Video Game Addiction, Obsession, or Habit: How Much is Too Much?
I am often asked some variant of this question, and a few of my recent cases have stimulated me to explore more evidence-based answers to improve the quality of my response. As it turns out, many have written fairly extensively on the subject of how much video gaming is too much. It has been proposed that two to three hours per day of playing the games is now an average amount of time for the average adolescent to play video games or spend time on the computer (APA Task Force, 2008).
There are many reasons for parents to be concerned about their child’s seeming obsession with video games, and the amount of time that their children are playing them. Initial concerns were that the games, which were largely played by adolescent males, stimulated aggressive instincts and increased the likelihood of violence in the, again, largely, male population who played the games. These concerns were fueled and heightened by the massacre at Columbine, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, in which two high school students went on a killing rampage. These two students had reported that they spent a great deal of time playing “Doom,” a gory video game with a great deal of violent and aggressive themes. It was also inferred that the boys had spent a great deal of time watching violent movies–which may inspire another article at a later date.
Coping with Holiday Stress, Depression, and Grieving
Holiday stress is fast becoming as frequent a topic as holiday shopping. Just type “holiday stress” into any search engine on the Internet, and you get approximately 10,000 hits for information on the topic. Parents are especially vulnerable candidates, as their stress is compounded by their children’s stress around the holidays.
Just as students often have final examinations, indecision as to how to spend their holiday vacations and with whom, and hoping that Santa, or someone, is going to find a way to fill that Christmas list, parents have to minister to their children’s needs and deal with their own holiday stressors simultaneously.
Learning Disabilities and Extreme Patterns of Thinking
In addition to classroom challenges, one of the challenges facing students with learning disabilities or challenges is learning to curtail extreme thinking patterns. Child Psychologist, Dr Thomas Achenbach has used the term “Externalizer” to refer to children who anger easily, deny or lie about their wrongdoing, blame others for their problems, or minimize the seriousness of what they did. Hence, Externalizer refers to the child’s tendency to externalize the blame for their problems, as opposed to accepting responsibility for them. Interestingly, these children appear to have no difficulty accepting responsibility for the good things they do. So, if they do a good deed, they deserve credit, to their way of thinking. On the rare occasions that they will admit they did a bad deed, they will either blame someone else for having “caused” them to do the bad deed, or to be caught doing the bad deed.
Teach Your Children Well . . . By Reading to Them
A recent study by the Department of Education that was reaported in Science Daily reported that 44% of Fourth Graders in the United States are reading below the basic mastery level for their age group. In California, 59% are reading below mastery.
For those who have been following my columns, you know that I did not learn to swim until I was 26-years-old. The consequences of not learning to read are more immediate and much graver for chilren. Studies show that the following problems are highly correlated with poor reading: poor grades, easily frustrated, difficulty completing assignments, low self-esteem, behavioral problems, increased physical illness, more likely to not like school, more likely to be shy in front of groups of people, failing to develop full potential.
Learning Disabilities and Extreme Patterns of Responding to Others
In addition to classroom challenges, one of the challenges facing students with learning disabilities or challenges is learning to curtail extremes in the way they respond to various social interactions and/or not getting their way when they want something.
What do I mean by extreme patterns of behavior?
There are essentially three ways that we can respond to various situations in our lives. These ways have been termed Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive by many researchers in the past, and these terms have a great deal to recommend them. That is, most children (and adults!) can understand the definitions of each of these terms, and most children can think of or name a friend of theirs who exemplifies each pattern of behaving. In fact, most children can name an example of how they have used each way of responding in their own lives.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s say that Passive means that you do not stand up for yourself. That is, you say yes when you mean no, or you say no when you mean yes. You act as if everything is fine, but you may be seething underneath.
Lessons from our Summer Trip–Part 2
When Does Worry Become Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Part 1
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH 2009) has produced a 15-point scale that defines various levels of the continuum of normal worrying to clinical obsession or compulsiveness. At the extreme, a score of 13 to 15, the symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) require the individual to be closely supervised while eating, sleeping, or even making minor decisions.
At the other end of the scale, 1-3, the individual spends little or no time in excessive thought or behavior that is ritualistic or compulsive, and there is almost no interference in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). ADLs include things like the ability to pay attention, groom oneself, engage in meaning social interactions with others, and perform those necessary biological functions related to eating and eliminating in a way that does not interfere with one’s normal emotional functioning. In the case of children, this would include going to school, studying, making and keep friends, playing with their friends, and engaging in meaningful recreational or physical activity during their spare time.
Thomas Szasz wrote a book in 1966 called The Myth of Mental Illness. The author basically argued that there was no such thing as mental illness, and that scientists and doctors had attempted to lay the template of the so-called medical model over what he preferred to term as “problems in living.”
If your child is so concerned with making A’s that their worry makes them ineffective at studying, causing them to make C’s when they are capable of making A’s, then this could be termed such a problem in living.
My preference is to use the term problem in learning. That is, the child is attempting to do the right thing, i.e., study hard and make a good grade, but they have not learned how to moderate or regulate their studying behavior in such as fashion as to achieve the goal of learning well and making an A.
Increasing Empathy for Children with Learning Problems
I have just returned from a trip to Europe that gave me a lot of insights as to how it must feel to be a child with learning difficulties.
Just as many children with learning difficulties have problems communicating in their native tongue because of understanding or expressing themselves with language, I had the same problems when attempting to speak to someone in French or Italian, as I do not speak their language.
Everyday social interactions become highly challenging and frustrating. I almost gave up several times in attempting to ask for a certain meal or directions because I simply could not make myself understood to the person I was trying to communicate with, or I could not understand what they were trying to say to me.
Learning Includes All Types of Learning Challenges and Problems
When is a learning problem a PROBLEM?
A recent article by Edward Schultz in LDA Newsbriefs concerns new definitions of learning disabilities that must be recognized through the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA).
This article describes why severe discrepancies between ability and achievement (see below) are no longer required to qualify your child for an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) at school, and the author discusses new methods of determining who can profit from special classes or special teaching methods.
PL 94-142, the original law regarding special teaching and classes for students with handicapping conditions, appeared in the 1970′s. The law was aimed at helping physically challenged students, e.g., those requiring a wheelchair to get around, or those who lacked the muscular control to produce good penmanship, gain access to the comprehensive public school.
However, enterprising educators, psychologists, and others in the helping professions soon realized that there were many students who had no physical challenges, but they did have learning challenges such as dyslexia or poor auditory processing.
