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Mental health

Yesterday

The view from atop Meditation Hill at The Elysia Wellness Retreat in Hunter Valley.

Dispatches from a midlife crisis summer camp

Ice baths, soul readings and conspiracy theories: inside the growing men’s wellness movement.

  • Joshua Peach

This Month

Feeling lonely? You’re probably making 3 mistakes

Technology and loneliness are interlinked, stoked by the ways we interact with social media, text messaging and binge-watching. Here are some solutions

  • Brian X. Chen
Could meditation unlock a mental superpower? Perhaps.

The half-hour habit these three CEOs swear makes them sharper

Mecca’s Jo Horgan began meditating while her business and baby were in their infancy. Today, it’s an essential part of her personal and professional life.

  • Lucy Dean

October

Sue Corbet’s statement on mental health: Crouching, Thinking, Launching.

The mental health crisis gripping Australia’s private hospitals

Some health insurers say stand-alone mental health hospitals are unlikely to exist in 10 years’ time given the challenges they face.

  • Jemima Whyte and Michael Smith

This tribe of mates is saving lives

The winner of the Wellbeing award trains workers to connect distressed colleagues to relevant services, aiming to reduce alarmingly high suicide rates in the energy sector.

  • Agnes King
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Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has been appointed chair man of Melbourne-based youth mental health research body Orygen.

Andrews’ appointment to mental health role ‘wrong on many levels’

The ex-Victorian premier has been appointed chairman of a youth mental health research body in a move the state opposition called a travesty.

  • Gus McCubbing
Use short breaks and ‘what’ questions to reflect on the day.

How to be happier at work even if you’ve only got a few minutes

Many people feel overwhelmed by their workload but doing these small things can alleviate stress and provide a burst of energy.

  • Lucy Dean

How to drink yourself sober with one little $1 pill

A little-known pill and a counter-intuitive way of taking it upends the conventional wisdom about drinking and how to treat it. It’s like Ozempic for alcohol, but far cheaper.

  • Fiona Buffini

September

People don’t want ‘challenging’ music, says Peaceful Piano king

Chad Lawson writes music to improve your mental health – which has meant this stalwart of Spotify’s Peaceful Piano playlist repressing some of his own creative impulses.

  • Michael Bailey
The demands placed on lawyers have been in focus after the death of a partner last year.

Law firms urged to track employees’ sleeping patterns

British firms have been urged to track the mental health and wellbeing of employees, as the legal profession confronts its often toxic work culture.

  • Adam Mawardi
Dopamine Brain

Why social media makes you a candidate for addiction

Dopamine is released by your brain not only when you experience something pleasurable, but also in the pursuit of pleasure. This book can help you manage it.

  • Luke Benedictus
Pablo, Charlotte and Jessica Miller cut their tech use as a family - card games together have really increased since.

Four steps to cut your technology addiction (and your kids’ as well)

The government is planning to impose age limits on social media for children. But how are adults’ screen addictions driving the next generation’s scrolling?

  • Hannah Wootton
JohnJohn Brogden, chief executive of Lifeline Australia, has welcomed the new lockdown lifeline funding of $17.5 million from federal and state governments to support people who are struggling in the current NSW lockdown. .

Lifeline’s John Brogden rejoins the fold

Lifeline International’s president has written a book on mental health, with the proceeds going to the Australian arm of the organisation.

  • Myriam Robin
Beyond making it easier to ride out life’s more challenging moments, higher levels of resilience may also prolong your life, new research shows.

People with more resilience live longer. Here are six ways to build it

New research finds people with high levels of mental resilience have a dramatically lower chance of dying in the next 10 years.

  • Lucy Dean
After years grappling with childhood trauma, Rebecca Huntley tried MDMA therapy.

I took ecstasy at 50 and it changed my life

I got divorced, my father died, I cut ties with my mother, turned fifty, bought my first home of my own and did MDMA for the first time. This is an extract of the book that resulted.

  • Rebecca Huntley
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August

Traders at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2002.

Want to be a more effective trader? Get in touch with your emotions

Emotions put us in the right mind-state so that we can effectively think about situations. Ignore them at your peril.

  • David Brooks
Former president Donald Trump perfectly fits the bill of an insecure male, who under threat, lashes out.

Is Donald Trump just overcompensating for insecurity?

Bluster and bragging can be a way to mask feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty and rejection.

  • Peter Quarry
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Michael Kassiou.

Winning strategy: Love hormone research bears multimillion-dollar deal

Comment provided by the joint winners of the Research Commercialisation award, the University of Sydney and UNSW.

  • Michael Kassiou and Guan Heng Yeoh
Alec Rawling, a carpenter and builder from North Epping.

How Alec’s life turned from hopeless to full of hope

Pervasive feelings of isolation and sadness are drowning the hopes of young adults, but one program has been shown to turn that around.

  • Julie Hare
Former banker Peter Hunt and JJ Wilson, the 35-year-old son of billionaire Chip Wilson, who founded the Lululemon yoga apparel empire, are pioneering the psychedelic treatment industry in Australia.

Psychedelics as a serious investment? These billionaires think so

Australia is among the first countries to use the drugs for treating anxiety, depression and PTSD. A decision in the United States could be pivotal.

  • Michael Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/mental-health-5zo