Social media has been shown to affect mental health

Social media has been shown to affect mental health

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Wellness

Social Media and Mental Health

We all know that social media has both its positive and negative effects on individuals. This is particularly true in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic. There is no surprise that mental health and social media are clearly connected throughout society today which may have major impacts on an individual due to rapid growth in trends. The question here is, how can we reduce these high rates and risk factors, allow people to have a positive relationship with themselves, and to not be consumed by the negative side of social media…? 

People may have needed social media during the COVID-19 lockdowns in order to stay connected to family and friends. This type of social media connection led to significant increase in usage creating a bubble that people were forced to be a part of. This extra time people had activated trends in social media which escalated and became more popular as well as the time spent on different platforms. Ultimately this increased use brings its own problems in terms of mental health and how it may slowly decline.

The fast and constant improvement of social media and technology over the past decade, and even more so over the pandemic, match the rising rates of suicide risk and ideation. It is human nature for many individuals, especially adolescents, to perceive themselves negatively which may be due to the need for ‘social rewards’, and craving the attention of likes, comments and shares on their latest post. In a national study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, it shows that in Australia, 2 in 5, aged 16-24 have experiences or currently have a mental disorder that extends over a 12-month period. These numbers cement the issues behind this even more so to make it known of the significant issues individuals are facing currently. Another study concluded that there should be increased awareness to address contemporary issues to help balance impacts on society, ultimately aiming for a better understanding of the topic. 

 

About the Author Tiana Di Genova

Tiana is in her final year of a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Canberra.

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

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Oral breathing and speech disorders in children

Oral breathing and speech disorders in children

by | Apr 11, 2022 | Uncategorized

By approximately five years of age, a child’s speech-sounds are generally fully developed. So, children who are older than 5 with speech-sound delay must have something else going on. For children who present with no other developmental concerns, the cause of such delay can be hard to find. Often there is just correlation. Some might wonder, should we attempt to find the cause, or just fix the delay? Why not both? What if the same cause might be contributing to several compounding issues?

Sylvia Hitos and colleagues wrote a research paper in 2012 entitled Oral Breathing and Speech Sound Disorders in Children. These researchers are based in Brazil, a country well-known for its research in the area of mouth breathing. They studied 439 children between the ages of 4 and 12 years, all of whom breathed through their mouths. Of this number, 137 children, or over 31% of the cohort, were older than 5 years and had speech disorders. Mouth breathing could well be, according to their article, an interfering factor in the speech development of these children. They also found that speech disorders were actually more frequent for children between the ages of 5 and 8 years – a time when peer development is important, alongside learning to read and write.

What is very important to understand here, that the authors note, is that mouth breathing may not only be contributing to delayed speech development, but also to poorer social skills (due to delayed speech and not being well-understood by peers) and to low literacy skills (when hearing, differentiating, and writing speech-sounds into words is required). We already know, due to research already undertaken, that there is a close relationship between mouth breathing, learning disabilities, attention issues, and memory deficits. So, the suggestion here is that mouth breathing may in turn affect speech and language development.

There is a lot more research yet to do. But the correlation is both interesting and potentially concerning nonetheless.

Hitos SF, Arakaki R, Solé D, Weckx LL. Oral breathing and speech disorders in children. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2013;89:361-5.

 

About the Author Nel MacBean

Nel holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney and post graduate qualifications in Education. As a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), she is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia (MSPA), with more than 10 years’ experience in speech pathology and prior to that almost 20 years of teaching.

She is currently undertaking higher degree research within the Faculty of Medicine and Health in the discipline of Speech Pathology at the University of Sydney. Read more here

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

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Is there a connection between Speech Pathology and Mouth Breathing?

Is there a connection between Speech Pathology and Mouth Breathing?

by | Mar 16, 2022 | Speech Pathology

Mouth Breathing and Speech Pathology

Have you ever stopped to notice how your child breathes? Does he breathe through his mouth? Does she breathe through her nose? Humans are designed to be nasal breathers. But many people breathe orally – through their mouths – and this has been shown to have a detrimental effect on a child’s learning, concentration, behaviour, and general health.

There is already mounting evidence for mouth breathing contributing to a lack of working memory, increased learning disorders, and reduced academic achievement, not to mention dental issues. Now the evidence is growing to show that mouth breathing also contributes to speech and language disorders.

Much of the research on the effects of chronic mouth breathing come out of Brazil, and many papers haven’t yet been translated into English. In Brazil all children visit an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat surgeon, also known as an otolaryngologist) before any initial assessment with a speech pathologist. This helps to establish whether a child has, amongst other things, problems with nasal breathing. If a child can’t adequately breathe through their nose, steps are taken to rectify this, if appropriate, and then speech pathology gets involved.

My blogs, over time, are going to talk about the current research surrounding chronic mouth breathing and its effect on learning, behaviour, and speech pathology related issues. The aim is to create awareness, and hopefully a greater understanding, of this underreported and often under-diagnosed and unappreciated condition in children.

Today’s study is one conducted in 2010, in Brazil, by Patricia Junqueira and colleagues. These researchers looked at 414 Brazilian children between the ages of 2 and 16 who had a history of mouth breathing, mostly due to hay-fever, but many as a result of enlarged adenoids, or a combination of the two. They assessed these children for speech-sound disorders or articulation disorders and language difficulties, as well as orofacial myofunctional disorders, and found that their mouth breathing did indeed contribute to their speech pathology issues. Their conclusion is telling – that mouth breathing may lie at the very heart of a number of speech pathology related issues.

Junqueira, P., et al. (2010). Speech-language pathology findings in patients with mouth breathing: multidisciplinary diagnosis according to etiology, International Journal of Orofacial Myology, 36 (1), 27-32.

 

About the Author Nel MacBean

Nel holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney and post graduate qualifications in Education. As a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP), she is a Member of Speech Pathology Australia (MSPA), with more than 10 years’ experience in speech pathology and prior to that almost 20 years of teaching.

She is currently undertaking higher degree research within the Faculty of Medicine and Health in the discipline of Speech Pathology at the University of Sydney. Read more here

Our speech pathology and psychology clinic is located in Braddon, ACT, in Canberra’s CBD. Call us on 5117 4890 or email reception@inpositivehealth.com to get in touch.

In Positive Health, Canberra. Nel MacBean Speech Pathologist Canberra. Campbell MacBean Psychologist Canberra.

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Need some Christmas stocking ideas?

Need some Christmas stocking ideas?

by | Jul 30, 2021 | Speech Pathology

The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year awards have been finalised for 2018, and here are the winners:

  • Indigenous children: Sorry Dayby Coral Vass (Illustrations by Dub Leffler)
  • Birth to 3 years: Heads and Tailsby by John Candy (Illustrations by John Candy)
  • Three to 5 years: Rodney Loses It!Written by Michael Gerard Bauer (Illustrations by Chrissie Krebs)
  • Five to 8 years: Danny Blue’s Really Excellent Dreamby Max Landrak (Illustrations by Max Landrak)
  • Eight to 10 years: The Grand Genius Summer of Henry Hooblerby Lisa Shanahan.

Check out the Association’s web page for the complete list, along with a list of shortlisted books: https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/SPAweb/whats_on/Book_of_the_Year/SPAweb/What_s_On/Book_of_the_Year/Book_of_the_Year.aspx?hkey=6d7d21b1-0cd6-4b86-91e3-11884f031a02

Summer News

Summer News

by | Jul 30, 2021 | Clinic News

Positive Speech wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Our office will be closed for the summer from Thursday 20 December 2018 and will reopen for appointments on Tuesday 29 January, 2019.

We look forward to working with our clients in the new year.