mental health
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Maybe Facebook’s Ruthless Ascent Didn’t Make the World More Depressed, Study Says
New academic research analysing Facebook’s adoption across 72 different countries is trying to challenge the common claim that social media is to blame for negative mental health outcomes. Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) said they found “no evidence” that increased Facebook penetration worldwide was linked to widespread psychological harm. Instead, they claim the…
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Can Brain Fingerprinting Help Predict Future Mental Health Issues?
Despite the best efforts of clinicians and researchers for decades, we still do not fully know why some people develop mental disorders and others do not. However, changes in the brain are very likely our best clues to future mental health outcomes. The adolescent brain is particularly important in this pursuit as changes during this…
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Can a Poo Transplant a Day Really Keep the Doctor Away?
In a world first, two Australians with bipolar have had poo transplants, their symptoms improved, and their cases written up in peer-reviewed journals. One of us (Parker) treated the second of these patients with so-called faecal microbiota transplantation, and published his case study in recent weeks. The other (Green) is part of a team recruiting…
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The End Of Lockdown Is In Sight, But Our Mental Health Might Need A Little Bit More Time
Australians’ mental health has tended to decline during COVID-19 lockdowns. Record-high calls to helplines such as Lifeline suggest many are currently suffering. Encouragingly, data from 2020 shows many Australians’ mental health improved once outbreaks were contained. But an evidence review we released today from Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank shows the reality is far more…