Wildcard

We already know excessive smartphone use affects people’s mental health and their relationships. But when new parents use digital technologies during care giving, they might also compromise their baby’s development. Smartphone use in the presence of infants is associated with a range of negative developmental outcomes, including threats to the formation of a secure attachment….

For many of us, listening to music is simply part of the driving routine – as ordinary as wearing a seatbelt. We build playlists for road trips, pick songs to stay awake, and even turn the volume up when traffic gets stressful. More than 80% of drivers listen to music on most trips. And many…

You’re reading a report and trying to concentrate. The room is silent. But despite your best efforts to focus, a little snatch of melody – an “earworm” – keeps circling inside your head. Research suggests most people get earworms regularly – and they’re more common among people who listen to a lot of music. One…

It’s summer so kids’ playdates and birthday parties might start moving from the playground to the pool. I research how to prevent drowning. I’m also a mum of two kids living in a house with a pool. So water safety is always front of mind. Drowning deaths are at a record high in Australia. For…

TV adventurer Bear Grylls has built a global reputation through his often unconventional and sometimes extreme survival feats to stay hydrated. He has squeezed moisture from elephant dung, sipped the contents of camel intestines, downed yak eyeball juice and, perhaps most famously, drank his own urine. If you’ve seen Grylls gulp down a mouthful of…

If you live with pelvic pain, period pain, sex or bowel symptoms, you may have been told you could have endometriosis, and that surgery is the “gold standard” for diagnosis and treatment. But over the past few weeks, questions have been raised about whether surgery is actually necessary for women to detect and treat endometriosis….

It’s nighttime and you’re exhausted. But the hotel bed feels wrong. The mini fridge won’t stop making that low, irritating hum. The power outlet lights feel brighter than the sun. Outside, random car honks and noises make sleep feel like a distant possibility. Many of us struggle to sleep in new environments, even when we’re…

If you walk into a cosmetic surgeon’s office, you probably wouldn’t expect to be asked about your recent break-up or how you cope with stress. But in Australia, that has been standard practice for nearly three years. That’s after the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency introduced mandatory mental health screening before cosmetic procedures. This includes…

Should we do couples counselling? Are we happy? Are we both pulling in the same direction? How can we get our spark back? These kinds of questions are normal in a society that places such importance on coupledom, despite there being no handbook or one-size-fits all approach. Many people seek out couples counselling when going…

Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing around the time of surgery and long-term prescribing in aged care are among a mixed bag of findings of a recent report into antibiotic use and resistance in Australia. The report shows while fewer antibiotics are prescribed in the community than a decade ago, there is still room to improve antibiotic prescribing…