A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Credit: George Hodan/Public Domain An Australian study has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the tools used by medical professionals to assess suicide risk in mental health patients, prompting calls for a review of the allocation of resources based on the assessments. The meta-analysis, led by clinical psychiatrist and Conjoint Professor Matthew Large [...]
Instagram Suicide-themed captions crafted by girls are attracting hundreds of teen and tween girls. However there are almost no responses encouraging the distressed and possibly at-risk girl to call ‘000’, a kids’ help hotline or even asking ‘RUOK?’ Instead, adoring fans applaud with ‘likes’, approving comments and a shower of emoticon hearts before [...]
The rate of suicide in women aged 15-24 has jumped by 50 per cent to 6.3 per 100,000, new figures have found. Photo: Stocksy Jack Heath remembers her this way: a single mum on a disability pension. She had two darling teenage daughters, and she tried to do some extra work because that's what [...]
Amy Marlow and her dad, Doug McDowell. Photo: Washington Post When you walk into the laundry room and find your father hanging, you know that life is never going to be the same. That is a sight you can't unsee and a pain you can't unfeel. I was 13 years old and still [...]
stockphoto People being treated for bipolar disorder and other psychiatric illnesses are at greater risk of attempting suicide, but physicians may now have tools to predict which of those individuals will attempt it and intervene early to prevent such tragedies from occurring. Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine reported Tuesday in the [...]
Three months ago, a 14-year-old girl wrote to NSW government, weeks after the suicide death of her mother, and asked them to "educate children about domestic violence and how to seek help". Today, her wish comes true as a raft of major changes are announced to the 7-10 school syllabus that will specifically focus on domestic [...]
Women who smoked were 4.4 times more likely to kill themselves compared with women who had never smoked. To the long list of ways that smoking can kill you, experts should add one more cause of death — suicide. So say some sharp-eyed readers of the New England Journal of Medicine. In February, a trio of [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
