Controlling Your Childs Screen Time

Screen time can be defined as the time spent in front of an electronic device such as, Television, video games, phones, computers, etc.

Many of us get to use at least one of these devices on a daily basis, for various reasons. Screen time can be utilized in such a way that it benefits us. However, its misuse can cause us more harm than good. For developing children, it is very important to monitor their screen time, especially when used for leisure activities. Screen time can be educative for them but it’s easy for them to go overboard when not monitored- to their own disadvantage. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages media use by children younger than age 2 and recommends limiting older children's screen time to no more than one or two hours a day.

According to the Mayo Clinic, too much screen time has been linked to:

1. Obesity. The more TV children watch, the greater the risk of them becoming overweight. Having a TV in a child's bedroom also increases this risk. Children can also develop an appetite for junk food promoted in TV ads, as well as overeat while watching TV.
2. Irregular sleep. The more TV children watch, the more likely they are to have trouble falling asleep or to have an irregular sleep schedule. Sleep loss, in turn, can lead to fatigue and increased snacking.
3. Behavioral problems. Elementary students who spend more than two hours a day watching TV or using a computer are more likely to have emotional, social and attention problems. Exposure to video games is also linked with an increased risk of attention problems in children. Watching excessive amounts of TV at age 4 is linked with bullying at ages 6 through 11.
4. Impaired academic performance. Elementary students who have TVs in their bedrooms tend to perform worse on tests than do those who don't have TVs in their bedrooms.
5. Violence. Too much exposure to violence through media — especially on TV — can desensitize children to violence. As a result, children might learn to accept violent behavior as a normal way to solve problems.
   
6. Less time for play. Excessive screen time leaves less time for active, creative play.

Some of the above effects also apply to adults. There is therefore need to limit the amount of screen time that both adults and children are exposed to. When it comes to children, it is good to talk to them and help them understand why it is important not to have  too much screen time. Once you have done that, it is good as parents/ caregivers, together with your children, to set some screen time rules and agree on the consequences for breaking them. This way, you will help them have some sense of ownership to the set rules and they will understand that it is for their own benefit.

According to the American National Institute of Health and the Mayo Clinic, The following are tips on how you can limit your children’s screen time:

1. Eliminate background TV. If the TV is turned on — even if it's just in the background — it's likely to draw your child's attention. If you're not actively watching a show, turn off the TV.
2. Keep TVs and computers out of the bedroom. Children who have TVs in their bedrooms watch more TV than children who don't have TVs in their bedrooms. Monitor your child's screen time and the websites he or she is visiting by keeping TVs and computers in a common area in your house such as the living room.
3. Don't eat in front of the TV. Allowing your child to eat or snack in front of the TV increases his or her screen time. The habit also encourages mindless munching, which can lead to weight gain.
4. Set school day rules. Most children have limited free time during the school week. Don't let your child spend all of it in front of a screen. Also, avoid using screen time as a reward or punishment. This can make screen time seem even more important to children.
5. Talk to your child's caregivers. Encourage other adults in your child's life to limit your child's screen time, too.
6. Keep a record of how much time is spent in front of a screen. Try to spend the same amount of time being active.
7. Do not allow TV watching during study time.
8. Do not let your child eat while watching TV or using the computer.
9. Suggest other activities. Rather than relying on screen time for entertainment, help your child find other things to do, such as reading, playing a sport, helping with cooking or trying a board game.
   
10. Set a good example. Be a good role model by limiting your own screen time.
11. Unplug it. If screen time is becoming a source of tension in your family, unplug the TV, turn off the computer or put away the smart phones or video games for a while. You might designate one day a week or month as a screen-free day for the whole family. To prevent unauthorized TV viewing, put a lock on your TV's electrical plug.
12. Become an active participant 
    

When your child has screen time, make it as engaging as possible:

• Plan what your child views. Instead of flipping through channels, seek quality videos or programming. Consider using parental control settings on your TV and computers. Preview video games and smartphone applications before allowing your child to play with them.
• Watch with your child. Whenever possible, watch programs together — and talk about what you see, such as family values, violence or drug abuse. If you see a junk food ad, explain that just because it's on TV doesn't mean it's good for you.
• Record programs and watch them later. This will allow you to fast-forward through commercials selling toys, junk food and other products. When watching live programs, use the mute button during commercials.
• Encourage active screen time. Have your child stretch or do yoga while watching a show. Challenge your family to see who can do the most jumping jacks during a commercial break. Choose video games that encourage physical activity.

PS: It can be difficult to start limiting your child's screen time. It's worth the effort, however. By creating new household rules and steadily making small changes in your child's routine, you can curb screen time and its effects.

References

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/childrens-health/in-depth/children-and-tv/art-20047952

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000355.htm

Going off your meds Taper dont go cold turkey

I've discussed the potential problems that come with going off SSRIs in the past. In my experiences, these have included light-headedness, a feeling of going inside your head, a feeling of distance from the world around you -- and, in the case of Paxil, what some call the "zaps," the feeling that there are tiny electrical storms taking place in your brain. (Quite disconcerting, this sensation.) In the past, when I've gone off SSRIs -- and I've discontinued taking several of them over the years, either because I was feeling well and convinced I could do fine without them, or because I was sick and tired of the side effects -- I've had more success at avoiding unpleasantness when I weaned myself slowly rather than stopping suddenly, all at once.

But it turns out that the downsides of quitting psychiatric medications cold turkey go beyond discomfiting sensations while your brain is adjusting to life without meds. According to a recent study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, cited here, going off your meds quickly can result in your ailment storming back into your life. From the link:

In patients with major depressive disorder, panic disorder, or bipolar disorder, the risk for illness recurrence is far greater following abrupt or rapid, vs gradual, discontinuation of clinically effective antidepressant treatment....
"The general point for clinical practice," Dr. [Ross J.] Baldessarini said, "is that it appears that most psychotropic drugs, when discontinued abruptly or rapidly, can lead to early and severe exacerbations of the illnesses being treated.

"It is my impression that this concept has been widely accepted and that clinical practice has been modified appropriately in many cases to include gradual dose tapering and slow discontinuation when feasible clinically," he added.

Optimal dose-tapering times and protocols still need to be worked out, Dr. Baldessarini noted. However, in general, he said, it is wise to taper off most psychotropics during at least several weeks.

Dr. Baldessarini is an MD at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts' McLean Hospital, so if you're not willing to listen to me when it comes to this stuff, perhaps his voice carries a little more authority to you.

I am the disembodied head inside your Jalapeño pickle can!

I have been pickled, and I am bitter.

Greetings, I am a deeesembodied head that has been pickled in jalapeño brine. As a result, I am very sullen and considerably filled with loathing and rageful thoughts. My name is La Morena, the Brunette. Although I was once a blonde before being cruelly and sadly peeeckled.

My life is dismal and sad, and I am radically pissed. Do you not see me casting a dark look of aspersion into the far and unreachable distance? I am thinking of my former lover, who would not care to see me now! Ah, he would spurn me with his booted foot, and my head would roll with the terrible jalapeños into a deetch or drain and I would be no more.

The jalapeño peppers which surround me are deesgusting. I say that, although I once was familiar with spice in my food stuffs. I float atop their deesgusting awfulness like a cork on a sea of vile and abhorrent speetle! They must menace me from every direction with their horrorful snouts of green, glistening spicyness and badness!

I am not even beheaded properly, for there are deesgusting tendrils of my former neck dangling below my head like some leetle child has cut my head off with dull and blunt sceeesors! Faugh!

I do not any longer care for the jalapeños. If you are in habit of eating them, keep in mind that I am hiding inside the can. Any pepper you poool out of the can could be me! My head! My expression will carry my full condemnation and icy cold crooolty that will freeze your balls or wither your extremities! Be ware of me for I am vairy, vairy disturbed and the pickling has leached my brain of human goodnesses. You have been warned.

Panicking A new way to focus on your breathing

This recent Wall Street Journal article looks at a new strategy for dealing with panic attacks that "[turns] the current treatment for one of the most uncomfortable symptoms -- hyperventilation -- on its head." I'd argue that, during an acute bout of panic, the belief that you're actually, currently in the process of losing your mind or dying -- having a heart attack, or a stroke, etc. -- is far more uncomfortable than the sensation of hyperventilating. But the mental and physical symptoms of panic are pretty much impossible to tease apart fully, so, you know, whatever -- good on the 'ol WSJ. 

The Southern Methodist University research team featured in the article teaches those having panic attacks to take slow, shallow breaths instead of the long, deep breaths more conventionally suggested to counter hyperventilation. Here's how it works:

...hyperventilation is actually a state of "overbreathing." When people breathe faster or more deeply than normal, they breathe off too much of their carbon dioxide, leading to unpleasant symptoms including anxiety and panic, and at the same time leading the body to restrict the amount of oxygen that gets to the brain.

Based on that this understanding of breathing physiology, [the SMU team] reasoned that breathing less—thus boosting carbon dioxide—should reduce hyperventilation and the anxiety-producing sensations that go along with it.

In the new treatment ... people are taught to breathe slower and shallower over four weeks by matching their breathing rate to a series of tones they hear on an audiotape.

Using a capnometer, a machine typically used in hospitals to measure patients' vital signs, patients are taught how to monitor their carbon dioxide and oxygen levels so they can see if they are successfully raising their carbon dioxide levels.

The results of the SMU research are promising, but apparently more research is needed before anyone can say for sure that the technique works better than traditional strategies for stopping hyperventilation. Another problem: unless you happen to have a capnometer lying around the house, you're pretty much out of luck when it comes to giving CART a try.

Want to get your hands on 15 minutes of fame

I was recently contacted by a writer who's working on a piece about panic attacks for a national magazine aimed at women. As the email to me puts it:

My editors have asked me to include quotes from real women describing what their panic attacks feel like...The editors and I would like to incorporate the experiences of women to demonstrate that panic attacks feel different for every individual and to reassure readers that they're not alone.

If you're interested being a part of this piece, you can contact the writer at ellewriter@gmail.com. So you know what you're getting into, here's what'll be asked of you:

I'm just looking for a few sentences or a couple paragraphs describing one particular panic attack that stands out in her mind; what it felt like, where she was at the time, who she was with, how she attempted to get through it, if she sought medical attention and how long it took to pass...Should women choose to share their experiences, my editors have asked that they provide a first name, age, occupation and city/state. No last name required. But I do need a real first name.

(Sorry I wasn't able to post this sooner, Lauren!)

Get to know your amygdala

Joseph LeDoux, whom we've discussed in the past on PANIC!, talks about the part of the brain most central to fear, revealing among other things that (gasp!) the amygdala is not actually almond-shaped.