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Psychiatry

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Ms Alexandra Hansen
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Is social media damaging to children and teens? We asked five experts

If you have kids, chances are you’ve worried about their presence on social media. Who are they talking to? What are they posting? Are they being bullied? Do they spend too much time on it? Do they realise their friends’ lives aren’t as good as they look on Instagram? We asked five experts if social media is damaging to children and teens.If you have kids, chances are you’ve worried about their presence on social media. Who are they talking to? What are they posting? Are they being bullied? Do they spend too much time on it? Do they realise their friends’ lives aren’t as good as they look on Instagram? We asked five experts if social media is damaging to children and teens.

Expert/s: Ms Alexandra Hansen
Help for kids with mental illness
Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Help for kids with mental illness

Kids Helpline has just launched a new mobile app for teenagers and young people with mental health issues. Called ‘niggle by Kids Helpline’, the new app aims to help young people identify any mental health concern or ‘niggle’. It has been designed to be used in conjunction with Kids Helpline’s existing services or as a stand-alone option for those people who may not have been willing or able to access help through traditional methods. The app provides, for free, hundreds of built-in resource and guided strategies that are all evidence-based.

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi
The importance of ‘family’ for people with mental illness
Emily Hielscher
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

The importance of ‘family’ for people with mental illness

People living with mental illness often require support from carers, such as family and friends, on a long-term and somewhat unpredictable basis. But these support networks are not always in place. Geographical or emotional distance from family members, conflict with friends, and the tendency for people with mental illness to withdraw from others means these individuals are often isolated. In two Australian surveys – a national snapshot survey of Australian adults with psychosis and another looking at adults with long-term mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis – only one-quarter reported receiving regular assistance from family or friends. About three out of every four people living with mental illness reported the absence of a carer or other informal support.

Expert/s: Emily Hielscher, James Graham Scott, Sandra Diminic
How music therapy can help anxious children
Elizabeth Coombes
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

How music therapy can help anxious children

According to the NHS, as many as one in eight children aged five to 19 faces a mental health challenge. And a significant number of these cases are related to some form of anxiety. Of course, a degree of anxiety or worry may be a normal state of affairs for young people – particularly when moving schools, or around exam time. But for some, anxiety can affect every aspect of their daily lives. One effective method of providing support for this anxiety is music therapy, where music becomes the main tool the therapist uses to connect and work with the patient. This kind of therapy has been shown to be effective when treating children and young people living with anxiety based disorders.

Expert/s: Elizabeth Coombes
Holding on to Hope podcast
Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Holding on to Hope podcast

A patient’s potential to suicide haunts most GPs at some stage in their working life. Many patients will endure incredibly stressful periods in their lives, and while you can offer all the support in the world there will always be the question of whether they need more. In such situations, help offered by a person who can say “I understand – I’ve been there” can be invaluable. That’s where this resource comes into its own.

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi
Better eating improves depression in young people
Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Better eating improves depression in young people

Improving a young person’s diet might be the key to helping them overcome their depressive symptoms, according to new Australian research. In a randomised controlled trial of just over 100 people with elevated levels of depression symptoms and a regular diet that was assessed as poor, researchers found that those allocated to the ‘diet change’ group, on average improved to the point of having no clinically significant symptoms after just three weeks. This was in stark contrast to the ‘habitual diet control group’ who unsurprisingly, showed no improvement in symptoms over the duration of the study.

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi
1 in 3 young adults is lonely – and it affects their mental health
Dr Michelle H Lim
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

1 in 3 young adults is lonely – and it affects their mental health

More than one in three young adults aged 18 to 25 reported problematic levels of loneliness, according to a new report from Swinburne University and VicHealth. We surveyed 1,520 Victorians aged 12 to 25, and examined their experience of loneliness. We also asked about their symptoms of depression and social anxiety. Overall, one in four young people (aged 12 to 25) reported feeling lonely for three or more days within the last week. Among 18 to 25 year olds, one in three (35%) reported feeling lonely three or more times a week. We also found that higher levels of loneliness increases a young adult’s risk of developing depression by 12% and social anxiety by 10%. Adolescents aged 12 to 17 reported better outcomes, with one in seven (13%) feeling lonely three or more times a week. Participants in this age group were also less likely to report symptoms of depression and social anxiety than the 18 to 25 year olds.

Expert/s: Dr Michelle H Lim
Managing young people with ADHD – from personal experience
Samantha Kitchen
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Managing young people with ADHD – from personal experience

The usual medical focus in articles about ADHD is on how to support the family that is coping with a child with ADHD. Another common focus is about the misdiagnosis of ADHD, and how medication is overprescribed. This article is different. I want to emphasise, from personal experience, the importance of empowering the child or young adult who has ADHD. I also appreciate the chance to explain to others how it feels to have ADHD so they understand the difficulties people like me have.

Expert/s: Samantha Kitchen
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Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Do supplements help in mental illness?

Even primary school children know a good diet and proper nutrition is important if you want to be physically healthy. Eat the wrong things or insufficient of the good things and chances are you’re destined to develop heart problems, diabetes or cancer. But what about a person’s psychological health? How important is diet and nutrition in mental health? And is there any evidence that people treat or prevent mental illness by taking particular nutrients, supplements or vitamins?

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi
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Prof Wayne Warburton
Monographs iconMonographs

Untangling the Weird, Wired Web of Gaming Disorder and its Classification

This article outlines the research findings about the impact of playing online video games and advises on healthy video game use.

Expert/s: Prof Wayne Warburton, Dr Philip Tam
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Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Exercise – the underutilised antidepressant

Physical activity not only helps prevent depression, but should be considered an effective therapeutic option for patients who already have the condition, researchers say. According to a review published recently in Current Sports Medicine Reports, major depressive disorder is an exceedingly common, disabling condition with prevalence estimates ranging from 6% to 18% across different countries worldwide.

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi
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Dr Linda Calabresi
Clinical Articles iconClinical Articles

Mental health first aid

Managing patients with mental health issues is a common recognised challenge for Australian GPs. Managing families and carers is a common often unrecognised challenge for Australian GPs. Knowing someone with a mental health issue, living with them, working with them or caring for them can be extremely difficult and exhausting, never knowing what the right thing is to say or do. Mental Health First Aid is a perfect resource that you can recommend in just these circumstances. The not-for-profit organisation behind this charity is on a mission to train all Australians in the best evidenced-based approach to helping people with a psychological problem. So on the website, people can find authoritative and practical advice on topics such as when should you suspect someone is psychotic and what should you do if you fear someone is contemplating suicide. In addition there are courses that anybody can undertake that actually train you in mental health first aid. How empowering that must be for all those friends and carers who are struggling to help someone they care about who is ill. The information is also available in a range of languages, and also has specific resources for some of the unique issues experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This excellent resource is likely to prove valuable not only for patients, but health professionals as well.   >> Access the resource here Recommended at the Sydney Annual Women’s and Children’s Health Update in February, 2019 by Dr Claire Kelly, Director of Curriculum at Mental Health First Aid Australia.

Expert/s: Dr Linda Calabresi

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