A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
The psychiatric-drug industry is in trouble. “We are facing a crisis,” the Cornell psychiatrist and New York Times contributor Richard Friedman warned last week. In the past few years, one pharmaceutical giant after another—GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi—has shrunk or shuttered its neuroscience research facilities. Clinical trials have been halted, lines of research abandoned, [...]
Problem gamblers are a hidden population among people with mental health or substance abuse issues who often don't get the treatment they need, a new study shows. Anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent of people with substance abuse problems also have significant gambling problem, yet few programs are targeted at them and most social [...]
One in three teenagers may be consuming the equivalent of 10 instant coffees a day in energy drinks that can cause insomnia, anxiety and heart problems, a leading sleep expert says. A survey of 110 patients conducted by Chris Seaton, a paediatric sleep specialist from the Westmead Children's Hospital, found 35 per cent of teenagers [...]
ALCOHOL companies are using Twitter to plug their products to a young and potentially underage audience, prompting calls for greater regulation of social media. via Action call as social media marketing of alcohol reeling in young audience | Herald Sun.
Many teenagers want to quit smoking and make serious attempts to do so each year. However, most are addicted to nicotine and have little knowledge about the quitting process. In most cases young people go ‘cold turkey’, quitting abruptly without any assistance or medication. Not surprisingly, quit rates are very low. Here are 5 tips to [...]
As the national election draws near it’s time to consider what solutions the political parties are offering to Australia’s alcohol problem. It’s worth remembering the cost to Australia from alcohol problems amounts to $16 billion per annum. via Why isn't alcohol on the national agenda? | Grog WatchGrog Watch.
Alcohol intoxication reduces communication between two areas of the brain that work together to properly interpret and respond to social signals, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. via Alcohol breaks brain connections needed to process social cues.
The cognitive deficit of being preoccupied with money problems was equivalent to a loss of 13 IQ points, losing an entire night's sleep or being a chronic alcoholic, according to the study. The authors say this could explain why poorer people are more likely to make mistakes or bad decisions that exacerbate their financial difficulties. [...]
Dr Thornton and her team discovered that sticky nets of DNA hide the bacteria in the ears of kids with recurrent middle-ear infections, and evade antibiotic treatment by creating impenetrable slimy biofilms. The researchers are targeting these nets with a drug that has already proven its ability to help kids with cystic fibrosis by breaking [...]
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 [...]
