A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
For young adults, social media may not be so social after all. Among people in that age group, heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram was associated with feelings of social isolation, a study finds. The results surprised study co-author Brian Primack. "It's social media, so aren't people going to be socially [...]
Mental health problems often start in childhood, but opportunities to help are being missed and research spend is lacking. Three in four mental illnesses start in childhood 75% of mental illnesses start before a child reaches their 18th birthday, while 50% of mental health problems in adult life (excluding dementia) take root before the age [...]
The fundamental role of a teacher is not to deliver information but to make kids feel like they are important, and have an adult who will never give up on them. When my first child was born, I didn’t realise I was signing up for Mission Impossible. Even as my daughter grew into a toddler [...]
Depression is now the leading cause of disability across the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed. More than 4% of the world’s population lives with depression - with young people, pregnant or post-partum women, and the elderly being most affected. According to the United Nations (UN), the mental illness costs more than $1 trillion [...]
Experiencing severe deprivation and neglect in childhood can have a lasting psychological impact into early adulthood, finds a unique study which has followed the mental health of a group of children adopted from Romanian institutions to UK families in the 1990s. Despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years, many children exposed [...]
Fitness trackers and mental health apps could be doing more harm than good because they are not based on sound science, researchers have warned, comparing some health app developers to “snake oil salesmen of the 1860s”. Greg Hager, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, said that in the absence of trials or scientific [...]
“I've been dealing with anxiety for as long as I can remember,” says Sow Ay, an illustrator who sketches brutally honest cartoons about his ongoing struggle with mental illness. “A few days ago I was diagnosed with panic disorder. It took a lot of time because I was scared to talk about it. But I [...]
If you’ve ever felt depressed, someone’s probably told you to get outdoors and soak up some tasty vitamin D. Because how could you possibly feel sad while sunbaking on the beach? According to research from the Royal Women’s Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital and University of Melbourne, that advice is essentially useless for young Australian women with [...]
Trigger warning: this post contains descriptions of suicides that might be disturbing. If the content upsets or distresses you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Just like that, Naika Venant was live. The 14-year-old girl was on Facebook, broadcasting from a bathroom at her foster home in southeastern Florida. Then, she was hanging from a scarf tied [...]
Early intervention when children are very young – from birth to three years of age, while their brains and skills are developing rapidly – can dramatically improve life prospects. Basics such as good nutrition, language development, and physical, cognitive and social skills can be helped by family and supported by social and early-child development programs. [...]
