16 Feb 2011

Chinese New Year brings new set of challenges

Chinese New Year is upon us and it’s tradition for Chinese people to return home to celebrate the spring festival. Each family prepares a New Year’s Eve dinner where everyone gets together in order to show they will have a family reunion next year. 

But in recent years, more and more young Chinese people who work in large cities far away from their home town dread returning home for spring festival. They’re called the home-anxious clan. 

So why don’t they want to go home?

Well, many migrant workers have to spend more money on getting home than in the past. High-speed trains are being put into service this year, and the tickets cost three times as much. It’s harder to get cheaper tickets since there are fewer normal trains in service.

Young Chinese people feel very awkward when they return home without something to make their parents proud of, such as a good job. They know their parents will be much happier if they bring home a future mate – they dread their parents nagging them about getting married. They even think of renting partners just for going home only - some people really do this!

Even though Chinese New Year is one of the most family-oriented holidays of the Chinese lunar calendar, many young people are fearful of going home for it because of the huge expenses involved; the family reunion causes a lot of anxiety for them.

It is customary to give a “red envelope” – a monetary gift given on special holidays. They have to give their parents money, and there’s also a fear of owing other people favours because they will be invited out to eat.

Parents simply want to enjoy seeing their child

Since 1980, married couples in China are only allowed by law to have one child. These families have the difficulty of deciding whose hometown they are going to return to for spring festival. This causes arguments, some of which even lead to divorce.

So, many home-anxious clans decide to stay in the city and celebrate Chinese New Year without the company of their family members, wondering if they can go home next year. Although some young people might not think so, it may be China’s most important time for a family gathering.


Charlie Tang, Mental Health Promoter, Mental Health Foundaiton

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07 Feb 2011

Wanna swap caffeine for weight loss and increased concentration?

Can stopping caffeine intake really do this? Well it does for me!

When most people think of caffeine, they think of coffee. But not so for me! I have never liked coffee much to the initial horror of my work colleagues. When I politely refuse to take up the invite for a coffee I receive a mixture of disbelief and confusion. The face says “how could you NOT like coffee?”.

The answer is that I am a tea man. Yes, growing up with tea has been the staple of morning and afternoon teas and any other sort of family or social natter. This has continued to my adult years along with that other caffeine drink – coke – or for me Coke Zero.

A few months ago I discovered the pleasure of frozen cokes and I was away! I would often have four or five cups of tea a day and often a can of coke too.

Recently,  I had a casual conversation with someone who had worked in the field of anxiety. They said that a number of people they know had stopped having caffeine completely and their anxiety levels went down. My first thought was “probably just a coincidence.” However, after some time and consideration I decided I would give it a go.

So, a month ago, I stopped caffeine in all forms – basically tea and coke. I did initially get some little headaches (apparently perfectly natural) but then things started to happen. And I am not just talking about a sense of “feeling better” – I mean things like increased concentration at work and weight loss – in fact over the last month I have lost 3kgs!

So how does that work you may ask?

For a starter, I started to feel less anxious and that helped me concentrate more on my work – and hello! – I’m getting more work done and more effectively!

The weight loss is an interesting one: I am an emotional eater, eating when feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. So with anxiety levels decreasing I am less likely to eat through stress. I find it easier to focus on eating well and I really am listening more to my stomach to see when I am full! I am now simply eating until I feel comfortably full even if it means leaving some food on the plate.

Now you may think this is all too easy and what else is happening in my life. To be honest, nothing else that I would consider to be lessening my stress levels, in fact there have been some things that might have increased my stress levels!
I cannot categorically say the increased concentration and weight loss are 100% caused by eliminating caffeine, but I think most courts would say it is a contributing factor.

I encourage you to give it a go and see if it works for you. If so – great – if not, at least you tried. I appreciate lots of people LOVE their caffeine fix, so how about just trialling a reduction.

For me what also helps is drinking more water or herbal teas. Let me know how you get on.

Grant Cooper, Mental Health Promoter, Mental Health Foundation

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