From amok to susto

Physical symptoms and mental conditions are often shaped by different cultures and languages around the world, and Australian medical professionals should be taught to recognise them.

Back from the brink

Poor sleep, psychological distress, socioeconomic disadvantage and bad eating habits are strongly linked to greater risk of suicidal thoughts among adolescents according to new research from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Your plastic pal who’s fun to be with

Every generation faces its own version of the genie in the bottle. For ours, it’s artificial intimacy. Do we let our children form bonds with machines designed to mimic emotion? Or do we help them engage in the messy, human relationships that teach empathy, patience and love?

The natural path to better mental health

Mental health services should increase their investment in lifestyle interventions to improve care and help close the 15-year life expectancy gap faced by people with mental illness, according to a new Lancet Psychiatry Commission report.

The natural way to better mental health

Regular chats with friends, time spent in nature and mentally engaging activities are strongly linked to better mental health, according to new Curtin University research that highlights the power of simple, everyday behaviours to improve well-being.

The wait

The long wait for an initial treatment session for teenagers suffering from poor mental health could be undermining their prospects of recovery.

Paging Doctor Claude

US researchers say AI chatbots such as Claude and ChatGPT could be as good as, if not better, than psychotherapists in delivering mental health therapy.

Grow up?

What is behind the spiraling rates of ‘mental illness’ among the young? Several recent books take very different views on the issue.

Integrating wellbeing into mental health research

New research suggests mental wellbeing should be measured alongside standard tests for mental health conditions.

Happier children mean happier adults

A new study suggests it’s time the eradication of child maltreatment became a major public health priority to reduce the later toll of adult mental illness.

After the final whistle

Sporting careers are always relatively short, and people forced to retire from their chosen sport at an early age are at an even higher risk of feeling bereft when their days on the field are over.

Boosting belonging for school mental health

Initiatives to enhance a sense of school belonging can have positive and far-reaching effects on the mental health of young people.