A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Kathryn Abel, University of Manchester and Matthias Pierce, University of Manchester Public health responses to the pandemic have focused on preventing the spread of the virus, limiting the number of deaths and easing the burden on healthcare systems. But there’s also potentially another, less visible epidemic we should be focusing on: mental illness. Our recent [...]
At the height of the COVID-19 restrictions, clinically significant depression and anxiety symptoms were at least two to three times higher than would normally be observed in the community. These and other findings were revealed by the largest nationwide survey of mental health during April and early May 2020, when the strictest lockdown measures were [...]
Aliza Werner-Seidler, UNSW and Sophie H Li, UNSW Access to mental health support has never been more important, as Melburnians are hit with a stage 4 lockdown and much of the rest of Australia braces for a potential second wave of COVID-19. This year, many mental health professionals have moved to providing telehealth services via [...]
Sarah Wayland, University of Sydney and Lorna Ferguson, Western University As part of new research into missing persons in Australia, I have been asking people who return after disappearing what they needed or wanted. Mary, who has gone missing four times in the last few years, responded, I just wanted someone to ask if I [...]
Keith M. Bellizzi, University of Connecticut We’re all exhausted and pushed to the limit by months of social distancing, and the recent news that cases are climbing in many states is especially scary. While you may feel like ripping off your mask and heading for a bar, there are more productive ways to deal with [...]
Milena Heinsch, University of Newcastle; Dara Sampson, University of Newcastle, and Frances Kay-Lambkin, University of Newcastle We’ve now been social distancing for several weeks. While these measures have allowed us to slow the spread of COVID-19, they’ve also upended our day-to-day lives. If you’ve found yourself experiencing feelings of fear, anxiety, depression, boredom, anger, frustration [...]
Associate Professor Nicola Reavley and Dr Amy Morgan The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed devastating effects on people and communities, with more than 10 million cases and more than half a million deaths globally. In addition to the health impacts, the United Nations has warned of a major mental health crisis worldwide as a result of [...]
Mandie Shean, Edith Cowan University As COVID-19 lockdown measures are lifted, some children may experience social anxiety about the prospect of returning to school. People with social anxiety may fear embarrassment or the expectation to perform in social situations, or worry exceedingly about people judging them poorly. In certain situations, people with anxiety may find [...]
There are of course not many upsides to a global pandemic, but one of them may be that the single biggest threat to youth wellbeing is lessened. Founders of free-play advocacy organisation Let Grow, Lenore Skenazy and Peter Gray, point out that anxiety is an already huge problem for young people that has also been [...]
Schools have been progressively moving classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there is uncertainty over what the next months may bring. This has thrown many year 12 students’ lives into chaos. States and territories are yet to determine what will happen with final year exams. More than 180,000 students are expected to complete [...]
