A strong social support system is important in helping us through stressful times – whether that stress is a bad day at work or a year impacted by a global pandemic.  We’ve all likely heard the term ‘social support system’ and know that it is a key component of mental health – but what exactly does it mean? Essentially, social support involves having a network of family, friends and peers that you can turn to in times of need.  While there are many different ways people can support each other, research has been done on four distinct types of social support: Emotional support: This ..read more

Contemporary Australia is multicultural, made up of a rich tapestry of traditions and beliefs. The 2021 census found 29.3% of all Australians were born overseas while more than half (51.5%) of the population have a parent born overseas. But for the many, many migrants who call this land home, the experience can be challenging. Cultural and religious festivals play a significant role in our sense of belonging. Yet, for some, these celebrations remain hidden, obscured by the mainstream narrative.   What might be the impact of limited visibility on migrants of non-dominant cultures in Austr ..read more

In our busy modern lives, sleep difficulties are a familiar experience for many of us. Sleep loss and poor sleep quality – known as sleep deprivation, can have profound effects on mental and physical wellbeing. Sleep deprivation can decrease positive moods, increase the risk of anxiety, and undermine our emotional functioning. Understanding and addressing sleep deprivation is fundamental to improving mental clarity, emotional wellbeing, and overall health. What is Sleep Deprivation?  Delaying sleep onset by as few as one or two hours, periodic waking throughout the night, or reducing the ..read more

One significant focus in the sight-line of most medical and mental health practitioners is sleep. Though always deemed important, it’s true impact on short and long-term wellbeing is has been reinforced by medical research. One such study has outlined not only the short and medium-term effects of sleep deprivation, but also the long-term effects; particularly if the deprivation is chronic. Some of the short and medium-term affects include reduced immunity, weight gain, low mood, increased anxiety as well as hampering proprioception. One of the identified long-term impacts has been an associat ..read more

Building Self-Worth in Children It’s important for parents, caregivers, and educators to understand the impact of feedback on a child’s self-esteem. There are several types of feedback, including positive or negative, outcome-focused or process-focused. The kind of feedback you use can impact how your child sees themselves.  For example, feedback focussed on an end result, such as “well done on winning”,  can teach children to measure themselves by performance alone. This has the potential to lead to a sense of helplessness when children inevitably encounter setbacks, as the style o ..read more

  One of the trickiest balances to maintain is the balance between self-care and self-indulgence. With all information sources, from social media to t-shirt slogans advocating for eating entire tubs of ice-cream and downing bottles of wine, it can be difficult to identify the difference between the two. To that end, it might make sense to start with a definition of the word. Dr. Meinecke, in an issue of Psychology Today, defined self-care as ‘choosing behaviour that balances the effects of emotional and physical stressors: exercising, eating healthy food, getting enough sleep, practising ..read more

It’s important for parents, caregivers, and educators to understand the impact of feedback on a child’s self-esteem. There are several types of feedback, including positive or negative, outcome-focused or process-focused. The kind of feedback you use can impact how your child sees themselves. For example, feedback focussed on an end result, such as “well done on winning”,  can teach children to measure themselves by performance alone. This has the potential to lead to a sense of helplessness when children inevitably encounter setbacks, as the style of praise would have taught them that p ..read more

As we move into the colder months, many people may start to experience a type of depression known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. SAD is a type of depression that usually occurs during the autumn and winter months, when there is less sunlight. It can affect people of all ages, but it’s more common in women and those who live far from the equator, where the nights are longer. SAD is caused by a lack of sunlight, which can disrupt our body’s natural circadian rhythm and lead to hormonal imbalances. Some common symptoms of SAD include: Feeling sad, anxious, or depressed Loss of interest ..read more

May is Schizophrenia Awareness month, which is a good time to be reminded what schizophrenia is (and more importantly!) what it is not. Over decades, inaccurate news reporting and film and literature stereotyping have given the general community a distorted understanding of schizophrenia, a disorder which affects about 1 in 100 or between 150,000 and 200,000 Australians. Contrary to some beliefs people suffering from schizophrenia do not have split personalities nor are they intellectually disabled. The cause of the illness is not yet known but we do know it can be an inherited disorder. Schi ..read more

May 17 is the International Day against the prejudices of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. The word phobia simply means fear. It is the uncontrollable, irrational, and lasting fear of a certain object, situation, persons or activity. This fear can be so overwhelming that a person may go to great lengths to avoid and/or attack the source of the fear. People who are homophobic, biphobic or transphobic respond in fear by words and actions toward members of the population who identify as homosexual, bisexual or transexual. Actions caused by uninformed fear can have serious consequences ..read more