Monday 24 June 2013

"Online social networking increases social connectedness"

Australian press release: - 

" - Australian Psychological Society (APS) researcher Dr Rebecca Mathews said that despite earlier studies suggesting online social networking reduced social skills and increased people’s sense of isolation, the APS found the social networking phenomenon had the opposite effect.
Our respondents said rather than replacing their ‘offline’ gatherings, Facebook actually increased the amount of time they spent socialising with friends and family,” she said.
“These findings are significant because we know strong social connections enhance people’s self-esteem and mental health while providing support and a sense of belonging,” Dr Mathews said.
The survey of 1834 respondents also found more than half of 18 to 30 year olds felt they would lose contact with many of their friends if they stopped using social networking sites - "


http://www.psychology.org.au/news/media_releases/15nov2010/

Thursday 6 June 2013

The Adolescent Brain


Inspirational speaker and researcher, Sarah Jayne Blakemore, talks about the Adolescent Brain in this  "TED" video

Wednesday 5 June 2013

"Young Minds" presents an interesting article about Borderline Personality Disorder

http://www.youngminds.org.uk/news/blog/1465_why_me_experiencing_borderline_personality_disorder

Guest blogger Helen aged 24-years-old talks about being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and says:
"I hope that by sharing my story I can reach out to people who like me have questioned why they were dealt such a bad hand. As well as telling myself that things could always be worse, I'm living proof that it is possible to come back from the darkest of places."