Wired and Tired: Electronics and Sleep Disturbance in Children
Does your child have trouble sleeping, concentrating, or getting up in the morning? Do they sleep plenty of hours but seem exhausted? Sleep difficulties in children are on the rise--and I expect this...
View ArticleMisdiagnosed? Bipolar Disorder is All the Rage!
Childhood bipolar disorder is overdiagnosed. Psychotropic medication use in children continues to climb. Is our high-tech environment playing a role? read more
View ArticleYou Zapped Me at Hello: Ten Rules for Safer Cell Phone Use
As cell phone use grows, so does our awareness of potential effects. Here are some tips to reduce exposure and protect your brain. read more
View ArticlePower's Out, Creativity's In!
I saw a Facebook post today in which a New York mother of three shared that yesterday morning, during the power outage caused by hurricane Irene, she was invited into the "fort" her sons made in their...
View ArticlePsychiatric Medication Minimization Strategies: Part I
No one wants to take psychotropic medication, much less request a child or other family member take them. LIke it or not, sometimes medication is necessary and even protective. But certain...
View ArticlePsychiatric Medication Minimization Strategies: Part II
This is Part II of this series; you can read Part I here for the first five strategies. Part III addresses implementation, and will be posted next week. No one wants to take psychotropic medication,...
View ArticleWhy Gifting Electronic Gadgets May Be Hazardous to your Child's Health
For many families, the holidays can mean long stretches of unstructured time and visits with relatives, who often bring over the latest video games...even if you decide you're going to cut back....
View ArticleDiscovery of Video Game-Induced Seizures Transforms a Teen's Health: A...
Jessica's daughter Alice experienced daily seizures triggered by video games, but suffered for years before she was properly diagnosed.read more
View ArticlePsychiatric Medication Minimization Strategies: Part III
This series of posts is focused how to minimize your or your child's psychiatric medications ("psychotropics".) Parts I and II described various strategies that can help streamline or even eliminate...
View ArticleBrand vs. Generic: When It Matters (And What To Do When It Does)
Generics are supposed to be deemed bioequivalent, which means they should have the same amount of active ingredient as their brand counterparts as demonstrated on healthy volunteers. They do not test...
View ArticleGot Tics? Environmental Adjustments Can Help
“Tics wax and wane. It’s just the nature of the beast.” Or is it?read more
View ArticleMobile Phone Safety: Quick Tips Video
One of my previous posts explored some of the studies demonstrating the biological effects of cell phone radiation, and provided ten rules for safer mobile usage. Here is a video summarizing the most...
View Article10 Tips to Make Homework Time Less Painful
The amount of homework assigned these days can be ridiculous. If the homework assigned is excessive, or if the content is too difficult for a child's capabilities, homework effectiveness can...
View ArticleComputer, Video Games & Psychosis: Cause for Concern
In my practice in the past six months, no less than five youths have reported psychotic symptoms that were attributed to, or exacerbated by, electronic screen devices. read more
View ArticleElectronic Screen Syndrome: An Unrecognized Disorder?
Psychiatric symptoms from various disorders can have a lot of overlap, and this is especially true when it comes to children.read more
View ArticleCase: Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Precipitated by Wii Video Gaming
A couple of years ago, a former colleague contacted me to ask whether I thought playing Wii video games could precipitate OCD symptoms. Her six year old son, who'd just started playing Wii games...
View ArticleGame Over: Screening for Problematic Screen-time
Current screening questionnaires to illicit problematic video game and internet usage are helpful, but are they inclusive enough? read more
View ArticleScreens and the Stress Response
Clinically, I view screen-time as an environmental stressor that nearly always needs to be removed initially as both a diagnostic and therapeutic intervention. For this post, I thought it might be...
View ArticleVideo Game Rage
Contrary to popular belief, video games don't need to be violent in order to trigger aggression in some children, particularly in the face of biological or psychological vulnerablities. Here's a case...
View ArticleScreen-free Holiday Challenge
"Tis the season...for electronics?! Again?! As a child psychiatrist, I dread January, when instead of being rested from a couple weeks off of school, many of my patients come in revved up and spaced...
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