Our Wellbeing Team have compiled a list of interesting resources to help yourself and others. Maybe you’ve already come across them, or some might be new, but now’s a good time to brush up on some of the particulars of mental health. Remember, check-in on your mates, even (especially) the ones who don’t look like they’re struggling.
Apps
A free app that lets you track your mood, journal your gratitude and track your sleep and nutrition. It will also give you exercises based on how you feel in order to address and challenge negative emotions.
A great app for sleep, meditation and relaxation. Follow guided recordings for beginners through to experts, to help lower stress, anxiety and get better sleep.
Australia’s free leading meditation app for all ages.
TV Shows
Learn about what goes on in your head. In this 5-part mini-series topics such as memory, dreams, anxiety mindfulness and psychedelics are explored. Although not every topic is on mental health, it gives insight into how the brain and mind works.
Movies
Inside Out (2015), 98% Tomatometer
Hear me out; although a kid’s movie, it’s a great one! Inside Out follows a young girl called Riley, whose family moves to a new town. The main characters, however, are the emotions in her head, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who try to balance Riley’s emotions as she navigates a difficult period.
Stephen Fry – The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
Trigger warning: this contains references to suicide
An interesting insight into the lives of people who suffer from manic depression, narrated by Stephen Fry. Based on his own experience with the condition, he attempts to explain what it is and how it is perceived in society, through interviews with experts and other sufferers.
Podcasts
Hosted by The Resilience Project’s Hugh Van Cuylenberg and comedian Ryan Shelton, this is a podcast to celebrate how perfectly imperfect we all are. Hugh and Ryan invite interesting people to bravely share their struggles and imperfections, and discuss some valuable takeaways we can all apply to our own imperfect lives.
Intimate conversations about getting unwell – and getting better – with Bryony Gordon. From household names to nurses on the frontline. Because mental health deserves to be talked about.
Online Mental Health Programs
Head to Health can help you find digital mental health services from some of Australia’s most trusted mental health organisations. Provided by the Australian Department of Health, Head to Health brings together apps, online programs, online forums, and phone services, as well as a range of digital information resources.
My Compass is an online learning program that helps you learn new ways to deal with thoughts, feelings and behaviours that cause you trouble. myCompass has 14 interactive learning Activities. Each includes up to three 10 – 15 minute sessions that you can complete in your own time. You’ll learn skills and strategies taught by doctors and psychologists to make positive changes in your life.
MindSpot treatment courses are designed to make this process as easy as possible. Each course is a carefully developed set of lessons and resources, tested at the eCentreClinic at Macquarie University, Sydney. Courses are based on well-tested principles of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), shown to be the most effective treatment for reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Mental Health Online provides comprehensive and effective online services and programs free of charge. There are 12-week courses on generalised anxiety disorder, depression, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.
Support
Visit our Health and Wellbeing resource hub.