Mental Health News
A Look at Teenage Depression
New research finds that 20 percent or more of teens may face depression,
however most depressions will be short-term and will not recur. Among
the other findings are that most parents failed to see their children’s
depression and "We have found that the risk for recurring depression
occurs in the kids who had early depression and social difficulties,"
Hammen said.
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6188
Bipolar Disorder Harder on Teens and Children than Adults
New research from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School tracks a
large group of children and teenagers over time finds that bipolar
disorder is a more severe illness for children than adults during the
first few years after diagnosis.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 ... usat_x.htm
Mission Australia's 'Snapshot 2005'
Paying attention to the needs of older children (6 to 16 years): Mission
Australia's 'Snapshot 2005'
'Developing resilience at every stage of a young person's life' is a new
report from Mission Australia released at the end of April 2005. The
four-page 'Snapshot 2005' looks at some characteristics of that diverse
group of Australians aged 6 to 16 about whom its hard to gather
information as their age range 'crosses two more commonly-used groupings
-- children and youth or young people'. The snapshot outlines new
evidence about brain development and key points of effective
intervention, and highlights the importance of developing resilience at
every stage of a young person's life. It includes information about two
new Mission Australia programs that are helping develop individual and
family resilience. The Snapshot is available as a PDF document from the
Mission Australia web site, via the link at:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G20E42D8A (PDF document), OR go directly
to:
http://www.missionaustralia.com.au/cm/r ... shot_famil
ies.pdf (PDF document).
Young Carers "at risk" Respite Program
Younger Carers “at risk” Respite Program for the Commonwealth Carer
Respite Centre is a new initiative funded by the Australian Government
with the aim of supporting young carers "at risk" of prematurely leaving
their education or training programs, by providing access to respite
which will help them better manage/ balance their educational and caring
responsibilities. This will be an ongoing program over then next 3 years
and available through most Commonwealth Carer Respite Centres.
Contact Connie Montagner at
ConnieM@mchs.org.au (Northern Metro area
Melbourne), or your local Commonwealth Carer Respite Centre for further
details.
Mental health should have same priority as physical health
London Zosia Kmietowicz
Staying mentally well should be given the same priority by NHS
policymakers as keeping physically fit, says an independent think tank
based in the United kingdom, the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Full News Release available from the
British Medical Journal.
The full report is available from:
www.ippr.org
NGO Alternative Report to Committee on the Rights of Child
The Non-Government (Alternative) Report to the UN Committee on the
Rights of the Child has now been released, printed and was presented
last week to the Committee in Geneva.
Hard copies of the Report are available for sale by contacting the
National Children's and Youth Law Centre and a flyer for ordering will
be made available on these websites.
The Non-Government Report represents the contributions of hundreds of
advocates and workers and young people across the country. It has been
prepared following a two year process which involved consultations in
every State and Territory. It represents the contribution of children
and young people, academics, organisations that work with
children,indigenous and ethnic organisations, churches and charities and
workers in schools, early childhood centres, foster and residential
care, youth centres and legal centres. The coordinating activity and
report
preparation was managed by the National Children's and Youth Law Centre
and Defence for Children-Australia with the support of a Steering
Committee and a National Advisory Group of prominent Australians.
An electronic version of the report is available for download is
available from the following sites:
http://www.dci-au.org/html/news.html
http://www.ncylc.org.au/croc/consultpaper.html
“Saving Francesca: Ideas for Secondary School Teachers” – new resource
available!
A new resource package of ideas has been released for secondary school
teachers using the novel "Saving Francesca" by Melina Marchetta
(Penguin, 2003) as a class text. The package assists teachers to explore
some of the underlying themes relating to parental mental illness within
this award-winning book using associated credible Australian resources.
The focus of the package is to utilise the themes within "Saving
Francesca" to increase student's understanding of mental illness and its
effect on families; reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and
increase students' 'help seeking' behaviour.
Developed by staff from the national COPMI (Children Of Parents with a
Mental Illness) and MindMatters initiatives, with assistance from a wide
range of reviewers in the mental health and education sectors, the
package is available for download from the COPMI website
http://www.copmi.net.au (see the Downloads section) and MindMatters
website
http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatter ... esources/s
avingfrancesca.pdf
The COPMI and MindMatters initiatives are funded by the Australian
Government Department of Health and Ageing.
