ELECTRONIC SCREEN SYNDROME

An unrecognized disorder

In diagnosis, think of the easy first.

— Martin H. Fischer

Consider the following questions:

• Does your child seem revved up a lot of the time?

• Does your child have meltdowns over minor frustrations?

• Does your child have full-blown rages?

• Has your child become increasingly oppositional, defiant, or disorganized?

• Does your child become irritable when told it's time to stop playing video games or to get off the computer?

• Do you ever notice your child's pupils are dilated after using electronics?

• Does your child have a hard time making eye contact after screen-time or in general?

• Would you describe your child as being attracted to screens "like a moth to a flame"?

• Do you ever feel your child is not as happy as he or she should be, or that your child is not enjoying activities like he or she used to?

• Does your child have trouble making or keeping friends because of immature behavior?

• Do you worry your child's interests have narrowed recently, or that these interests mostly revolve around screens? Do you feel his or her thirst for knowledge and natural curiosity has been dampened?

• Are your child's grades falling, or is he or she not performing academically up to his or her potential — and no one is certain why?

• Have teachers, pediatricians, or therapists suggested your child might have bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, an anxiety disorder, or even psychosis, and there 's no family history of the disorder?

• Have multiple practitioners given your child differing or conflicting diagnoses? Have you been told your child needs medication, but this doesn't feel right to you?

• Does your child have a preexisting condition, like autism or ADHD, whose symptoms seem to be getting worse?

• Does your child seem "wired and tired," like they're exhausted but can't sleep, or they sleep but don't feel rested?

• Does your child seem lazy or unmotivated and have poor attention to detail?

• Would you describe your child as being stressed, despite few or no stressors you can clearly point to?

• Is your child receiving services in school that don't seem to be helping?

If these questions strike a familiar chord, like many other parents you may be confronted with difficulties all too common in today's electronically saturated world. These days, parenting a child who is struggling with behavior, mood, or cognitive issues is fraught with confusion and frustration: What's causing the problem? Where do we focus our resources? Does my child need formal testing? Should we get a second opinion, and from whom — a neurologist? A psychiatrist? A psychologist or educational specialist? And so on. Many parents feel lost; they are unsure of what's going on and often receive conflicting advice, leading them to feel pulled in different directions. They seek multiple opinions, scour the Internet for information, ask other parents what's worked for them, and agonize over whether to try medication. Parents often report that the process winds up feeling like they're simply going in circles. This paralysis of analysis is costly — in terms of time, money, resources, and a child's self-esteem.

You might notice that the quiz questions above cover a wide variety of dysfunction, but they all represent scenarios — related to symptoms, functioning, or treatment effectiveness — that can occur when a child starts operating from a more primitive part of the brain. During this state, two things tend to happen: 1) symptoms and functioning worsen, and 2) interventions don't work very well. Thus, the goal is to find out what's causing this state. Regardless of what your child's particular issues are, if they're not being managed adequately, it's safe to assume that something is being missed. Wouldn't it be nice if that some thing could be the same thing for each and all of these issues? If addressing one thing improved functioning across the board, whether your child carried multiple diagnoses or none at all?

To see how this might be possible, consider the following three cases:

Diagnosed with autism, six-year-old Michael was receiving in-home behavioral services. When he suddenly developed severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms, his treatment team called me for a consult. Upon learning he was earning video game time daily as a reward, I convinced the family and treatment team to try the Reset Program before initiating any medication. Four weeks later his obsessive-compulsive symptoms had diminished substantially, and as an added bonus he made better eye contact and displayed a brighter mood.

Calla was a high school junior who struggled with severe mood swings and insomnia. Calla's treatment providers suspected she was bipolar, and her defiant attitude and dramatic displays of emotion had recently landed her in a class reserved for kids with emotional problems, which only made things worse. Frustrated after a particular medication trial caused a rapid weight gain, Calla and her mother wound up in my office. After much discussion, they agreed to try the electronic fast as part of an overall treatment plan. Six weeks later, the sweet girl underneath all that turmoil resurfaced. Within six months, Calla was...