From our clinicians

Notes on mental health, from the people who practise it.

Considered writing from the Prijorità team on the questions patients and families actually bring us: attention, sleep, anxiety, parenting and living well in Malta.

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Mental health · Latest article

More than a diagnosis: why lived experience belongs at the centre of mental health care

12 October 2026 · Dr Gabriel Ellul · 5 min read

A Maltese opinion piece, published to mark Mental Health Day, argues that mental health care should move beyond the medical model, and that people with lived experience belong at the decision-making table. It is an argument worth taking seriously, and one clinicians can welcome without surrendering anything that matters.

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More from the clinic

A mother and her teenage son sitting together on a bench by the sea, talking, with his phone still in his hands, illustrating conversation rather than restriction

Mental health

Social media bans aren't the fix young minds need: here's what is

From Australia to Brussels, governments keep reaching for the same answer to young people's online distress: ban them. But wellbeing is rarely built by simply removing the screen.

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A young woman sitting at a desk in front of a laptop, turning away to look out of a sunlit window, illustrating a long working day spent seated

Mental health

Sitting for 8.5 hours a day: the hidden cost to Malta's mental wellbeing

A new dataset puts Malta top of a ranking we would rather not lead: the EU's highest share of people who sit for eight and a half hours or more each day. It is easy to read that as a physical-health headline, but the quieter story is what all that sitting does to the mind.

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A smiling primary school child wearing a backpack against a bright yellow background, illustrating the return to school routine in September

Mental health

September is the new January: what Malta's back-to-school reset means for your mind

New data shows Maltese families are planning ahead again: scheduled orders up 21%, wellness habits rebounding, and searches for school bags up 212%. It points to something quietly important. September, not January, may be the moment we naturally reset.

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Two people sitting close together on a park bench at dusk, one leaning on the other's shoulder, illustrating the value of reaching out and being listened to

Mental health

Malta's suicide rate is among Europe's lowest, yet 9 in 10 lives lost are men

On World Suicide Prevention Day, new Eurostat figures reveal a paradox: Malta records one of the EU's lowest suicide rates, yet men account for 90% of the lives lost. It is a number worth sitting with.

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A young child in an apron cutting shapes from dough alongside a parent, illustrating how involving children in cooking supports development and wellbeing

Mental health

Cooking lessons in schools: a recipe for healthier minds, not just healthier bodies

New Maltese research has reignited the case for compulsory cooking lessons in schools, and it carries a message that reaches well beyond the kitchen, into the way young minds develop and thrive.

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A young person's silhouette lit by a phone screen, surrounded by social media notifications and a glowing brain, illustrating how platform design affects the developing adolescent brain

Mental health

A $17 billion signal: what the Meta settlement means for young minds

Meta's landmark settlement with 47 US states marks a turning point in how we think about attention, sleep and the developing brain, and it carries a quiet message for every parent in Malta.

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Written by our clinical team

Every article is written or reviewed by a Prijorità clinician. Nothing here replaces an individual assessment. If something in a piece resonates, that is a good reason to book a conversation.

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