3 d. ago Children are speaking to strangers online – and grooming is on the rise. This is how to protect them | Devi Sridhar

Parents are used to worrying about walking home alone and sleepovers, but games and messaging apps pose new risksWhen we look at what causes poor mental health, we often think of stress, genetics, poverty or loneliness. These are all contributing factors, but there’s another, more hidden cause that isn’t talked about enough: abuse, especially during childhood. I recall Chad Varah, the founder of Samaritans, reflecting that there were many things that drove people to call the charity’s suicide helpline. But abuse was a prominent reason.Abuse isn’t an easy subject to raise or talk about. It brings up issues of gender dynamics – a colleague studying global sexual abuse told me: “The vast majority of perpetrators are men; the victims are equally boys and girls.” These are hard issues to think about, harder still to discuss and difficult to address. They challenge notions of safety, trust, family and community. But if we want to make progress in addressing poor mental health, we have to ...

Politics

4 d. ago New study finds unexpected link between physical pain and depression

Researchers analysed 21 years of data to yield their findings

Politics

4 d. ago Paediatric expert says 300 kids in A&E shows trend could 'harm large number'

The study found that one in 10 of those admitted required life-saving operations after swallowing magnets

Politics

5 d. ago Poor mental health as child limits capacity to work in later life, study finds

Children in Great Britain with serious conditions 68% more likely to have limited ability to work as adults, report saysChildren in Great Britain with serious mental health conditions are two-thirds more likely to have a limited ability to work in adulthood, according to research from a leading thinktank.The report by researchers at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) looked at data from about 6,000 people who took part in the 1970 British Cohort Study, which is following the lives of individuals born in a single week in 1970 across Great Britain. Continue reading...

Society

5 d. ago Children with poor mental health less likely to work as adults – report finds

Children and young people with severe mental and behavioural problems are 85% more likely to have symptoms of depression at age 51.

Society

7 d. ago Nutritionist explains 'cornerstones' of a long life after new study

New research has looked further into it

Politics

7 d. ago Schoolchildren to be taught to develop 'grit' that prepares them for 'life's ups and downs' in government drive to cut mental health problems

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson and Health Secretary Wes Streeting made the vow as they unveiled a new push to reduce absences caused by poor mental health.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘My body deserves pleasure’: is Virgin Island the most awkward TV sexperiment ever?

Twelve virgins, one island and a team of sex therapists who encourage participants to pleasure them Channel 4’s new show is eye-popping TV. The stars talk fruity games, panic attacks and intimacySex seems to be everywhere – in TV and films, the quagmire of porn online – but young people are increasingly not getting it in real life. The Next Steps longitudinal study following more than 16,000 people, by University College London, found that one in eight 26-year-olds still hadn’t had sex.Hence Channel 4’s new show, Virgin Island, which depicts a two-week “radical retreat” led by sexologists Danielle Harel and Celeste Hirschman and a team of experts. The 12 participants are all virgins, and their varied issues around physical intimacy are explored via therapies that include sex coaches stripping naked and encouraging participants to pleasure them. The hope being that sex might be something they get to experience in the next fortnight. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Scientists discover why some babies learn to walk later than others

A new study suggests that a slightly later start to walking is not always a sign of problems

Politics

3 w. ago Is my generation in need of reforming? I went to Gen Z bootcamp to find out

As a Unesco-partnered non-profit launches a soft skills programme to fill a gap among those aged 16 to 25, Ellie Muir asks whether members of her generation – who are often represented as workshy phone addicts – require a complete overhaul, or if they’ve been failed by their predecessors

Politics

3 w. ago Generation will be lost to poor mental health without safeguards on tech – Cass

Baroness Hilary Cass described the impact of smart devices on children’s sleep, attention span and education as ‘an economic timebomb’.

Science

4 w. ago Make these six changes to your diet now to live '13 years longer'

Even making these changes in your 80s could help extend your life, a study said.

Events