school are suffering from a recognised mental health problem, according to a study. Those who are permanently excluded find themselves at a significant disadvantage, with only one in a hundred going on to attain [...]
