In what is becoming an international legal row, it has become apparent that an Italian woman visiting Britain was forcibly sedated and given an caesarean section after experiencing a mental breakdown. Last year, while visiting the UK on a two-week business trip, a pregnant Italian woman with a preexisting bipolar disorder experienced panic attacks, and…
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According to the second national report card on mental health suicide prevention, a growing number of people with mental illnesses are facing unemployment, homelessness and discrimination. The number of people receiving treatment and going on to live empowered lives is declining. Far too many people with a mental illness are ending up in prisons and…
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Over the next month, Australians will be called to action to engage in mental health issues, starting off with World Suicide Prevention Day and R OK Day, and finishing with Mental Health Week in October. Today (September 10th) is World Suicide Prevention Day. Why is this important, you may ask? You might not know anyone…
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Sunday marked the first day of September, the first day of spring, and the first day of Liptember! ‘Lip what?’ Well I’m glad you ask because here at Lip, we want you to pucker up and put on your lippy this September. Why? Well we all know September, the start of spring, is the primetime…
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*Trigger warning: discussion of suicide* Being more of a bookworm, I admit that I’m a little slow on the uptake when it comes to primetime TV. Last week, I finally watched Rizzoli & Isles for the first time. I came away thoroughly entertained by the strong female leads taking down patriarchy, one dirty cop at…
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Are you creative, aged between 12 and 25, and interested in youth mental health? From the 1st of July to the 28th of September, headspace Elsternwick is running its very first art competition, organised by its Youth Advisory Committee, a group of young people interested in creating community connections and raising awareness of mental health…
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‘I remember it really clearly,’ says Seraphina Reynolds, creator of the new online writing project This Place Is Yours. ‘One night I sat down in my writing chair, and it just kind of poured out of me. It was just something that clearly I needed to do.’ A book has emerged from this project, and…
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Having survived the winter, spring is traditionally the time to rid the house of dirt, dust and cobwebs that have crept in over the cooler months. Spring cleaning typically means vacuums, open windows and elbow grease. Now, as a resident of a shoebox apartment with no floor space and a ten-centimetre square of ventilation, I’ve…
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An array of young people are in a room together competitively solving Rubik’s Cubes. We got lost on the way to the event and a young man with a Rubik’s Cube t-shirt directed us to the hall, saying ‘you won’t miss the rattling of the cubes when you’re close’. He was quite right. The plastic…
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This new column will summarise events that have happened in the last week relevant to women, feminism, and sexuality and link you to related articles. It will also offer a brief analysis on some stories. This column is still finding its feet, so please feel free to give us feedback, as well as any news…
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I am happy to admit that it can’t be easy being a girl. Menstrual systems and hormones – gosh that must suck. What do we get? Boners. I’ll take the boner. To state the obvious, the feminist revolution has done amazing thing for women’s image and identity. And things can only get better. There is…
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(Or: How I learned to stop worrying…as much). It took giving a couple of spiky-haired strangers the finger to finally figure out what was wrong with me. I was at the ripe, bugger-off confusing age of seventeen; I was on the bus, heading to my fluorescent-lit retail job. The sun was setting in that bright,…
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An eating disorder can be described as a marathon. And in that image, it isn’t ever just the sufferer that is running. Their community – friends, parents, teachers, siblings – can be asked to step up without training, without warning, or proper footwear. This isn’t the fault of the one who’s fighting. But it is…
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“Don’t worry.” “Just Relax.” “Calm down.” I think if I hear these words directed at me just one more time I might actually go mental. Oh wait, technically I already am. I have what is called Social Anxiety Disorder, which amongst other things means I now get to tick all sorts of extra boxes on…
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