Your charity can make a difference

Despite the tough times, there are organisations trying to make a difference — and you can help.

As many struggle with the pressures of day-to-day living, there are others offering the hand of support. Picture: iStock

For a new year, 2019 has certainly rolled out the challenges early on: the weather has hit us with drought, floods and bushfires, the economy has exposed bad banks, falling house prices and questionable retirement savings, and politics has been full of fear, anger, loathing and lies. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. But, beneath all the chaos, there are individuals trying to make Australia a better place, and organisations still trying to do the right thing, even if they’re hard to see. Holding up the fabric of society is the upholstery of health, aged care and social services, both government and private, whose contribution is tested in these tough times and proves more valuable. If you’re able to support charities, now is the time to do it, and if you feel government needs to spend your tax dollars better, make it known in the various reviews, inquiries and elections this year. Things can change. As EB White once wrote: “Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed.”

Your emotional wellbeing (read: sanity) might be under pressure at the moment but there are things you can do to bring some inner calm.

An analysis of data from almost 46,000 people has found that weight loss and the right diet can reduce the symptoms of depression.

“Our analysis of the overall evidence shows that adopting a healthier diet can boost people’s mood,” says Joseph Firth from the NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University. “The evidence so far mostly shows that eating healthier reduces mild depression in the general population.”

A separate study of 1.2 million people in the US, published last year in The Lancet, found people who exercise report 1.5 fewer days of poor mental health a month compared to people who do not exercise. Team sports, cycling, aerobics, and going to the gym were associated with the biggest reductions.

It is often said children follow the example set by their parents when it comes to smartphone use. However, Monash University research suggests it is not just a question of whether kids will pick up the habit, but whether they first lose the parental attention that families thrive on.

An observational study of 70 parents using devices in the company of children at Melbourne shopping centres found most kids recognised the adults were “busy” but did not pick up a device themselves. Instead, they played with others, or acted out to gain attention.

“One parent was so engrossed in their device — for more than 30 minutes — that they didn’t notice their son hitting play equipment or crawling over furniture. Another caregiver didn’t see their baby standing up and falling out of a pram,” says researcher Carrie Ewin.

“Another child was observed sitting silently and fiddling with a strap, without sharing any conversation, laughter or smiles, for 20 minutes until she tried to give her father a hug. Even then, the parent still didn’t look up.”

There might be underlying commercial motives, but a new billboard campaign to “Look Up” certainly changes your perspective.

The Outdoor Media Association, through an unprecedented 6000 billboard placements, is supporting a push by research and conceptual studio Glider Global and researcher Fiona Kerr to promote the benefits of simply looking up.

“It seems counterintuitive to our modern culture that looking up and out and seemingly doing nothing could be the most beneficial state for optimising our thinking but, in fact, doing nothing is not doing nothing,” Kerr says.

“It is our natural way of being, our ‘default’ mode if we’re not distracting our brains with technology or pushing it down the rabbit hole of trying to work on a specific task or problem.

“The more curious and open to new information or skilled we become, the richer the information we take in and the wider the sources we take it from, which is why the action of looking up is so profound.”