Generation Next Blog

August 2013

That gut feeling

By |2013-08-11T14:43:15+10:00August 8th, 2013|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , |

The days of analyzing a patient's gut bacteria to treat her depression or anxiety are probably far away. Still, scientists following this line of research have become increasingly convinced that to fully understand our emotions and behaviors, we need to study the gut as much as the brain. via That gut feeling.

The Computer Game That Helps Therapists Chat to Adolescents With Mental Health Problems

By |2013-08-11T15:10:18+10:00August 7th, 2013|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Technology|Tags: , , , , , |

Adolescents with mental health problems are particularly hard for therapists to engage. But a new computer game is providing a healthy conduit for effective communication between them. via The Computer Game That Helps Therapists Chat to Adolescents With Mental Health Problems | MIT Technology Review.

Drunks should pay for damage: NSW report

By |2013-08-11T15:16:40+10:00August 6th, 2013|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

DRUNKS should pay for the damage they cause and the resources they use, the NSW auditor-general says. Alcohol abuse is "like a parasite drawing the lifeblood out of government services", Peter Achterstraat said in a report handed down on Tuesday. He called on the state government to consider charging alcohol abusers for the $1 billion [...]

Random Acts of Kindness

By |2013-08-05T10:56:23+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

“Why should I be nice to people? They aren’t nice to me...” This is a common response from adolescents when I try and engage them in the notion of being “kind.”   Researchers will tell us that because of the adolescent brain, the teaching of such concepts need to demonstrate: “What’s in it for me?” [...]

‘Retail Therapy’ Might Not Be So Bad After All

By |2013-08-05T10:43:23+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , , , |

Those who love to shop are often painted as lonely souls, trying to fill a void by buying -- and becoming even more isolated in the process. Not always so, according to new Dutch research. The relationship of shopping and loneliness can go both ways -- and the direction seems to have a lot to [...]

One in three US youths report being victims of dating violence

By |2013-08-05T10:36:03+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , |

About one in three American youths age 14-20 say they've been of victims of dating violence and almost one in three acknowledge they've committed violence toward a date, according to new research presented at the American Psychological Association's 121st Annual Convention. via One in three US youths report being victims of dating violence.

FASD impacts brain development throughout childhood and adolescence not just at birth

By |2013-08-05T10:16:48+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Drugs & Alcohol, Science & Research|Tags: , , , , , |

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta recently published findings showing that brain development is delayed throughout childhood and adolescence for people born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Christian Beaulieu and Carmen Rasmussen, the two primary investigators in the research study, recently published the results of their work in the peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of [...]

Online Cannabis, Ecstasy Sales Booming: Silk Road, Drugs, Internet

By |2013-08-05T10:09:48+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Cybersafety, Drugs & Alcohol|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Researchers examining the ways illicit drugs are bought and sold through the internet have discovered a sharp rise in the number of people using the online market place to sell Australians cannabis and ecstasy. The study, by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, is the first to monitor sellers of illicit drugs to Australians. [...]

Video games boost visual attention but reduces impulse control

By |2013-08-05T12:01:20+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Science & Research, Technology|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

A person playing a first-person shooter video game like Halo or Unreal Tournament must make decisions quickly. That fast-paced decision-making, it turns out, boosts the player's visual skills but comes at a cost, according to new research: reducing the person's ability to inhibit impulsive behavior. This reduction in what is called "proactive executive control" appears [...]

Injuries from teen fighting deal a blow to IQ

By |2013-08-05T09:54:39+10:00August 5th, 2013|Categories: Society & Culture|Tags: , , , , , , |

A new Florida State University study has found that adolescent boys who are hurt in just two physical fights suffer a loss in IQ that is roughly equivalent to missing an entire year of school. Girls experience a similar loss of IQ after only a single fighting-related injury. via Injuries from teen fighting deal a [...]

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