A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
More than half of Australian students lack the skills to deal with life's difficulties, a survey has found, with many citing depression, stress and a lack of confidence. The study of more than 16,000 students in years 4 through to 12 by Resilient Youth Australia, a not-for-profit organisation promoting the mental health of young people, [...]
Recent news of former NSW premier’s daughter Harriet Wran being charged with murder is another illustration of Australia’s growing problem with the drug ice. Wran, who is said to have been battling an ice addiction, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and breaking and entering while armed with a knife, along with Michael Lee. Another [...]
People who send or threaten to distribute explicit images without consent could soon be charged, with the Napthine government introducing Australia's first “sexting” offences into Parliament this week. The new laws, which will be introduced into Parliament on Thursday, will ensure that young people who receive or send raunchy but non-exploitative sexts are spared from [...]
Australians have become accustomed to labels on cigarettes warning about the risk of smoking causing cancer and other diseases. And our research, published in the latest edition of BMC Public Health, shows similar labels could help consumers better understand the harms of drinking alcohol. Alcohol is estimated to cost the Australian economy A$36 billion a year in preventable [...]
Mental illness is not a communicable disease, but there’s a strong body of evidence that suicide is still contagious. Publicity surrounding a suicide has been repeatedly and definitively linked to a subsequent increase in suicide, especially among young people. Analysis suggests that at least 5 percent of youth suicides are influenced by contagion. - Margot Sanger-Katz [...]
2014 circuit evaluation Our Mental Health and Wellbeing of Young People seminar circuit has drawn to a close for 2014! So thank you to everyone who managed to join us this year! We had a brilliant time out on the road and we feel very proud about the quality of our 2014 circuit, and [...]
In last weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald, I read an article that stated, “Homophobic bullying rife in high school PE lessons.” The article went on to say that a study funded by beyondblue, found 98 per cent of students had heard casual homophobia in their PE classes, while more than 80 per cent heard it frequently. [...]
Despite what the media might tell us, it appears that our teens may not be as out-of-control as some of us believe - or at least not in the ways we think they are. Try Googling “teens out of control.” At the time of writing that search query returned 58,200,000 results (in 0.29 seconds if [...]
Experts say that something is changing that makes life seem more challenging for people, especially young people. Anxiety disorders are becoming common, and a study released in January 2010 showed that depression and suicidal tendencies are on the rise on university campuses in Canada and the U.S. - Adrianne Hill via Mental Health Disorders on the [...]
Teenagers are experiencing more depression and anxiety than they did a decade or more ago, with doctors reporting an increase in the most serious and difficult cases. A review of 19 studies conducted across 12 countries has found the majority showed a deterioration in the mental health of teenage girls when it came to depressive and [...]
