A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Youth suicide is an immensely complex interplay of social, psychological, neurological, biological and cultural variables. The problem is that these variables carry unequal weights and no single one has been demonstrated to be necessary or sufficient to cause an individual to take their own life. This makes it very difficult to predict whether a young [...]
Negative thoughts crowd your mind, making you feel as though you’re spiraling into an unescapable hole. When you’re depressed, you constantly feel like you’re trapped and there’s no way out. This may be because depression can control your mind and mood to the point that it will leave you with little room to think of [...]
ONE in four of us experience it yet many Australians still think anxiety is simply feeling stressed. BUT anxiety is a treatable mental health illness that is more common than depression in Australia says mental health charity beyondblue. A new survey of 700 Australians found half believe anxiety is a part of someone's personality. And 40 [...]
It’s the tendency to put more attention, value and weight on negative comments and experience than on the positive. It’s human. We seem to be hardwired to do it. Some theorists suggest that our survival depended on it when we were living in primitive times. People who didn’t stay alert for saber-toothed tigers probably didn’t [...]
An Australian first La Trobe University study of gender diverse and transgender young people has revealed high rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety. The beyondblue funded report, From blues to rainbows: the mental health and well-being of gender diverse and transgender young people in Australia, found that half were diagnosed with depression and two thirds had experienced [...]
Like major depression, bipolar disorder is characterized by sadness, fatigue, a loss of enjoyment in everyday activities and disruptions in appetite and sleep patterns. But individuals with bipolar disorder differ from patients with major depressive disorder in that they experience what’s called mania or hypomania – emotional highs, bursts of extreme energy and severe irritability [...]
When depression chopped me in the back of the knee and sent me sprawling on the floor – well actually the couch – for a full year, I had to learn some brilliant ninja moves. I learned moves that got me back on my feet and moves that keep sneaky saboteurs from whacking me so [...]
When you know someone going through depression, it can be a difficult time of uncertainty and worry. Young people will often speak with their peers before they consult an adult or professional, so it’s important to arm them with skills to support their friends. While everyone goes through a different experience, it can be difficult [...]
Most of us would recognize classic depression, with its heavy veil of sadness and hopelessness. But what if you just started getting stomachaches or were suddenly very snappy? Could you be depressed without knowing it? "Depression doesn’t always look like debilitating sadness," says Richard Kravitz, MD, MSPH, a professor of internal medicine at University of [...]
This past weekend, I found myself 400 miles and 3 states away from home with $16 of cash, a half tank of gas, but no credit cards. I pulled into a gas station and asked if they would take a check. Nope. How about a credit card number phoned in from my husband? Nope. My [...]
