A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Entry to prison presents an opportunity to identify mental illnesses and provide treatment that will continue after release. Photo: nando viciano/Shutterstock, used by The Conversation People with mental illnesses are greatly overrepresented in our prisons. Prisoners are two to three times as likely as those in the community to have a mental illness [...]
Photo via ABC; www.sxc.hu: sanja gjenero, file photo The report also says there is evidence that "far too many people" suffer worse mental and physical health because of the treatment that they receive "or are condemned to ongoing cycles of avoidable treatment and medications, including avoidable involuntary seclusion and restraint". Programs, it notes, are not [...]
Photo: Sydney Morning Herald Workers who tell bosses about their mental health issues are risking their careers, the head of national charity BeyondBlue has warned. BeyondBlue chief executive Georgie Harman said that openness about mental health issues could potentially help managers create the best environment to aid recovery. But workers should speak openly only [...]
Thousands of Australians seeking help for mental health problems face growing uncertainty because federal funding for hundreds of contracts has not been guaranteed after June 30. Seventy mental health groups, including Mental Health Australia, Headspace, and the Black Dog Institute, have written an open letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Health Minister Sussan Ley. [...]
Instant jail terms, or flash incarceration, for perpetrators who do not comply with court orders is one of a range of recommendations to break the cycle of family violence outlined in a major new RMIT University report. Australian of the Year and anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty launched the report in Melbourne today. The RMIT [...]
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 [...]
Clare can now talk with calm reflection about the moment she decided to end her life. She remembers feeling as if she were living in a sort of twilight zone where nothing made sense: she was being shunned by colleagues and faced losing her job as a teacher. Things had spiralled out of control after [...]
Despite heavily-marketed claims to the contrary, positive psychology interventions do not consistently improve mental or physical health and well-being. The myth that these interventions are efficacious is perpetuated by a mutually-admiring, self-promotional collective that protects its claims from independent peer review and scrutiny. As with the positive psychology intervention literature, it is a quick leap [...]
Photo: Anu Kumar Research published last year found that people who live in urban areas with more green space tend to report greater wellbeing - less mental distress and higher life satisfaction - than city dwellers who don't have parks, gardens or other green space nearby. A different study followed the experience of [...]
I invite you, therefore, as you enter the New Year, to spare a thought about the loved one or colleague who was surprisingly quiet at the last get-together. Has there been a change in their functioning? Are they their usual selves? If not, seek them out a second time, to see whether they may need [...]
