Published in: Independent.ie

Education Minister Norma Foley says a proposed new law approved by Cabinet yesterday may be used to ensure that schools open classes in September for children with special needs.The legislation will truncate the legal process available to the minister to compel a school to open a special educational needs class if they do not agree to do so. Currently the process – known as Section 37A – takes four to 18 months. The new law will cut that to six to eight weeks.The draft legislation approved by the Cabinet will be fast-tracked through the Oireachtas, with a view to being passed into law before the Dáil rises for the summer.

Published in: Zee News

The US scientists have developed a blood test that can tell about depression and bipolar disorder in a person. Just as a simple blood test can help detect many diseases and infections like diabetes, thyroid, cholesterol, this new test can help detect depression and bipolar disorder. The Indiana University School of Medicine in the US has claimed that depression and bipolar disorder can be detected through a simple blood test.

Published in: Times of India

The anxiety, coupled with isolation and uncertainty, during the pandemic has led to a troubling time for teens. With adults grappling with their own issues, some youths are helping their peers to get the right help. 

Published in: NDTV

Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities (PwD) globally are from developing countries and most of them are less educated, underemployed or unemployed and poor, according to a study undertaken by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers. They studied the impact of different types of disabilities on employer hiring decisions. The disparity in employment rates between persons with disabilities and the rest of the workforce has been highlighted as a cause for concern in several studies but factors contributing to the differences has received less attention, they said.

Published in: Indian Express

“Stress is a response to a threat in any given situation. In other words, it triggers your body’s ‘fight-or-flight response. This stress response helps protect the body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly to the situation. However, when this stress response fires continuously and stress levels remain elevated over a long period of time, then this chronic stress can put your physical and mental well-being at risk,” said Ritika Aggarwal Mehta, consultant psychologist, Jaslok Hospital and Research Center.

Published in: Times of India , Entertainment Times

“Doctor my son is spending too much time online. He is constantly on Instagram and facetime. What should I do?” Such questions have become a norm for most mental health practitioners who work with children and young adults. Most teenagers use social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram these days. It keeps a person connected to friends across the globe and gives them a window into the lives of people they are connected with.

Published in: Times of India

"Man up!’ ‘Boys don’t cry’, ‘Don’t be a sissy’; these are just some statements that we grow up hearing. We are supposed to always be tough, stoic and never express what we feel, because hey, that would make us look weak!” says Nikhil Taneja, mental health advocate and co-founder of Yuvaa, while bringing attention towards stifled discussions around mental health when it comes to men. And this isn’t a random claim.Since its inception in September 2020, India’s Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry-run helpline Kiran reported that about 70 per cent of the callers who sought help were men. The numbers clearly point towards the fact that men, dictated by age-old conventions telling them to ‘man up’, have suppressed their mental health issues.

Published in: ET Health World

A pandemic is not just a medical phenomenon; it affects individuals and society and causes disruption, anxiety, stress and stigma. The effect of Covid pandemic has been multifaceted vis-a-vis mental health. Not just the fear of acquiring infection but suffering from varied severity of Covid infection and its complications considering dearth of medications, hospital beds, oxygen was all very dreadful. To add to this, the death of a family member and the performance of last rites added to the gigantic plight. There have been doctors who were crying when their children got infected and had to fight death. There were doctors who could not reach for the last rites of their families and yet there were those who struggled to manage and balance all these.

Published in: News 18

The Supreme Court Monday reiterated that persons with disabilities (PwD) cannot be denied reservation in promotions in government jobs as it upheld a Kerala High Court order granting the benefit to a woman last year. The top court said that identification of posts for the purpose of reservation had to take place immediately after the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 but resistance to this is obvious from the “delaying tactics" adopted by most of the government authorities in truly implementing the intent.

Published in: WHO Website

Globally, the majority of mental health care continues to be provided in psychiatric hospitals, and human rights abuses and coercive practices remain all too common. But providing community-based mental health care that is both respectful of human rights and focused on recovery is proving successful and cost-effective, according to new guidance released today by the World Health Organization.(Image by Tumisu from Pixabay) 

Published in: India Today

Most teenagers and adolescents have expressed feeling detached, lonely and extremely bored which creates a lot of frustration. Added to this, there is a sense of social detachment and a loss of social skills...