Wellbeing

This week on Wellbeing is the last episode in our six part series on depression. We are joined by Dr. Drew Ramsey and we are discussing depression recovery through diet. Drew Ramsey, M.D. is a psychiatrist and is a leader in Nutritional Psychiatry having authored Eat To Beat Depression and Anxiety in 2021. He is also an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.  He is pion...

This week on Wellbeing we talk with Dr. Dan Tomasulo about depression recovery through positive psychology. This is the fifth instalment in our series on depression. Dr Tomasulo is a counselling psychologist, writer, and professor. He holds a PhD in psychology and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. His most recent book Learned Hopefulness, The Power of Positivity To Overcome Depression was ...

This week we are talking with a person who has journeyed with depression, Katie. This is the fourth instalment in our series on depression. Katie has been suffering with depression since early in life and today she shares how it has impacted her life and now in the present where she is at in that journey.

In this episode, Katie talks about how depression impacted her as a young person, how it affected her relationships with school...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with John Brogden AM about his journey with depression. This is the third instalment in our series on depression. John is best known for being the leader of the opposition in New South Wales from 2002 to 2005. He entered politics in 1996 when he was just 27 years of age and quickly became leader of his party in NSW at the age of just 32. Despite his success, John had been hiding another massive...

This Week on Wellbeing we are joined by Betty Kitchener and Prof. Anthony Jorm. This is the second instalment in our series on depression. Betty is a former nurse and now internationally recognised mental health educator, having held appointments at Australian Nation University, University Melbourne and Deakin University. She received an order of Australia medal in 2008. Tony is an Emeritus professor at the University of Melbourne'...

This Week on Wellbeing we are beginning a 6-part series on depression. It is estimated by the WHO that 5% of adults suffer from depression, making it a common issue in society. In our first instalment, we are talking with Conjoint Professor Kay Wilhelm from UNSW. Prof. Wilhelm has published work on the relationship between the serotonin transporter gene, life events and depression onset. She has been part of the UNSW's School of Ps...

This week on Wellbeing we talk with school students about student wellbeing. This is a topic we regularly talk about on Wellbeing, but it usually from an educator's perspective and not the students themselves.

In this episode, the students discuss what student wellbeing is, what it means to them, the importance of good mental health, what a teacher's role is ensuring student wellbeing is met, how well schools are doing in approach...

This week on Wellbeing we are discussing Lipoedema with Kristin Osborn. Lipoedema is a condition mostly found in women that results in enlargement of the fat cells in the legs. It is estimated that 20% of the female population have the condition. Despite this, it is often misdiagnosed as obesity, leading to constrained mental health in those with the condition. Kristin has the condition herself and has specialised in the field for ...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Dr Heather Murray from the University of Newcastle about Leukaemia. Leukaemia is a blood cancer that most often occurs in those over 55, with estimates suggesting that 5,200 new cases in Australia were diagnosed in 2022. Dr Murray has established herself as a competent researcher, having discovered components of acute myeloid leukaemia that could lead to more effective treatments. 

In thi...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Dr Michelle Brown from the University of Newcastle about ovarian cancer. It is the 8th most common cancer to occur in women, with 1,800 new cases diagnosed in Australia in 2022. Dr Brown is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Newcastle and her research explores DNA repair post chemotherapy, and alternative treatments for those with ovarian cancer. 

In this episode, Dr Brown tal...

This week on wellbeing we are talking with Dr Kirrilly Pursey from the University of Newcastle about food addiction. The concept of food addiction is still a field in development as it has not been yet classified as an official medical condition. Despite this, evidence is growing in supporting that this proposed condition is a very real occurrence. Dr Pursey is an expert in this emerging field having done her PhD on attitudes and b...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Associate Professor Lisa Lampe from the University of Newcastle about anxiety disorders. It is estimated by the WHO that 264 million adults worldwide have an anxiety disorder, making it a common condition amongst the population. Prof. Lampe has been in the medical field for three decades and it was early on in her career she found an interest in the psychological components  of medicine. S...

This week on wellbeing we are talking about bipolar disorder recovery with Susana Bluwol the founder and executive director of Bipolar Australia. This is the 12th and last episode in our series on bipolar disorder. Founded in 2014, Bipolar Australia is a national not-for-profit organisation representing everyone affected by bipolar disorder, including people with the condition, carers, friends and professionals who help them. Diagn...

This week on wellbeing we are talking with Seattle based cartoonist an author Ellen Forney about her journey with Bipolar disorder. This is our 11th instant in our bipolar series. Ellen was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder in 1998 just before her 30th birthday. She wrote about her journey with bipolar in her graphic memoir "Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me" which came out in 2012. It was from this book Ellen starte...

This week on Wellbeing we talk with New York based author Jaime Lowe about her journey with bipolar and experiences with the lithium medication she took. This is the tenth instalment in our series on bipolar. Jaime is known for her 2017 bipolar memoir Mental: Lithium, Love, and Losing My Mind. Her book gives an in-depth look into lithium, the gold standard medication used to treat bipolar disorder. In 1993 Jaime was diagnosed with ...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Melody Moezzi about her journey with bipolar and experiences with the bipolar recovery sector. This is the 9th instalment in our series on bipolar. Melody is an author, attorney, activist, and visiting professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She authored a bipolar memoir in 2013 called Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life in which she covers her exp...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Lizzie Simon about her journey with bipolar. This is the 8th instalment in our series on bipolar disorder. Lizzie has worked in the creative industries since graduation from her ivy league school, but in her life was also bipolar disorder. As a theatre producer by the age of twenty-three she left this position to travel in search of finding people with similar mental conditions to learn wh...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Dave about his journey with bipolar. This is the 7th instalment in our series on bipolar. Dave wasn’t diagnosed with bipolar until he was 48 years of age, having gone through his entire life prior to this with bipolar one disorder. Dave worked for the bulk of his working life in the creative industry of advertising, but now at 65 years of age Dave, though the Black Dog Institute, is a pres...

This week on Wellbeing we are talking with Natasha Tracy about her journey with bipolar type two disorder. This is our sixth instalment in our series on bipolar disorder meaning we are half way though our 12 part series. Natasha is a mental health thought leader and author on the subject of bipolar. She released her bipolar memoir Lost Marbles: Insights Into My Life with Depression & Bipolar in 2016 and she runs the podcast Sna...