Monday, November 20, 2017

Digital Time-Offs @ Take regular digital time-offs, docs tell families



Digital Time-Offs

Take regular digital time-offs, docs tell families

MUMBAI: As the clock strikes seven in the evenings, everyone in the Joshi household in Malad, switches off their mobiles, laptops and tablets and places it in a basket on the side table. 

The family of four, now mandatorily gathers i n the living room, and talks to each other for an hour. The exercise is a part of their weekly ‘digital detox’, advised to them by a psychiatrist.

Doctors in the city are increasingly asking both children and adults to concertedly switch off their mobile phones, laptops and tablets for a stipulated amount of time, as increase in time spend on gadgets has becoming pressing concern for them.

“There has been a drastic increase in the amount of time both children and adults spend on online, which is taking away the real time interaction within family members,” said Dr Pervin Dadachanji , child and adolescent psychiatrist, child development centre UMEED, Parel.

What is even more worrying, she added is that families are misconstruing the time they spend watching television together as ‘family time’, she added.

“Parents who find their children a handful, find it easier to give them a phone or a tablet to keep them engaged,” said Dr Henal Shah, professor at the department of psychiatry at BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central.

In 2016, The American Association of Paediatrics (AAP) announced new recommendations for children’s media use. “For children aged six and older, parents must ‘place consistent limits on the time spent using media, and the types of media, and make sure media does not take the place of adequate sleep, physical activity and other behaviours essential to health,” warned doctors from AAP. 

However, Dr Kersi Chavda, consultant psychiatrist at PD Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, said it is a challenge to ensure that parents become good role models if they want their child’s behaviour to change. “Very often while counselling a child, I learn that parents expect the child to cut down on their digital time, while they continue to spend time on it on the pretext of work,” said Dr Chavda.
Meanwhile, psychiatrists said that rise in screen time exacerbates symptoms for people who have social anxiety and mild to severe forms of autism. Dr Milan Balakrishnan, psychiatrist, Juno Clinic, Khar, recounted a case, where parents had brought their 14-year-old fourteen daughter for treatment for her phone addiction. “She spent eight to ten hours a day on the phone either on social networking sites or playing games,” Dr Balakrishnan said.

On further examination, he found that the phone addition was masking a larger psychological problem of social anxiety. “Spending time on the phone was a way of coping with her anxiety. It was escape from the real world,” Dr Balakrishnan said.

Doctors said the process to get children and parents off screens is a gradual process. “No addiction can be reduced drastically overnight. One needs to start with reducing screen time from a few minutes to an hour, over a period of days,” said Dr Chavda.

Source | Hinudstan Times | 20 November 2017

Regards

Pralhad Jadhav  

Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository  
Khaitan & Co 



Twitter Handle | @Pralhad161978

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