Technology. Some days it feels like we can’t live with it, but in today’s world we certainly can’t live without it. And what’s the mental health impact on our kids and teens who seem consumed by their smartphones and other digital media 24/7?
The short answer is: It’s a gray area.
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I love watching football.
When I was watching the playoffs this year, it was obvious that some ads were really overrepresented – those promoting comfort food and alcohol (mostly beer). And they’re super compelling. I tend to eat healthy, organic food.
Some degree of shyness is normal and common in all children. For most, it’s a healthy cautiousness in reaction to a novel social encounter.
Here’s an example:
At a neighborhood barbeque, 4-year-old Tommy wouldn’t show his face, and buried his head in his mom’s skirt behind her. Mom gently encouraged him.
Things might seem kind of awful lately.
Every news headline, from every corner of American ideology, feels pretty depressing. We are subjected to nihilistic rants or apocalyptic predictions. When do we smile? When our late-night talk-show hosts use our negativity for comedic material. I’ll admit it.
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According to a 2017 report by the American Psychological Association, 2/3 of Americans feel stressed about the future of our nation, including a majority of each Democrats and Republicans.
You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn, SoundCloud, and most podcast apps – just search for “Shrinking It Down.”
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Whether they have fur, scales, tail or no tail, pets can improve the mental and emotional health of children and teens.
You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and iTunes.
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Differing viewpoints, feelings of frustration. We’re all constantly on edge today, and families can be home to a wide range of beliefs, which only adds stress to “together” time.
My friend Samantha called me in a panic. Her 8-year-old daughter, Lindsey, was struggling with the fact that her parents were getting divorced. There had been a lot of conflict in the marriage. Samantha’s ex-husband was an alcoholic and, though he was receiving treatment, he had been frequently unemployed.
Do you remember what your mother used to say when you stopped, all of sudden, and yanked off your sneakers with a kind exaggerated urgency? She’d wait to see what you were doing, and then when you turned that sneaker upside down and the teeny-tiny pebble fell out onto the sidewalk, she’d smile and tell you something about how the little th
Hans Selye, a Hungarian scientist who was a pioneer in modern stress research, was quoted as saying:
“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”
Today, 75 years after he made that statement, it rings as true as ever.