The federal government has made vaping illegal without a prescription for very good reasons. We know that vaping and nicotine can have an impact on brain development, affecting your memory, attention, learning and mood. Vaping can also make mental health issues like anxiety and depression worse. It is also highly addictive.

There are two issues for health professionals to consider

· people don’t understand vaping’s health impacts.

· Generally the advice for those who are concerned is to “talk to your GP or a trusted health professional”

Why is that a problem? Because most of us don’t have effective strategies for helping people stop.

In this recording, GP Dr Chris Lee will increase our understanding of the risks of vaping and provide some very practical advice about talking to people about their habit.

Newborns are wonderful things, but their arrival can cause enormous upheaval for their parents. Dads, as well as Mums, are at risk of psychological distress in the neonatal period. In this webinar, Dr Jan Orman is joined by Associate Professor Richard Fletcher from the School of Health Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Richard leads the Fathers and Families Research Program and is the founder of SMS4dads, a service designed to provide support for dads until their baby is one year old.

Despite decades of government investment, significant research endeavour, and a growing commitment to mental health training and response activities in schools and workplaces, rates of mental health in Australia are rising.

The scale of this issue is staggering: a recent report shows that 494,000 Australians with moderate to severe mental health problems are not receiving the support they desperately need. Long wait times and a shortage of mental health professionals are leaving vulnerable Australians without access to timely and appropriate care, particularly those in rural and remote areas. When people finally get care, it doesn’t always help.

We know the current system is broken. We know what we need – a robust mental health system that is well-staffed, adequately funded and integrated across the country that will lay the foundations for a mentally healthier future. But how do we get there? How do we plan for a better future? And what is the role of Health Professionals?

Listen to our Mental Health Month edition of Expert Insights were Black Dog Institute’s Dr Peter Baldwin, Senior Research Fellow and Policy Research Manager, will share findings from BDI’s recent mental health poll and discuss the key issues facing the health sector.

Panel Members: -

Dr Peter Baldwin - Senior Research Fellow and Policy Research Manager, Black Dog Institute

Dr Laura Kampel - Head of Clinical Services and Senior Clinical Psychologist, Black Dog Institute

Matt - Lived Experience Representative

Facilitator: -

Dr Sarah Barker - Clinical Psychologist