Generation Next Blog

September 2014

Is booze-free becoming the new black?

By |2020-11-02T10:04:31+11:00September 11th, 2014|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Sales of alcohol-free alternatives to beer, wine and liquor are on the increase. In fact, research published recently showed that almost half of British adults believe alcohol-free beer is more socially acceptable than it was five years ago. Numerous alcohol-free bars in the UK and US are starting to pop up and provide alternatives for [...]

Why Everyone Should Read Harry Potter

By |2014-09-11T21:15:36+10:00September 11th, 2014|Categories: Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , |

A growing body of evidence suggests that the pro-Potter camp might be on to something, and that reading Rowling’s work, at least as a youth, might be a good thing. For decades it's been known that an effective means of improving negative attitudes and prejudices between differing groups of people is through intergroup contact – [...]

3 Steps To Prevent Suicide

By |2021-08-24T13:21:07+10:00September 6th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Following the tragic death of Robin Williams, Lifeline Australia saw a 25% increase in calls. When faced with someone in crisis, many people don’t know what to do, or how to help. Some are concerned about making things worse. This means many people don’t approach the person at all. The person in crisis may feel [...]

Putting Profits Before Health

By |2014-09-06T06:52:11+10:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Can you remember watching Jamie’s School Dinners and being horrified at what UK and US schools were serving up to kids on a daily basis? Can you remember shaking your head in disbelief as school principals, canteen supervisors and local administrators continually argued that healthy food wasn’t financially viable in a school setting? I mean, [...]

Even Happiness Has a Downside

By |2014-09-05T09:35:43+10:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

The United Nations hosted a "High Level Meeting on Happiness and Well-being" in New York this week. The confab's point was that judging the success of societies solely by material measures such as Gross National Product fails to capture everything that goes into a life well-lived. True enough, but I do wonder how accurate a [...]

Antidepressants ‘could be a risk to unborn babies’

By |2020-11-02T10:05:06+11:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol, Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , , |

The risk posed by some popular antidepressants in early pregnancy is not worth taking for women with mild to moderate depression, an expert has warned. Professor Stephen Pilling says evidence suggests SSRIs can double the risk of a child being born with a heart defect. The drugs have been used by up to one in [...]

Commissioner opens Generation Next seminar to support youth

By |2014-09-05T09:18:57+10:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

On Friday 30 May, NSW Mental Health Commissioner, John Feneley addressed teachers, nurses, social workers, police and mental health professionals as he officially opened the Sydney Generation Next seminar. Held at the Sydney Town Hall, the Generation Next seminar saw more than 1000 professionals from across multiple disciplines come together to learn how to support [...]

More women dying from accidental drug overdoses than in road toll

By |2020-11-02T10:05:40+11:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , , , |

“The number of middle-aged women dying from accidental overdose has more than doubled in a decade and women aged between 30 and 50 are now almost four times more likely to be found dead of an unintended overdose than in a crashed car.”Mr Ryan said there had not been as many deaths among women since [...]

The Neuroscience Of Emoticons

By |2014-09-05T09:10:41+10:00September 5th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Our brains might be adapting to an emoticon-filled world by processing them differently. Today emoticons are so pervasive that behavioral science has taken an active interest in how people use them. Among the evidence (recently surveyedby Roni Jacobson at the great new Science of Usblog), we find that women use more emoticons than men, that using [...]

August 2014

How Should ‘Technology Addiction’ Be Treated?

By |2014-08-29T22:46:07+10:00August 29th, 2014|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Technology|Tags: , , , , , |

Dr. Wang explains that the first step is to identify triggers for excessive Internet, social media or technology use - such as boredom or stress. Next, learned automatic responses - such as using the smartphone to relieve anxiety - are challenged and reversed. "At a deeper level, exploring their thoughts and beliefs about anxiety and [...]

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