mental health

Baseline Report on Child Mental Health

The report, ‘Strengthening Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Systems and Services for children and adolescents in East Asia and Pacific Region was produced from a research conducted by the Burnett Institute for the period from 2020 to 2021.

A very important gathering took place at the Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby today where UNICEF and partners released the report on the mental status of children in the country.

Mental health service closer to community

Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS Jelta Wong officiated the opening together with the Chairman of the DSCMH and Archbishop of Port Moresby, Cardinal Sir John Ribat, Msc.

Dr. Uma Ambi, Director for the Directorate for Social Change and Mental Health was thankful to Minister Wong for the elevation of mental health services in a matter of two years, a matter that she had struggled with, for many years to achieve.

e-mental health support assistance

With the e-learning assistance, Theodist enabled the Ministry of Health Directorate for Social Change and Mental Health Services to hold a virtual conference with mental health nurses around the country at the end of February 2021.

Dr. Uma Ambi, director of the social change directorate, explained that it is important to reach the people who need psychiatric services in the provinces during this time of COVID-19 precautions.

She thanked the CEO of Theodist Limited in assisting with e-mental health support.

The harsh reality of suicide

This World Health Organization statement was recently highlighted during the World Mental Health Day commemoration.

The World Mental Health Day falls on October 10 every year.

For 2019, the theme was ‘focus on suicide prevention’. This year, a call for “40 seconds of action” is made to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it.

Speaking at the event in Port Moresby, Dame Carol Kidu said the significance of suicide as a global public health problem is often not recognised.

Mental health in the workplace vital

Dr Ludwig Nanawar from the Laloki Psychiatric Hospital said the take home message from this year’s theme is; a mentally healthy workforce aids quality productivity and output in an organisation.

During a person’s adult life, a large proportion of their time is spent at work.

Experience in the workplace is one of the factors determining the overall wellbeing.

Yoga: A beginner's guide

In fact, centuries before Instagram and activewear, "doing yoga" didn't involve the body at all.

At its core, yoga is a practice for tapping into your mind and poses are just one way of doing that.

Yoga's philosophy is based on eight limbs; only one of them, asana, is about the poses. The rest: yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, are best described as moral and ethical codes to live by.

Let's talk about the mental load

You know the scene — you're making dinner, calling the plumber/doctor/mechanic, checking homework and answering work emails — at the same time.

All the while, you are being peppered with questions by your nearest and dearest "where are my shoes?", "do we have any cheese?", "what time's my basketball game?", "what are we doing next Saturday night?".

But even if you know this experience well, you may not have the language to describe it.

How to better manage your relationship with your phone

How does it feel for you? What emotions come up in your mind and body?

What about when you realise you've left your mobile device at home, or in a taxi? Are you bereft? Do you crave it?

Last year, 84 per cent of Australians owned a smartphone — and among young people, that figure was 94 per cent.

And our dependence on mobile devices has crept up on us over time, leading to a range of problems, University of Washington Information School's Professor David Levy said.

Sinead O'Connor says she's 'suicidal' in Facebook video

The singer is seen crying in the 12-minute video, which she said she was uploading in an effort to help people understand mental illness.

"I am now living in a motel in New Jersey. I'm all by myself," she said.

"Mental illness, it's like drugs, it doesn't [care] who you are, and equally what's worse, the stigma doesn't care who you are."

"There's absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist - the sweetest man on earth, who says I'm his hero - and that's about the only thing keeping me alive at the moment... and that's kind of pathetic.

Owens opens up on bulimia battle

Owens, who took charge of the 2015 RWC decider between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham, has previously revealed he attempted to commit suicide as he struggled to understand his sexuality before coming out as gay.

And the courageous Welshman, arguably rugby's most high-profile match official, has taken part in a BBC television programme about male eating disorders to urge others suffering from similar problems to seek help.