Staff Writer

About Generation Next

Generation Next is a social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people.

The Best Headspace For Making Decisions

Flickr Images Let’s say you’re making a hard choice, one that could impact your life significantly. Every time you think you've settled on something, the other option tugs you back to its side. You end up where you started: It's a draw. Should you make ever-more-detailed lists of pros and cons and seek [...]

Why Teens Need Later School Start Time

Pixabay Images Sleep deprivation in teenagers as a result of early school start has been a topic of concern and debate for nearly two decades. So, are teenagers just lazy? I have been researching the impact of later high school start times for 20 years. Research findings show that teens' inability to get out [...]

Could Bad Buildings Damage Your Mental Health?

Pixabay Images Research has shown city dwellers are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression – but could individual buildings have a negative impact on wellbeing? Screaming sirens, overcrowding, traffic; life in the city isn’t always relaxing. These stressors aren’t simply inconvenient or irritating, though; research has suggested that urban living has [...]

Beware Your Biased Brains

Flickr Images Our brain can move very fast, and that can be a real problem. The tendency to make split-second assessments of people can lead to disastrous outcomes. A growing body of research is showing that what we see when we see a face is so strongly shaped by stereotypes, beliefs, and attitudes [...]

Teen Boys Are Blind To Rape Culture

Stocksy/Helen Rushbrook "Oh boy," my son said, rolling his eyes. "Not rape culture again." We were sitting around the dinner table talking about the news. As soon as I mentioned the Stanford sexual assault case, my sons looked at each other. They knew what was coming. They've been listening to me talk about [...]

The Unique Body Image Problem Posed By Social Media

iStock Images Social media is a strange beast. Consider the app, Facetune, which makes the application of Valencia seem like child's play. Facetune is the Photoshop of selfies; it allows you to retouch your skin, add make-up, whiten your teeth, widen your mouth, change your eye colour, change your hair and basically make [...]

The ‘Tyranny’ Of Positive Thinking Can Threaten Your Health And Happiness

Images: MichaelBlann/Getty Everyone has heard “Just look on the bright side!” or “Happiness is a choice—so choose to be happy!” Countless self-help books on choosing happiness line the shelves of bookstores; You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero has been on the New York Times best-seller list for 32 weeks; and The Power of [...]

Parents’ Mental Health Linked To Violence In Kids

Flickr Images Kids who have a parent who has been diagnosed with certain psychiatric disorders may be at increased risk for attempting suicide or committing a violent offense, a new study of people in Denmark suggests. These kids are at even greater risk of these behaviors when both parents have the disorders, the study [...]

Can Apps Improve Your Mental Wellbeing?

Pixabay Images To the smartphone-addled among us, advising the use of apps to fix mental health problems might seem like telling someone who needs to get fit to live on jam and fags. But it’s happening all the same. While gadget and social media addiction are lampooned for increasing teenage depression, and complaints [...]

How Does Ice Use Affect Families And What Can They Do?

Some of the greatest impacts of drug use are on families, but families sometimes feel in a position of little control when it comes to responding. Often they receive mixed messages about what they should do. Ice or crystal meth, the strongest form of methamphetamine, has arguably the biggest impact on families of all drugs. [...]

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