Latest news with #Yugambeh
ABC News
16 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
Drinking less alcohol is hard. But there are ways to get started
Megan Lee is halfway through reaching her goal of a year without drinking alcohol. The assistant professor in psychology at Bond University on the Gold Coast/Yugambeh language region specialises in nutritional psychiatry. Dr Lee says despite her scientific background, she is "still in this crazy system" of pro-alcohol messages, which is why she was motivated to try a year off booze. "Most of us who are doing research on these things [it] is because we are interested in our own drinking behaviours," the 45-year-old says. "We are also struggling with moderation, just as much as everyone else." And Dr Lee says while many people find it hard to reduce their alcohol intake, the benefits are significant and there are some strategies that can help get you started. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there is no safe level of alcohol consumption when it comes to our health. They estimate that alcohol consumption plays a causal role in over 200 diseases, injuries, and other health conditions. That includes the biological health risks such as cancer and liver disease, as well as things like car accidents, drownings and suicide. Director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University Emmanuel Kuntsche says while sticking to the Australian Alcohol Guidelines (no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than four standard drinks on any one day) reduces the risk, it doesn't eliminate it. When you drink less, our experts say you may notice improvements quite early on. Improved sleep quality, higher energy levels, clearer skin and possibly even weight loss, or at the least, reduced weight gain. "There's this permanent hangover state that we kind of get used to if we drink every day — even one or two drinks every day, that goes away as well," says Dr Lee. When it comes to drinking less, knowing your "why", and having clear goals, will help you be successful, says Dr Lee. For her, it's about control, and enjoying life more. "I didn't like my relationship with alcohol. I wasn't even a big drinker, but I still don't like it controlling me over me controlling it. "Right at the beginning of my one year … before I started, we went to a wine tour in the Hunter Valley and my son's father doesn't drink and he was out in the vineyard kicking a football with my son. "Looking out the window, watching them play football in the sun … they were having the best time. "I was sitting there by myself, drinking my poison. I was like, 'I want to be out there'." A recent poll shows 44 per cent of Australians who drink alcohol want to drink less or stop altogether. Three in four respondents said drinking less was about improving their physical health, half wanted to improve mental health, and just over a third said they were looking to sleep better. Dr Lee says cutting down on drinking is often part of someone's plan to achieve better overall health. Positive role modelling for children is another common incentive to drink less, according to Dr Lee. Professor Kuntsche says negative experiences with alcohol will often inspire people. "That can be arguments with family, accidents, hangovers … but also life transitions like becoming a dad, for example, [or] turning 40." A deeply ingrained drinking culture and prolific positive messaging around alcohol makes cutting back or stopping drinking alcohol especially hard, says Dr Lee. She adds that alcohol is attached to everything we do, and we're often discouraged by those around us when we want to stop drinking. Professor Kuntsche says even for moderate drinkers, the psychological and physiological effects of alcohol can be difficult for people to go without. "You might have a nice little relaxing glass of wine each evening while cooking or watching TV, your body very quickly becomes used to that. "It's very difficult to change." Having days off drinking helps prevent your body developing a tolerance to alcohol's effects, therefore reducing a dependence on the drug. Committing to alcohol-free days each week can be useful, says Professor Kuntsche. For example, only drinking on weekends. "Or maybe it's 'Whenever I play soccer, the day before I don't drink'." Dr Lee suggests starting with one alcohol-free day the first week, then working up to more until you reach a week. "After seven days of not drinking any alcohol, your system is then free of alcohol, so you've detoxed." Working up to a month-long challenge like Dry July is ideal, she says. What works for you will sometimes come down to trial and error, says Professor Kuntsche, and taking a longer break like Dry July is always a good experiment. "If you drink it's a very good idea to abstain from time to time. "See what's happening to yourself, what is happening to your environment. How hard is it? How beneficial is it?" Dr Lee says after 30 days, you may feel you can go longer. "After the 30 days it actually becomes easier because you're not … focusing all the time on not drinking. "It becomes a part of your lifestyle." Strategies such as drinking a glass of water or non-alcohol drinks between alcoholic drinks may help some people reduce their intake, says Professor Kuntsche. He also suggests avoiding buying rounds with friends, and having smaller serves of alcohol, for example. Dr Lee says drinking less is easier when supported by those around you. Taking a challenge with your partner or friend can provide accountability and motivation. Joining communities such as Facebook groups of programs like Hello Sunday Morning can be helpful for these same reasons. "It's good to surround yourself with other people who don't drink," says Dr Lee. Dr Lee is a big fan of reading books and listening to podcasts to learn more about alcohol and strategies to drink less. Professor Kuntsche suggests counselling services if you need more support. Ultimately, Dr Lee says it doesn't matter what the goal is, or the framework of how you achieve it, as long as you're moderating in some way "then you're succeeding". "And you can build on that."
ABC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Feature Video: Selve - Breaking Into Heaven
KICK THAT F@#&ER INNNNN! This week's Feature Video from Selve, 'Breaking Into Heaven', smashes through the pearly gates with a glass brick in this atomic launch of their sophomore studio album. The Yugambeh-based band's first official music video in over a year is quite literally a runway to lift off co-directed by Selve's frontman and proud Jabirr Jabirr man (with a universal plan) Loki Liddle and Brisbane based filmmaker (and longtime collaborator) Josh Tate. 'Directing this video with Loki to break this momentous narrative into the stratosphere and his trust in me to collaborate on this beautiful First Nations story is something I'm so grateful for' says Josh. 'We've been friends and collaborators for years but making this together and sharing filmmaking knowledge has made this one of the most significant music videos I've ever made. Shared knowledge is power.'
ABC News
14-05-2025
- ABC News
Kristyn's TikTok videos with her toddler had millions of views. She chose to delete them
Kristyn Sommer vividly remembers when she began to feel uneasy about her children being so prominent on her social media platforms. Dr Sommer, from the Gold Coast/Yugambeh language region, has a PhD in developmental psychology and currently conducts research into the topic at Griffith University's School of Applied Psychology. She has more than half a million followers on TikTok and Instagram. Her Reels and TikToks include practical advice and "hacks" to help parents deal with behavioural challenges, boundary setting and helping kids build emotional regulation skills. One of her posts about travelling more than 24 hours from Brisbane to Scotland with a toddler even amassed more than 18 million views. But as an "online expert", she says, people were looking at her to set an example and she "felt the weight of that immensely". We spoke to Dr Sommer about her decision to remove her children from her socials, and why she deleted old content that had amassed millions of views. These are her words. I have been phasing my children — aged five and one — out of my content online over the last few years. As my first child approached school age last year, she felt like a distinctly separate person from me with her own life and I started to discriminate between what was my story to share versus what was hers. She was less present in my content, but my younger child was a baby, and it felt like we were the same person and had the same stories to tell. This meant that I didn't quite discriminate between their stories and my own the same way I did for my older child. [When it came to removing my children from social media entirely], a few things happened all at once. A criminal case involving an infant and an influencer flipped a switch in me. This was the biggest catalyst for my very public change in sharing of my children. I started deleting historical content and started very loudly sharing about this choice I had begun to make almost two years ago on my social media platforms. At the same time as the initial trigger, one of my children started at a new childcare service, and I recognised a child I had never met. They were the child of an influencer. I knew their [child's] name. I knew what they had for breakfast. I knew their most embarrassing stories. They were three years old, playing with their educators and they had no idea a stranger knew this much about them. It shook me that people could have similar relationships with my own children [as a result of my posting]. I have always been recognised in public [from my social media content], whether it be in Scotland, or by the midwife admitting me for preterm labour. It was normal to me and didn't often feel disconcerting. Have you changed your approach to posting your kids on social media? We'd love to hear at what age and why. Email lifestyle@ But on several occasions, I received messages from kind and well-meaning followers saying they saw my children today. Not me. Just my children. Out with a grandparent or playing at child care. The cumulative effects of these occurrences emphasised my need to bring my children's privacy to the forefront of my parenting and professional roles. Call it the rigid black and white thinking of my autistic brain, but I felt positively towards removing this content [even those with 18 million views]. Removing it brought me in line with my internal values. It felt right to do. My online community has been endlessly supportive and celebratory. For me, this change has been entirely positive. I was always interesting on my own [due to my educational background and style of content] and my platform originally went viral with just my face and not that of my children's. Furthermore, social media was never my main source of income. I had a research career, and social media was a hobby and a space for outreach, engagement and social connection. I had no ambitions for growth or extraordinary monetisation. The culmination of these factors meant that it was not a hard choice or action for me to take my children offline. I am happier, more connected, more patient and more understanding now that I'm not constantly considering what could be content, what could be educational, what is the next developmental milestone I could film and share. I never used to be without my phone. I always knew exactly where it was. It was almost always a moment away from recording. Now I lose it more often than not. My camera roll is full of happy snaps of moments I don't want to forget, but it's also missing moments because I didn't capture them in my phone. Instead, they are imprinted in my memory and my child's without the big black brick in my hand.
