Comfort food may not comfort us any more than other foods - or have any more benefit than going without, a study has found.

A teacher at an inner-city Auckland primary school reported "an enduring sense of calm" after her students had six weeks of training in "mindfulness".

A chilly 1km swim is in store for Shanon Stallard today as he leaves Mission Bay on a journey of a lifetime - swimming, running and cycling his way to Wellington in five days to raise awareness about mental health.

Anorexia has been blamed on skinny models and pushy parents – but more than half of the risk is inherited, studies show. Now the hunt is on to find which genes are behind it.

A 12-year-old nicknamed "little samurai" has raised nearly $600 for the Mental Health Foundation after a karate teacher who inspired him committed suicide earlier this year.

Depression and anxiety are about fear, says Sir John Kirwan. Here he highlights ways young people can overcome that fear.

Deborah Hill Cone writes: Are you ready? It's September 29 and ta-dah! Today is the day! I've decided I'm going to be a better person.

Ben Smith started cutting himself when he felt that nobody cared about him. He was only 14.

Binge-drinking, violence and suicide are all declining, but our teenagers are enduring an escalating epidemic of self-harm.

Mental health services at two district health boards have been criticised in coroner's rulings after it was found administrative errors played a role in two self-inflicted deaths.

Sir John Kirwan's new push: “We teach them maths, English, science, but we don’t actually teach them resilience. I think it has to become part of the curriculum."

His own experience has taught him the importance of simply being available for his kids and willing to listen.

An exclusive extract from Stand by Me by Sir John Kirwan, his guide for helping parents and teens around mental health.

Nothing more could have been done to stop the shootings of Ashburton Work and Income staff, the first stage of an independent review has found.

If it's part of a balanced diet, and a generally healthy existence, then shouldn't we enjoy it? Food is so much more than just fuelling our bodies, writes Delaney Mes.

Got a problem? Sleep on it, goes the advice. Now new research has found our minds are more active when we might think while we're asleep.

A global survey has found New Zealanders relatively content with our lives as the world emerges from the financial crisis.

An Auckland woman smashed a 77-year-old man in the head and set his legs on fire, before closing the door to his bedroom and leaving him to die, a court has heard.

A University of Queensland study has discovered a positive attitude can improve your immune system and may even help you live longer.

Teen cannabis smokers are 60 per cent more likely to drop out of high school than their non-smoking peers, and are more likely to use other drugs and attempt suicide.

No, I honestly wasn't. I decided the best approach was to look at it as a big adventure.

One person takes their own life every 40 seconds, equating to 803,900 deaths across the world every year, according to the first WHO report on suicide prevention.

It may be possible to train the brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy higher-calorie foods, researchers have claimed.

I would like to dedicate this article about narcissism to a very special person: me, writes Katy Waldman.