tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66934336882394067882024-03-02T17:47:10.090-08:00The Cyber Addiction Recovery Center - Renewing Hope, Restoring LivesHas your child's life been taken over by the internet and/or video gaming? Are you concerned your child is becoming addicted to technology? Is your child neglecting school work, chores, friends, and family? Has he dropped out of clubs, hobbies, and sport leagues in favor of gaming? For comprehensive assessment call 855-735-HELP or go to www.teenvideogameaddiction.com.Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-13770360451793831852014-09-25T11:11:00.000-07:002014-09-25T11:11:12.586-07:00How to create motivation in the addicted gamer?<div class="MsoNormal">
Motivational Interviewing (MI) offers a new perspective on
what the role of the mental health professional is in the mysterious, perplexing, and often
frustrating process of instilling motivation in video game addicts. Failure to “inspire” gaming addicts to reach their
goals, despite our best coaching and cheerleading efforts, has been a
significant contributor to the conclusion that gaming addicts cannot be helped. </div>
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Psychologists William Miller
and Stephen Rollnick (1991) have conceptualized lack of motivation as the
experience of being “stuck” in ambivalence. They developed a counseling style
that elicits behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve this
ambivalence. This style is similar to
the client-centered, humanistic approach developed by Carl Rogers and others;
however, it is notably more directive, and can demonstrate results in a relatively
short period of time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The concept of MI originally evolved from William Miller’s
experiences with the treatment of problem drinkers. Since then, however, MI has been applied to
much broader settings. It operates from the premise that ambivalence is a
normal state that affects <i>many</i> areas
of one’s life. MI
uses a set of skills and principles that guide the client and counselor through
the process of resolving ambivalence (Miller and Rollnick, 1991). <o:p></o:p></div>
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In my next blog I will begin to explain how MI works as well as why MI is effective with gaming addicts.<div>
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Christopher Mulligan LCSW<br />
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Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-18293412120680945512014-07-14T18:41:00.001-07:002014-07-14T18:41:19.919-07:00Porn addiction similar to drug addiction?<div class="abs" itemprop="description" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.625em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
LONDON (Reuters) - Pornography triggers brain activity in sex addicts similar to the effect drugs have on the brains of drug addicts, researchers said on Friday - but that doesn't necessarily mean porn is addictive.</div>
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Although there are no precise figures, experts in the field believe as many as one in 25 adults is affected by compulsive sexual behavior, more commonly known as sex addiction - an obsession with sexual thoughts, feelings or behavior they are unable to control.</div>
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Excessive use of pornography is one of the main features of the condition. That can affect personal lives and work, causing distress and feelings of shame, the researchers from Britain's Cambridge University said in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.</div>
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The study looked at brain activity in 19 male patients affected by sex addiction and compared them with the same number of volunteers. The patients had started watching pornography at earlier ages and in higher proportions than the volunteers.</div>
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"The patients in our trial were all people who had substantial difficulties controlling their sexual behavior and this was having significant consequences for them, affecting their lives and relationships," said Dr Valerie Voon, who led the study at Cambridge's department of psychiatry.</div>
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"In many ways, they show similarities in their behavior to patients with drug addictions. We wanted to see if these similarities were reflected in brain activity, too."</div>
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The study participants were shown a series of short videos featuring either sexually explicit content or sports. Their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which uses a blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal to measure brain activity.</div>
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The researchers found that three regions in particular were more active in the brains of the sex addiction patients compared with the healthy volunteers.</div>
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Significantly, these regions – the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate and amygdala – are also activated in drug addicts when they are shown drug stimuli, the researchers said.</div>
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The ventral striatum is involved in processing reward and motivation, while the dorsal anterior cingulate is involved in anticipating rewards and drug craving, they said. The amygdala helps process the significance of events and emotions.</div>
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The researchers also asked the participants to rate their levels of sexual desire while watching the videos and say how much they liked them. Drug addicts are thought to be driven to seek their drug because they want it, rather than enjoy it.</div>
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This process is known as incentive motivation, Voon said, and is a compelling theory in addiction disorders.</div>
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Patients with sex addiction showed higher levels of desire towards the sexually explicit videos, but did not necessarily like them more.</div>
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"Whilst these findings are interesting, it's important to note ... that they could not be used to diagnose the condition," Voon said. "Nor does our research necessarily provide evidence that these individuals are addicted to porn – or that porn is inherently addictive.</div>
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"Much more research is required to understand this relationship between compulsive sexual behavior and drug addiction."</div>
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(Editing by Larry King)</div>
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Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-29876703278348466792014-06-26T10:06:00.000-07:002014-06-26T10:06:15.069-07:00Watching Online Porn May Change The Structure of the Brain<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; padding: 0px 40px 12px 0px;">
Men who watch large amounts of sexually explicit material have brains with smaller reward systems, a study finds.</div>
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"That could mean that regular consumption of pornography more or less wears out your reward system," says Simone Kühn, psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and lead author of the <a class="icon external" href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1874574#Results" rel="nofollow" style="background: url(http://www.dw.de/cssi/i-solo-dwblue.png) 0px -2202px no-repeat; color: #0087eb; padding-left: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">study</a>, published in the "JAMA Psychiatry" journal.</div>
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Your reward system is a collection of neural structures in the brain that regulate and control behavior by inducing pleasure.</div>
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The researchers scanned the brains of 64 men aged between 21 and 45 with a MRI machine.</div>
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Those probands - or study subjects - who watched porn often had a smaller striatum, which is an important part of the reward system and also involved in sexual arousal.</div>
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The study also found that the reward systems of porn-experienced men were less active when they watched sexually arousing pictures inside the MRI machine.</div>
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"We assume that probands with a high porn consumption need increasing stimulation to receive the same amount of reward," Simone Kühn says.</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 17px;">Consequence or precondition?</span></div>
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But were men with smaller striatum seeking more porn because they needed more external stimulation, or did the higher consumption of porn make this part of the brain smaller?</div>
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The researchers admit both could be true. But they say the latter is more likely.</div>
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Kühn says existing psychological, scientific literature suggests consumers of porn will seek material with novel and more extreme sex games.</div>
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"That would fit perfectly the hypothesis that their reward systems need growing stimulation."</div>
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<a class="overlayLink init" href="http://www.dw.de/pea-brain-watching-porn-online-will-wear-out-your-brain-and-make-it-shrivel/a-17681654#" link="/overlay/overlay_image/s-12526/c-17681654/16318260" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0087eb; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="MRI scan
Photo: Andreas Gebert, dpa" border="0" height="394" src="http://www.dw.de/image/0,,16318260_401,00.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 700px;" title="A brain scan can reveal a lot." width="700" /></a><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #888888; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0px; width: 720px;">
A brain scan can reveal a lot.</div>
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In future studies the researchers plan to observe brain changes in study subjects over a period of time to see whether the reward system really changes with increasing porn consumption.</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 17px;">Like cocaine and gaming</span></div>
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Kühn says the team had predicted it would observe changes in the reward system - but the opposite of what it ultimately found.</div>
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The striatum is also involved in drug addiction.</div>
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In 2001, <a class="icon external" href="http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=174660" rel="nofollow" style="background: url(http://www.dw.de/cssi/i-solo-dwblue.png) 0px -2202px no-repeat; color: #0087eb; padding-left: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">researchers found</a> that reward-system-related brain parts were up to ten percent larger in cocaine addicts than in non-dependent probands.</div>
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And as if that wasn't enough: "In a study with teenagers we found that frequent PC games playing leads to an increase in the size of the striatum," says Kühn. But she notes she was surprised to see that male porn-watchers had smaller - not larger - striatum than the other men in the study.</div>
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She says she had expected porn consumption to increase the size of the reward system - rather than make it shrink.</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 17px;">Is porn addiction real?</span></div>
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"Pornography is no longer an issue of minority populations but a mass phenomenon that influences our society," the researchers write in the journal, adding that an estimated 50 percent of all Internet traffic is related to sex.</div>
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Psychiatrists have been debating whether it is possible to develop an addiction to porn. But they have yet to even agree on a clinical definition of pornography addiction.</div>
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In February, psychiatrists wrote in <a class="icon external" href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11930-014-0016-8" rel="nofollow" style="background: url(http://www.dw.de/cssi/i-solo-dwblue.png) 0px -2202px no-repeat; color: #0087eb; padding-left: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">"Current Sexual Health Reports"</a> that there is no such thing as porn addiction. There was no sign, they wrote, that use of pornography causes any changes to the brain.</div>
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This latest research may change their minds.</div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-70565996492758170762014-06-26T10:01:00.000-07:002014-06-26T10:01:13.603-07:00Cris Rowan Offers 10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under 12<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Bitter, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Author: Cris Rowan</div>
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The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010)</em>. Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012)</em>. Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, causing escalating usage, especially by very young children <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Common Sense Media, 2013)</em>. Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist is calling on parents, teachers, and government to ban the use of all handheld devices for children under the age of 12 years. Following are ten research evidenced reasons for this ban. Please visit <a href="http://zonein.ca/" style="border: 0px; color: #1d5689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">zonein.ca</a> to view the <a href="http://www.zoneinworkshops.com/zonein-fact-sheet.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1d5689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Zone’in <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fact Sheet</em></a> for referenced research.</div>
<ol style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Bitter, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rapid brain growth</strong><br />Between 0 and 2 years, infant’s brains triple in size, and continue in a state of rapid development to 21 years of age <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Christakis 2011)</em>. Early brain development is determined by environmental stimuli, or lack thereof. Stimulation to a developing brain caused by over exposure to technologies (cell phones, internet, iPads, TV), has been shown to negatively affect executive functioning, and cause attention deficit, cognitive delays, impaired learning, increased impulsivity, and decreased ability to self-regulation e.g. tantrums <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Small 2008, Pagini 2010).</em></li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Delayed Development</strong><br />Technology use restricts movement, resulting in delayed development. One in three children now enter school developmentally delayed, negatively impacting on literacy and academic achievement <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(HELP EDI Maps 2013)</em>. Movement enhances attention and learning ability <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Ratey 2008)</em>. Use of technology under the age of 12 years, is detrimental to child development and learning <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Rowan 2010)</em>.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Epidemic Obesity</strong><br />TV and video game use correlates with increased obesity <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Tremblay 2005)</em>. Children who are allowed a device in their bedrooms have 30% increased incidence of obesity <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Feng 2011)</em>. One in four Canadian, and one in three U.S. children are obese <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Tremblay 2011)</em>. 30% of children with obesity, will develop diabetes, and be at risk for early stroke and heart attack, gravely shortening life expectancy <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Centre for Disease Control and Prevention 2010)</em>. Due to obesity, 21st century children may be the first generation many of whom will not outlive their parents<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Professor Andrew Prentice, BBC News 2002).</em></li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sleep Deprivation</strong><br />60% of parents do not supervise their child’s technology usage, and 75% of children are allowed technology in their bedrooms <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Kaiser Foundation 2010)</em>. 75% of children aged 9 and 10 years are sleep deprived to the extent that their grades are detrimentally impacted <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Boston College 2012)</em>.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mental Illness</strong><br />Technology overuse is implicated as a causal factor in rising rates of child depression, anxiety, attachment disorder, attention deficit, autism, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and problematic child behavior <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Bristol University 2010, Mentzoni 2011, Shin 2011, Liberatore 2011, Robinson 2008)</em>. One in six Canadian children have a diagnosed mental illness, many of whom are on dangerous psychotropic medication <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Waddell 2007)</em>.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aggression</strong><br />Violent media content causes child aggression <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Anderson 2007)</em>. Young children are increasingly exposed to rising incidence of physical and sexual violence in today’s media. Grand Theft Auto V portrays explicit sex, murder, rape, torture, and mutilation, as do many movies and TV shows. The U.S. has categorized media violence as a Public Health Risk due to causal impact on child aggression <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Huesmann 2007)</em>. Media reports increased use of restraints and seclusion rooms with children who exhibit uncontrolled aggression <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Vancouver Sun 2013).</em></li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Digital dementia</strong><br />High speed media content causes attention deficit, as well as decreased concentration and memory, due to the brain pruning neuronal tracks to the frontal cortex <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Christakis 2004, Small 2008)</em>. Children who can’t pay attention, can’t learn.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Addictions</strong><br />As parents attach more and more to technology, they are detaching from their children. In the absence of parental attachment, detached children attach to devices, resulting in addiction<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Rowan 2010)</em>. One in 11 children aged 8-18 years are addicted to technology <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Gentlie 2009)</em>. Never in the history of humankind have there been child addictions.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Radiation emission</strong><br />In May of 2011, the World Health Organization classified cellphones (and other wireless devices) as a category 2B risk (possible carcinogen) due to radiation emission <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(WHO 2011)</em>. James McNamee with Health Canada in October of 2011 issued a cautionary warning stating “Children are more sensitive to a variety of agents than adults as their brains and immune systems are still developing, so you can’t say the risk would be equal for a small adult as for a child” <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Globe and Mail 2011)</em>. In December, 2013 Dr. Anthony Miller from the University of Toronto’s School of Public Health recommend that based on new research, radio frequency exposure should be reclassified as a 2A (probable carcinogen), not a 2B (possible carcinogen). American Academy of Pediatrics requested review of EMF radiation emissions from technology devices, citing 3 reasons regarding impact on children <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(AAP 2013).</em></li>
<li style="border: 0px; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 6pt 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unsustainable</strong><br />The ways in which children are raised and educated with technology are no longer sustainable<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Rowan 2010)</em>. Children are our future, but there is no future for children who overuse technology. A team based approach is necessary and urgent in order to reduce the use of technology by children. Please reference below slides shows on <a href="http://www.zonein.ca/" style="border: 0px; color: #1d5689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.zonein.ca</a> under <a href="http://www.zonein.ca/videos.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1d5689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">videos</a> to share with others who are concerned about technology overuse by children.</li>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Problems</strong> – Suffer the Children – 4 minutes</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Solutions</strong> – Balanced Technology Management – 7 minutes</div>
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The following guidelines for technology use by children and youth were developed by Cris Rowan pediatric occupational therapist and author of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virtual Child</em>, Dr. Andrew Doan neuroscientist and author of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hooked on Games</em> and Dr, Hilarie Cash, Director of reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program and author of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Video Games and Your Kids</em>, with contribution from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Pediatric Society in an effort to ensure sustainable futures for all children.</div>
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Technology Use Guidelines for Children and Youth</h4>
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<a href="http://movingtolearn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Technology-Use-Guidelines-for-Children-and-Youth2.png" style="border: 0px; color: #1d5689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Technology Use Guidelines for Children and Youth6" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1548" height="209" src="http://movingtolearn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Technology-Use-Guidelines-for-Children-and-Youth6.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px auto 15px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="717" /></a></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-82188015706640155582014-06-22T09:47:00.000-07:002014-06-22T09:47:03.218-07:00<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
Wilderness Day Group for Video Game Addicted Kids</h3>
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<b style="font-size: 13px;"> CYBER ADDICTION RECOVERY CENTER </b><br /><b style="font-size: 13px;"> CHRISTOPHER MULLIGAN LCSW<br /> "Get Unplugged!</b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"</span><br /><b style="font-size: 13px;"> </b><br /><b style="font-size: 13px;"> Wilderness Adventures for “Tech” Dependent/Addicted Kids<br /> </b><br />Christopher Mulligan LCSW is offering therapeutic activities in our local-natural surroundings (Los Angeles) designed to help children and teens break the destructive cycle of compulsive internet and gaming behavior. Children/teens will be presented with the opportunity to participate in outdoor adventures that unfold in a therapeutic sequence that will develop self-awareness, physical skills, communication skills, trust in self and others, respect, psychological and physical courage, and empathy.<br /><br />In order to create new and adaptive behaviors tech dependent/addicted children/teens must get “unplugged” from their home environment. Participating in outdoor activities is one of the most effective ways to help tech dependent/addicted children/teens create an accurate awareness of how technology is damaging the quality of their lives and develop new social skills and recreational interests that will help them “plug” in to a non technological dependent life style.<br /><br />Prior to the start of each wilderness experience there will be a group check-in where therapists will facilitate introductions, allow for the exploration of each person’s history including what brings them to our program, set the stage for the events of the day, and focus on helping the group members develop their observational skills and a greater awareness of their environment as well as the impact they have on their environment.<br /><br />Therapists will review and emphasize the importance of the safety of group members and discuss how communication, trust, and accountability factor into the activities chosen for a given day. Throughout the day therapists supervise and process individual and group dynamics and connect these dynamics to tech dependence/addiction. After the completion of the group activities, therapists check-in with the group and review reflections and lessons from the day.<br /><br />Adventure 1: Day Hike Adventure 2: 2-Day Hike (1 Overnight) Adventure 3: Climbing Adventure 4: Learning to Rappel Adventure 5: Hiking and Rappelling Adventure 6: Multi-day Outing<br /><br />For more information, contact Christopher Mulligan LCSW at 855-735-HELP (4357) or email cyberrecovery@gmail.com</div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-26722779657535270302014-06-22T09:43:00.001-07:002014-06-22T09:43:21.401-07:00Huffington Post Blog on Cyber Porn<header style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
Watching Porn Linked To Less Gray Matter In The Brain</h1>
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Right or wrong, porn has been blamed for all sorts of social ills, from <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130906102536.htm" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0086c6; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">perpetuating sexist attitudes</a> to destroying relationships. But does<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/may/29/porn-viewing-linked-less-grey-matter-brain" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0086c6; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink"> porn affect the brains</a> of men who watch it?</div>
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To answer that question, German researchers recruited 64 men between the ages of 21 and 45 who watched an average of four hours of pornography per week. The researchers did MRI scans of men’s brains while showing them a mixture of sexually explicit images and non-sexual imagery. Their <a href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1874574&utm_source=Silverchair+Information+Systems&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JAMAPsychiatry%3AOnlineFirst05%2F28%2F2014#Discussion" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0086c6; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">research was published May 28 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry</a>.</div>
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"Our findings indicated that gray matter volume of the right caudate of the striatum is smaller with higher pornography use," the researchers wrote in the journal article, referring to an area of the brain associated with reward processing and motivation. Men who watched more porn also showed less activity in another area of the striatum, called the left putamen, which usually lights up in response to sexual images.</div>
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Heavy porn consumers also had a weaker connection between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with decision-making.</div>
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"Dysfunction of this circuitry has been related to inappropriate behavioral choices, such as drug seeking, regardless of the potential negative outcome," the researchers wrote in the article.</div>
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Yikes. So does that mean porn can really shrink guys' brains? Not necessarily, the researchers say.</div>
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“It's not clear, for example, whether <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/28/us-porn-brain-changes-idUSKBN0E82BK20140528" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0086c6; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">watching porn leads to brain changes</a> or whether people born with certain brain types watch more porn,” study author Dr. Simone Kühn of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin told Reuters in an email.</div>
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Kuhn and her colleagues said they hoped future studies would reveal how "excessive porn consumption" may affect the brain over time, and how it affects the brains of new viewers.</div>
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Until then, the jury's still out on porn's effect on the brain.</div>
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“Everything is going to be bad in excess and it’s probably not terrible in moderation,” Dr. Gregory Tau, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University who was not involved in the new research, told Reuters.</div>
</div>
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ALSO ON HUFFPOST:</div>
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</section></footer>Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-36088389743231942272014-06-05T13:50:00.000-07:002014-06-05T13:50:21.213-07:00The industry of human trafficking and sex slavery is utilizing 21st-century digital media to target children. <div class="MsoNormal">
The industry of human trafficking and sex slavery is
utilizing 21st-century digital media to target children. How does this work?
First, technology abuse and exposure to pornography during childhood can
produce promiscuous children and teens who then go on to post sexually suggestive
photos on social media. The sex trafficking/slavery industry (pimps) can target
these children, befriend them on social media, play online games with them, in an attempt to
lure them away for abduction into sex slavery. Children and teens can be
tricked into leaving their families to meet with a fantasy online “lover,” only
to be abducted by organized criminals for the purpose of sex trafficking. As
children and teens use social media excessively and play more games than
spending with real people, they are vulnerable to falling prey to online predators
on social media, Minecraft, PS3/4 network, Xbox live, and online games. Sex in
human trafficking is now more lucrative than narcotics. It has been reported that
one pimp with five girls can generate nearly $1 million in revenue annually.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is the most effective way of safeguarding children and
teens? Providing education to children and teens about the human trafficking/sex
slavery industry combined with parents who can maintain an open and honest
dialogue about online sexual behavior dramatically decrease risk. Children and teens
that fear talking to their parents about their online activities are far more
likely to be secretive about online risk-taking and mistakes. Hence, the best
practice in terms of protecting children and teens is a relationship with
parents/caregivers that encourages honest and candid discussions that occur on
a regular basis. This solution often makes parents/caregivers uncomfortable
because it requires a discussion about human sexuality and online sexual
behavior. Many parents opt for parental controls to do the work of keeping
their children safe from predatory behavior. Research supports the view,
however, that it is parents who can engage in an open and clear discussion
about healthy human sexuality as well as the risks of posed by predators that
ultimately serve to keep children safe.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-46506242669976178112014-05-29T09:51:00.002-07:002014-05-29T09:54:53.769-07:00Being a Cyber Savvy Kid<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 5.76pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Teach children to be cyber savvy by explaining the following:</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 5.76pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 24.0pt;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 100%; mso-color-index: 4; mso-special-format: bullet;">•</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">All
</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">media
is </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">permanent</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">
(photos, videos, </span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">messages,
posts, etc.)!</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 5.76pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">All
your online </span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">information
is available to the public.</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 5.76pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">If
you don’t want people to know something about your life then don’t do it
online!</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.5in;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.5in;">Even
though you may feel </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-indent: -0.5in;">invisible</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.5in;">
when online, everything you do is visible – it’s like living in a glass house.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 100%; mso-color-index: 4; mso-special-format: bullet;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 20pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 100%; mso-color-index: 4; mso-special-format: bullet;">*</span></span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Talking with your parents is the key
to online safe</span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-weight: bold;">ty</span></span><br />
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 4.8pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">Don’t
</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">hide
</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">your
</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">feelings
about what happens online.</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 4.8pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">When
you are confused, always ask questions!</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 4.8pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Stay away from “adults only” areas of
the Internet!</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 4.8pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">Tell
your parents about </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">anything</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">
that makes you feel uncomfortable</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">!</span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-top: 4.8pt; text-indent: -0.5in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #31b6fd; font-family: Arial;">•</span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">Most
harm that is done to children online can be </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">prevented </span><span style="color: #073e87; font-family: 'Frutiger 55 Roman';">by
talking to a trusted adult.</span></span></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-9701741768516278662014-05-13T11:29:00.000-07:002014-05-13T11:29:02.806-07:00Policy statement: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)The AAP is finally getting on board with the crucial need to integrate a media consumption assessment for all children at every well-child visit! Pediatricians are encouraged to take media history and ask two media questions at every well-child visit: 1) How much recreational screen time does your child or teenager consume daily? 2) Is there a television set or Internet-connected device in the child's bedroom? Parents are now encouraged to establish a family home use for all media. The policy statement also includes the following; "Media influences on children and teenagers should be recognized by schools, policymakers, product advertisers, and entertainment producers." This marks the first time that the AAP has fully acknowledged that media, including cell phones, iPads, and social media, are a dominant force in children's lives.The AAP states that is concerned by evidence about potential harmful effects of media messages and images. Finally some movement in the right direction!Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-69964957208728607352014-05-09T08:56:00.005-07:002014-05-09T08:56:38.522-07:00Online Child Pornography Offenders are Different<h1 style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 1.231em; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0.375em 0px;">
Online Child Pornography Offenders are Different: A Meta-analysis of the Characteristics of Online and Offline Sex Offenders Against Children.</h1>
<div class="auths" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 0.923em;">
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Babchishin%20KM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=24627189" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; color: #660066;">Babchishin KM</a><span style="font-size: 0.8461em; line-height: 1.6363em; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1</span>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hanson%20RK%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=24627189" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; color: #660066;">Hanson RK</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Vanzuylen%20H%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=24627189" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; color: #660066;">Vanzuylen H</a>.</div>
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<a aria-disabled="false" aria-expanded="false" class="jig-ncbitoggler ui-widget ui-ncbitoggler" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24627189#" role="button" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; color: #660066; display: block; font-family: arial, sans-serif !important; outline: none; padding-left: 16px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Open/close author information list"><span class="ui-ncbitoggler-master-text">Author information</span><span class="ui-icon ui-icon-triangle-1-e" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/3982719/img/3974597); background-position: 0px -21px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border: none; display: inline; height: 16px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-indent: -99999px; top: 0px; width: 16px;"></span></a></h3>
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<h3 style="color: #985735; display: inline; font-size: 1.0769em; line-height: 1.2857; margin: 0px;">
Abstract</h3>
<div class="">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;">
The current meta-analysis compared the characteristics of online child pornography-only offenders, typical (offline) sex offenders against children, and offenders with both child pornography and contact sex offences against children (mixed). Based on 30 unique samples (comparison ns ranging from 98 to 2,702), the meta-analysis found key differences between groups. Offenders who committed contact sex offences were more likely to have access to children than those with only child pornography offences. In contrast, offenders who used the internet to commit sexual offences had greater access to the internet than those with contact sex offenders. Differences between the groups, however, were not limited to differential opportunities. Sex offenders against children and mixed offenders were found to score higher on indicators of antisociality than online child pornography offenders (CPOs). CPOs were also more likely to have psychological barriers to sexual offending than sex offenders against children and mixed offenders (e.g., greater victim empathy). Mixed offenders were found to be the most pedophilic, even more than CPOs. The findings suggest that offenders who restricted their offending behavior to online child pornography offences were different from mixed offenders and offline sex offenders against children, and that mixed offenders were a particularly high risk group.</div>
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<dt style="display: inline; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">PMID:</dt>
<dd style="display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">24627189</dd> <dd style="display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]</dd></dl>
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Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-76641953356526520082014-05-06T11:10:00.001-07:002014-05-06T11:10:03.123-07:00The Dopamine Hook: Why the Net and Gaming Are AddictiveThe word <b><i>addiction</i></b> is derived from a Latin term for "enslaved by" or "bound to." Anyone who has struggled to overcome an addiction -- or has attempted to help someone else to do so -- certainly understands what these terms really mean.<br />
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Addiction, unfortunately exerts a long and powerful influence on the brain that manifests in three ways: craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing engagement with it despsite significant negative consequences.<br />
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For decades, medical experts believed that only alcohol and certain drugs could cause addiction. Neuroimaging technologies and more recent research, however, have clearly shown that certain pleasurable activities or behavioral processes, such as gambling, shopping, and sex, can also co-opt the brain.<br />
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The brain registers all pleasures in the same way, whether they originate with a drug, a monetary reward, a sexual encounter, or even a satisfying meal. In the brain, pleasure has a distinct neurochemical signature: the release of the neurotransmitter <b><i>dopamine</i></b> in the nucleus accubens, a cluster of nerve cells lying underneath the cerebral cortex.<br />
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Dopamine release in this nucleus is so consistently tied with pleasure that neuroscientists refer to this region as the brain's pleasure center. All drugs associated with abuse, from nicotine to heroin, cause a particularly powerful surge of dopamine. The likelihood that the use of the drug or participation in a rewarding activity will lead to addiction is directly linked to the <b><i>speed </i></b>with which it promotes dopamine release, the <b><i>intensity </i></b>of that release, and the <b><i>reliability</i></b> of that release.<br />
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As it turns out, interaction with the Internet and video gaming <b><i>quickly </i></b>stimulates the pleasure center in the brain, causing a release of dopamine that is both <i style="font-weight: bold;">intense and reliable. </i>This new information helps us understand why the Internet and gaming are so difficult to control and why children, teens, and adults experience intense cravings, tolerance, and ongoing engagement despite negative consequences.<br />
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Once the dopamine hook is in place it is extraordinarily difficult to modify behavior and it is crucially important that the person who is experiencing addiction to the Internet or video gaming go through a sustained period of being unplugged or detoxing. Without a sustained break from the dopamine surges there is no way to learn new behaviors that can produce pleasure. In my next blog. I will discuss how it is possible to retrain the pleasure center in the brain to release dopamine when it is stimulated by healthy, life-affirming, off-line activities.<br />
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<br />Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-56358334506157378352014-04-27T17:35:00.000-07:002014-04-27T17:35:11.557-07:00Teen Internet AddictionI was invited to speak on teen internet addiction by The Asian and Pacific Islander Children, Youth and Family Council in Chinatown. My presentation focused comparing and contrasting the terms "process addiction" and "substance addiction." My discussion described the neurobiology of process addictions in teens and then highlighted at risk populations:" ADHD, Autism, Depression, and Social Anxiety Disorder. If you would like a copy of my power point, please email me at cyberrecovery@gmail.com. I will also post a copy of my power point on my website: www.teenvideogameaddiction.com.Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-56473124973116293642014-03-24T10:58:00.003-07:002014-03-24T10:58:59.053-07:00Early Screening and Early Intervention for Technology OveruseIn my last blog I discussed the need to conduct early technology screenings and the need for early intervention - by "early" I am referring to preschool and elementary school. Due to the proliferation of tech devices young children are saturated with digital media which creates change resistant patterns of technology consumption.<br />
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The key is for parents to carefully regulate technology use in order to prevent change resistant patterns from emerging. How much time should children be using technology?<br />
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0 to 2 years NONE<br />
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3 to 5 years 1 hour per day of non violent TV/DVD (no handheld devices or video games!)<br />
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6 to 9 years 2 hours per day of total screen time (non violent TV/DVD and non violent video games such as Wii Sports or Resorts - no handheld devices of any kind!).<br />
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9 to 12 years 2 hours per day of total screen time (non violent TV/DVD 60 minutes, non violent video games 30 minutes, handheld devices 30 minutes).<br />
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13 to 18 years 2 hour per day of total screen time (non violent TV/DVD 30 minutes, non-violent video game, violent video games 30 minutes, hand devices 30 minutes).<br />
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No technology in bedrooms!<br />
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Rule of screen time use: for every one hour of screen time your child/teen must engage in 2 hours of physical activity.<br />
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In my next blog I will discuss 5 ways to successfully unplug children and teens from technology with the aim of maintaining a balance between offline life on cyber life.<br />
<br />Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-14011253207446692942014-03-03T09:54:00.001-08:002014-03-03T09:54:03.522-08:00The Importance of Early Screening for Technology OveruseIt is a common place occurrence in my practice to receive a phone call from a parent describing a teen -- usually a son -- who is in a video game addiction free fall: failing grades, social withdrawal, weight gain or weight loss, sleep deprivation, depression and anger when unplugged from gaming, and ever increasing preoccupation with gaming.<br />
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The first question I ask is "What have you tried to decrease you son's gaming?" In many cases the parent has tried many different strategies, including removing computers and tablets, gaming consoles and even unplugging wifi. Many parents have imposed restrictions on the amount of time and many have tied their son's grade point average to access to gaming. In short, most parents have made a good faith effort and, yet, their son's gaming only seems to increase over time.<br />
<br />
When I ask how long their son has had a problem regulating gaming, the answer is typically 3 to 5 years. Parents often explain that their son was able to figure out a way to continue gaming, no matter what steps they took and no matter what barriers they put in place.<br />
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I explain that all is not lost - that we can work together to figure out a new way to decrease gaming and thereby restore balance between technology use and engagement in 3D reality. I also explain that changing gaming habits/patterns is a difficult process and requires time and focus and energy -- especially when the teen is fully opposed to change.<br />
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Parents often express frustration with the fact that no one gave them any warning or raised the issue of technology overuse or addiction. I then explain that in an ideal world there would have been some form of technology use screening early in their son's life so that they, as parents, could have put in place a structure or system that would have addressed the need for balance.<br />
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Unfortunately, with the possible exception of a pediatrician asking about screen time, very young children are consuming vast quantities of digital media and are developing what looks very much like a form of addiction to technology.<br />
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The key piece that is missing is early screening and early intervention. We need to treat digital media or "screen time" as a public health problem and put in place routine screenings - as we do with food and physical activity in order to prevent childhood obesity. As a society we need to understand that children are now growing up in a media saturated world that badly needs limits and structure in order to help prevent all forms of technology overuse and addiction.<br />
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If we can screen and intervene with a child rather than a teen, we stand a far greater chance of preventing the negative impact of technology overuse on development and mental health. Who would be responsible for this screening process: parents, pediatricians, mental health professionals, and educators.What is currently missing is information on the screening process. In my next blog I will review how to screen and intervene with children. In the meantime, go to my website and complete my technology screening test. This test will give a clear picture.of your son's current use and the need to intervene.<br />
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<br />Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-47130085419719099082014-02-12T09:35:00.002-08:002014-02-12T09:35:10.409-08:00American Academy of Pediatrics: Pediatricians weigh in on screen time!<h1 style="border: 0px; color: #01589b; font-family: Museo-300, Times, serif; font-size: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Media and Children</h1>
<span class="date" style="border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">Media is everywhere. TV, Internet, computer and video games all vie for our children's attention. Information on this page can help parents understand the impact media has in our children's lives, while offering tips on managing time spent with various media. The AAP has recommendations for parents and pediatricians.</span><br />
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Today's children are spending an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media, including televisions, computers, phones and other electronic devices. To help kids make wise media choices, parents should monitor their media diet. Parents can make use of established ratings systems for shows, movies and games to avoid inappropriate content, such as violence, explicit sexual content or glorified tobacco and alcohol use.</div>
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Studies have shown that excessive media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep and eating disorders, and obesity. In addition, the Internet and cell phones can provide platforms for illicit and risky behaviors.</div>
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By limiting screen time and offering educational media and non-electronic formats such as books, newspapers and board games, and watching television with their children, parents can help guide their children's media experience. Putting questionable content into context and teaching kids about advertising contributes to their media literacy.</div>
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The AAP recommends that parents establish "screen-free" zones at home by making sure there are no televisions, computers or video games in children's bedrooms, and by turning off the TV during dinner. Children and teens should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day, and that should be high-quality content. It is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies, and using their imaginations in free play.</div>
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Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2. A child's brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; color: #01589b; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Additional Resources</strong></div>
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<li style="background-image: url(http://www.aap.org/_layouts/AAP/img/bg_list_bullet.png); background-position: 0% 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://safetynet.aap.org/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #607890; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Helping kids to be safe online - SafetyNet.org </a></span></li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://www.aap.org/_layouts/AAP/img/bg_list_bullet.png); background-position: 0% 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Documents/MediaHistoryForm.pdf" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #607890; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AAP Media History Form</a></span></li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://www.aap.org/_layouts/AAP/img/bg_list_bullet.png); background-position: 0% 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.healthychildren.org/English/news/Pages/Talking-to-Kids-and-Tweens-About-Social-Media-and-Sexting.aspx" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #607890; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Talking to Kids and Teens About Social Media and Sexting</a></span></li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://www.aap.org/_layouts/AAP/img/bg_list_bullet.png); background-position: 0% 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/aap-press-room-media-center/Pages/Media-Kit-Children-and-Media.aspx" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #607890; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AAP Press Room: Media Issue Kit</a></span></li>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">- See more at: http://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/pages/media-and-children.aspx#sthash.TTpAzGj2.dpuf</span>Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-73773431830295178492014-02-10T08:19:00.001-08:002014-02-10T08:31:42.914-08:00Teen Depression and Internet and Video Game Use<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
The article below was written by John Grohol PSY.D for PsychCentral.</div>
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When you show a correlation between two things, you can’t say which way the relationship goes. Do people carrying umbrellas on a city street cause it to rain? Or does the rain cause people to carry their umbrellas?</div>
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We know the answer to this question, only because we know the relationship between rain and umbrellas — the rain came first, and then someone invented the umbrella.</div>
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So it is surprising to read that an NPR news story recently noted, “More Time Online Raise Risk For Teen <a href="http://psychcentral.com/disorders/depression/" style="color: #006688;" title="Depression">Depression</a>.” The only problem with that headline?</div>
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It’s not true.</div>
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The research they quote is from the journal <em>World Psychiatry</em>, and the European researchers examined 12,395 teenagers from eleven different European countries. They measured a bunch of at-risk behaviors, such as excessive alcohol use, illegal drug use, heavy smoking and being overweight.</div>
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They also measured behaviors we don’t typically associate with being “at-risk” for anything — sedentary behavior, reduced <a href="http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sleep/" style="color: #006688;" title="sleep">sleep</a> and high media use. Media use included all use of a TV, the Internet and playing video games.</div>
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How researchers define the problem often pre-determines their result. In this case, the researchers defined “high media use” as anything over 5 hours per day. And they found that there’s a group of teens — an “invisible” group — that meet this definition of high media use and report increased psychiatric symptoms.</div>
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The problem with that arbitrary<sup><a class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/08/depressed-teens-like-to-use-the-internet-play-video-games/#footnote_0_55033" id="identifier_0_55033" style="color: #006688;" title="I say “arbitrary” because no rationale was given for it in the study">1</a></sup> number? It doesn’t reflect the reality of teenage media use today. For instance, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/postlive/teens-are-spending-more-time-consuming-media-on-mobile-devices/2013/03/12/309bb242-8689-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html" style="color: #006688;" target="_blank">this study from 2010 found</a> that, in the U.S. anyway, teens are now spending on <strong>average 7.5 hours/day on media.</strong></div>
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If something is average or the norm, it can’t also be defined as “high” media use. And the 2010 study was from 4 years ago — I can imagine it’s only higher now.<sup><a class="footnote-link footnote-identifier-link" href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/08/depressed-teens-like-to-use-the-internet-play-video-games/#footnote_1_55033" id="identifier_1_55033" style="color: #006688;" title="It’s hypothetically possible that European teen media use is significantly lower than the U.S.’s, but I couldn’t find any data to support that contention.">2</a> </sup>So the cutoff is both arbitrary and <em>just plain wrong.</em></div>
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But the researchers didn’t measure whether the teens were depressed before they spent more time online, so the researchers had no way of telling which came first. Is a teen depressed and then turns more to the online world for support, friends, distraction, and emotional engagement? Or do people who spend enormous amounts of time online get more depressed?<br />
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The act of spending more time online doesn’t raise the risk of depression in a teenager. That’s not what the study found or said. Instead, it merely showed that if your teen is spending a lot of time online, playing video games, or watching TV, these may be signs that teen is suffering from some depressive symptoms. I know those two things sound very similar, but they’re not the same.</div>
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Going back to the umbrella example, if you see people outside walking down the street with an umbrella, you don’t think, “Oh wow, they must be trying to make it rain.” Instead, you just know that the umbrella is associated with rain, and yes, it may be raining outside. Or it may not be — carrying an umbrella has no impact on the weather.</div>
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These are subtle but important distinctions, and I certainly hope the news team at NPR understand them if they’re going to <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/06/272441146/less-sleep-more-time-online-amp-up-teen-depression-risk" style="color: #006688;" target="_blank">write about this kind of psychological research</a>.</div>
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Otherwise, parents who just scan the headlines will just nod their head and say, “Oh, look, another study shows the more time a teen spends online, the more depressed they become.”</div>
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<strong>Reference</strong></div>
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Carli, V. et al. (2014) . <a href="http://www.wpanet.org/uploads/Publications/WPA_Journals/World_Psychiatry/Past_Issues/English/World%20Psychiatry_February%202014.pdf" style="color: #006688;" target="_blank">A newly identified group of adolescents at “invisible” risk for psychopathology and suicidal behavior: findings from the SEYLE study</a>. <em>World Psychiatry.</em></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em;"><strong>Footnotes:</strong></span><br />
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<li class="footnote" id="footnote_0_55033" style="list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I say “arbitrary” because no rationale was given for it in the study [<a class="footnote-link footnote-back-link" href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/08/depressed-teens-like-to-use-the-internet-play-video-games/#identifier_0_55033" style="color: #006688;">↩</a>]</li>
<li class="footnote" id="footnote_1_55033" style="list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It’s hypothetically possible that European teen media use is significantly lower than the U.S.’s, but I couldn’t find any data to support that contention. [<a class="footnote-link footnote-back-link" href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/08/depressed-teens-like-to-use-the-internet-play-video-games/#identifier_1_55033" style="color: #006688;">↩</a>]</li>
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Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-7449254054429884562014-02-07T14:33:00.001-08:002014-02-07T14:39:35.042-08:00The Impact of The Internet on Adolescent Mental HealthDear Readers,<br />
<br />
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of presenting at conference in Los Angeles entitled "Navigating the Teenage Brain" where Dr. Daniel Siegel was the keynote speaker. My presentation focused on the impact of the internet on adolescent mental health. My presentation covered current research on how the internet is influencing both developmental and psychiatric disorders in teens. I have uploaded my power point to my www.teenvideogameaddiction website. Go to the "Products" page and you will see my power point under the title: <b><u>The Impact of the Internet on Adolescent Mental Health. </u></b>Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-11274803307308401762014-01-18T10:03:00.003-08:002014-01-18T10:03:38.621-08:00Cyber Lecture for Educators<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt;">Cyber Addiction
Recovery Center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">CHRISTOPHER
MULLIGAN LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">"<i>Empowering Educators in an Evolving Media
Landscape"<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
presentation addresses the rapidly evolving changes in media and technology
that confront educators as they proceed into the 21st century. Students are now
presented with opportunities, challenges, and risks related to the evolving
media landscape that can be difficult for educators to understand and
successfully navigate.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
presentation will engage educators in an in-depth discussion of current media
and technological advances and challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
presentation will cover the following topics:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Technology overuse and adolescent mental health<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Risky behaviors and online safety<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Privacy, publicity, and reputation<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Information dissemination: youth-created content
and quality of information<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Benefits of electronic media for youth <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Risks of electronic media for youth<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Peer-two-peer harm on the Internet<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Problematic content on the Internet<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Effectiveness of content control technologies
and protective strategies on the Internet<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">This presentation can be
scheduled for a teacher in-service or retreat. This presentation can be
scheduled for 2, 3, or 4 hours (depending on the needs and time constraints of
the audience)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">For more information
contact Christopher Mulligan: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">310/287-1640<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Or e-mail cyberrecovery@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Cambria","serif";">www.teenvideogameaddiction.com<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-13774739245787806462014-01-16T12:58:00.004-08:002014-01-16T12:58:39.514-08:00The 5 C's for for safe media consumption<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Center
for Media and Child Health at Harvard recommends the 5</span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> C's
for shaping media's influence on your child or teen:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Control time</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">: No more that 1 to 2 hours per day (max).<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Content matters:</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">All media is educational. Some forms of media teach
accurate and healthy lessons while others teach distorted and harmful lessons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<b>Context is important:</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Where,
when, how, why and WITH WHOM young people use media strongly influences whether
the media enriches or harms children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<b>Critical thinking:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Teaching
children active, critical media use is essential for healthy development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<b>Create and model media mastery:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>What
we feed children's minds is as important as what we feed their bodies. Teach
children a healthy media diet and continually engage in a discussion about
media rather than passively consuming media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-1140974743454028132013-12-02T13:39:00.002-08:002013-12-02T13:39:37.887-08:00Parent Seminar: Autism and Technology<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -.25in; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Toxic Relationship: Technology and Autism<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -.25in; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Parent
Education Seminar<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -.25in; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christopher
Mulligan LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -.25in; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Relationship Between Technology and Autism<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is widely held computer literacy skills are
critically important for children, teens, and young adults diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder (hereafter ASD). Parents of young children are
informed by a wide variety of autism specialists that school achievement and achievement
in the 21st century workplace is dependent upon mastering computer skills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although it is undeniable 21st century education and
employment requires some degree of competency in computer literacy, the
importance of computer literacy in the lives of autistic children and teens has
been vastly overstated. More importantly, the negative impact on cognitive, emotional,
social development associated with the use of computers (and technology in
general) is vastly understated or ignored altogether within the community of
autism specialists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
Technology is Toxic for the ASD Brain<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">International research examining the relationship
between technology and autism is showing that the enormous amounts of attention
consumed through engagement with technology --
whether it be computer database searches, Facebook, watching YouTube
videos, or video gaming – blocks the brain’s capacity to develop new mental
processes which, in turn, exacerbates the core deficits of ASD: <b><i>innovating,
improvising, reflecting, anticipating, evaluating fuzzy logic, synthesizing
contextual processing,</i></b> <b><i>insight, and empathy.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While some technologies promote
higher level thinking, the majority of technology used by children and teens
with ASD impedes cognitive and social development. Studies have shown that
early exposure to TV, DVD/videos, video gaming, and the internet result in the
brain “pruning” connections in the frontal cortex of the brain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ASD child’s brain develops
increasingly complex and sophisticated mental processes <b><i>in relationship to the
environment and how they spend their time.</i></b> If a child with ASD is
repetitively exposed to the intense stimulation of technology, their brain
efficiently “short circuits” or “prunes” neural connections in the frontal
cortex of the brain <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Exposure to technology can result in
the loss of executive functioning, impulse control, and critical thinking -- three
necessary elements for learning. Technology exposure also results in the loss
of imagination and creativity, two mental processes necessary for learning and
integral for eventual success and survival in increasingly competitive work
environments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Termed “The Learning Paradox,” early
use of technology by ASD children actually serves to increase deficits in joint
attention, thereby decreasing the ability to be successful learners in
adulthood. Research is also showing that early exposure to technology changes
brain structure, chemistry, and function in areas associated with addiction.
The younger the child is, and the more intense the exposure to technology, the
more prone that child will be to addiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Research in the United States and Europe has found
that youth with ASD are likely to prefer computer mediated communication over
face-to-face communication due to the reduced complexity of screen-based social
interaction. The absence of nonverbal communication simplifies the amount of
information required to communicate. <b><i>Unfortunately, youth with ASD show a much
higher risk of developing compulsive Internet use than youth without ASD and
report higher rates of loneliness and depression.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The correlation between computer and videogame use
and depression is documented in multiple research studies in United States,
Western Europe, Korea, and China. Although it is unclear whether compulsive use
of the computer and/or video gaming produces depression or individuals
suffering from depression are more likely to engage in compulsive use of the
computer and/or video gaming, it is clear that there is a strong relationship
between increased levels of depression and compulsive use of technology. At the
very least, technology does not improve the mood and overall social functioning
of teens with ASD and very likely exacerbates an underlying vulnerability to depression
and loneliness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Parents and educators who think that
early exposure to technology is necessary for eventual success in our technological
world need to take an informed and critical look at the real cost of exposure
to technology. This seminar will review current research on the relationship
between autism and technology and provide parents with a skills and strategies
to protect their children from toxic exposure to technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For more information on this seminar contact Christopher
Mulligan LCSW at 310-2871640.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-27951679713186065242013-11-11T14:18:00.001-08:002013-11-11T14:18:34.186-08:00The Loss of Self-Reflection in a Networked Life<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Loss of
Self-Reflection in a Networked Life<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I can
vividly recall lying in my bed at night, during middle school, thinking through
the events of the day, scrolling through images and pieces of conversations. I
recall enjoying this time alone, in the dark. I recall thinking, contemplating,
remembering up until the point I drifted off into sleep. There was something
deeply relaxing and fulfilling about this private time. It was in the quiet of
the night that I could consider ideas, question feelings, let loose fantasies
in complete privacy. I had the opportunity to work out and work through embarrassing
encounters with friends, confusion about my feelings, wonder about a possible
romantic partner, or fantasize about playing alongside Jerry West, wearing
Laker purple and gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For many 21<sup>st</sup>
century teens, the quiet of lying in bed is interrupted by the sound of a text
coming through their smart phone or the sound of an instant message arriving on
their laptop or desktop. Today's youth are “networked “at all times of the day
and night. Many teens experience fear, even panic, if they are separated from their
web of contacts/friends within their smart phone, Facebook page, or e-mail
list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The constant
opportunity for communication seems to have the unfortunate consequence of
decreasing opportunities to be alone and, in the experience of being alone, the
expansion of self-awareness. The process of being in a contemplative state, a
focused state of personal reflection about one's identity, is diminished by
always being tethered electronically to one's peer group (and or family). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is the
expectation of today's youth (and adults, for that matter) they will be able to
reach peers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The expectation of
connection seems to have created an aversion to being alone, simply because
being alone is so unfamiliar. Rather than see periods of quiet as opportunities
for recharging, contemplation and reflection, quiet is experienced as alien
and, because it is alien, as uncertain and frightening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In William
Deresiewicz’s essay “<b><i>The End of Solitude</i></b>,” he writes: “So
we live exclusively in relation to others, and what disappears from our lives
is solitude. Technology is taking away our privacy and our concentration, but
it is also taking away our ability to be alone.” He goes on to say: “Young people today seem
to have no desire for solitude, have never heard of it, can't imagine why it
would be worth having. In fact, their use of technology -- or, to be fair, our
use of technology -- seems to involve a constant effort to stave off the
possibility of solitude, a continuous attempt, as we sit alone at our
computers, to maintain the imaginative presence of others.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
implication of this essay is the more teens try to keep aloneness at a distance,
the less they will be able to deal with being alone and the more terrifying
aloneness will become. Because of this fear the “I generation” may lose the
ability to be still or idle and, therefore, the capacity for solitude. And if
solitude is gone, what exactly does this loss involve? What is at stake? Well,
the ability for introspection, the capacity to examine the self, to discover
hidden or nascent parts of the self. Deresiewicz writes: “But no real
excellence, personal or social, artistic, philosophical, scientific or moral,
can arise without solitude.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Sherry
Turkle points out in her book <b><i><u>Alone Together</u></i></b>, in addition
to the fear of being alone and the loss of the opportunity for contemplation,
when today's youth experience an uncomfortable feeling, they can fire off multiple
texts immediately to gain support and validation. According to Turkle, the teen
of today has little time or patience to sift or sort through their feelings. As
feelings emerge, their first response is to reach out and share the feeling,
achieving clarification and validation through a peers’ “texted” response. Turkle
says one can make the case that for today's youth a feeling isn't truly “real”
until it is communicated – which means texted or posted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
important dimension of today's youth is the messages that are sent via text or Facebook,
must be brief and tailored for the consumption of an audience -- not for one' private consumption or process of
reflection. Through this type of writing, it seems fair to suggest the self is
reduced and diminished. Whenever teens begin to write, they “size up” their
thoughts in terms length of “text” or “post” and public perception. They do not
have the luxury of time to first rehearse what they want to say, to investigate
their own private ideas and feelings, precisely because technology requires
immediate, synchronous, communication. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The “always
on” and constantly networked youth has little need or capacity to contemplate
their lives because they are never truly alone. And, when they do express
themselves, they are focused on tailoring and revising their thoughts with an
audience in mind. The reality is, this type of communication decreases and,
perhaps erodes, the circuitry in the brain responsible for self-reflection and
contemplation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It has been
noted by Gary Small, M.D., that the high-tech revolution places teens in what
he calls a “state of continuous partial attention.” This means teens are
constantly keeping tabs on multiple activities without fully focusing on any
one subject/activity/person at a time. Small says continuous partial attention ultimately
places teens’ brains in a heightened state of stress, precisely because they do
not have the time to reflect, contemplate, or make thoughtful decisions. They
exist in an “alert state,” always waiting for a new contact or new information
to come in through whatever technological device they are using.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Small argues
the teenager’s brain was not made to maintain this kind of connection for
extended periods. He warns that after endless hours of digital connectivity,
the brain begins to strain. In this stressed state, the brain secretes cortisol
and adrenaline, which can eventually lead to impaired cognition and altered
mood, such as depression. Small also suggests a much more disturbing
possibility: the fully networked brain may be permanently rewired, thus ending
the capacity for contemplation, reflection, solitary moments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I write
this blog, I am conscious of the obvious nostalgia, perhaps even romanticizing,
a time long gone by. Perhaps the networked teen will experience an evolution in
thinking and communication, rather than a regression or loss. Perhaps my
concern for the loss of time for quiet contemplation minimizes the
extraordinary opportunities for connection afforded through the technological
modes of communication. Perhaps so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But, I doubt
it. One of the most important tasks of adolescents and young adulthood is the
development of self-awareness. Self-awareness evolves through quiet moments of
contemplation. Self-awareness grows through confusion and uncertainty about
one's own thoughts, ideas, values, and feelings. If we can “text” a feeling
before we are clear about what feeling we are having, we are deprived of the
opportunity to deeply experience feelings, to turn them inside out, to connect
our feelings and life choices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, what is
the solution, if the networked teen is being deprived of the opportunity to
develop self-awareness? Should parents step in and require teens to turn off
their phones and computers? Should parents require teens to spend time
journaling, reading, drawing, or having face-to-face conversations? Assuming
parents did take on this responsibility, this mission to save the capacity for self-reflection
and self-awareness, would any teen listen? Probably not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Herein lies
a fundamental decision in parenting today's “networked” youth: should the
opportunity for deep reflection and contemplation be a requirement of family
life? And, if so, what would this mean? What would it look like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The 21st century,
technologically savvy and connected teen, needs stewardship and guidance from his/her
parent. Parents need to set firm and compassionate limits on access to
technology. Reading, drawing, journaling, travel, exercise, outings, and face-to-face
communication need to be priorities for the family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then the
questions arises: is today's “networked”
parent, who is very likely as engaged and as distracted by technology as their teen,
truly interested in preserving contemplation, reflection, self-awareness, and
above all moments of solitude and quiet? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sadly, it
may very well be that the power of multiple technological connections through
multiple types of media have overwhelmed parental priorities, and thus parents
do not have the time, the patience, the endurance, to fight the good<b> </b>fight<b>, </b>to hold onto the value of contemplation, self-reflection, and
above all, self-knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps the
best course of action is for parents to unplug from their network life a day or
two a week and, in so doing, invite their children into experiences of a contemplative,
interconnected, quiet life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I will give
it a try and get back to you… Via another blog, of course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christopher
Mulligan LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-7740061067923592872013-10-06T09:13:00.001-07:002013-10-06T09:18:40.535-07:00Ten to Seventeen Years Olds Getting Addicted to Cyber Porn<div class="w680" style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; width: 680px;">
<span class="introTxt" id="print_div" style="border: 0px none; font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"></span><br />
<div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Georgia, 'Trebuchet MS' !important; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
<span class="introTxt" id="print_div" style="border: 0px none; font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">Shocking facts have come up in the study of addiction of pornography in children. </span><br />
<span class="introTxt" style="border: 0px none; font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">According to the studies, children of age group 10-17 years are addicted to online</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">pornography.</span><span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> In-fact, approximately one-third children are exchanging</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">their nude pictures. The startling fact is that boys </span><a href="http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-survey-adult-movie-addiction-sexting-boys-begin-early-at-the-age-of-10-4394176-NOR.html#" id="_GPLITA_2" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=VVM6NDg5NTA6MTUxNzpzdGFydDo3ZTIxOGM2NjMxZmMxZjg3NGJlN2VmOTE2ZjgyMzYwOTp6LTEwMzItNjI4NjI6ZGFpbHkuYmhhc2thci5jb206MTAwMzk2OjBlZGRkNWQ4ZTRmNTZiYWI0N2Y4MzZhMjJmY2MyNzI4OjJmM2FkNmVjMjIyNDRiMzk4YTE5YWM2MmZmMTdhYzQ4" style="border: 0px none; color: rgb(41, 114, 177) !important; font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">start</a><span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> searching for porn material</span><span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">at the age of 10.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Bhaskar_WEB_Intro_Test; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
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Earlier, video and DVD’s were the source of porn, but now, in this tech savvy<br />
world, porn is easily available on the internet. According to the studies<br />
<a href="http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-survey-adult-movie-addiction-sexting-boys-begin-early-at-the-age-of-10-4394176-NOR.html#" id="_GPLITA_1" in_hdr="" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=VVM6MjcyNTY6MTMwNDppbiBtb250cmVhbCB1bml2ZXJzaXR5OjJiZmI2MTE2ZDhjNjA2MTU0ZWIxODUyZGMxOGZjNjA5OnotMTAzMi02Mjg2MjpkYWlseS5iaGFza2FyLmNvbToxOTIwNzo2NTEyYjQ4ODQ1M2ZmMjJlNThjMjdjM2Y5OThhNjk0MDpmMjRjMWVlM2UzMWE0YzRjYjQ3NjE0MDdkMzljZDg3MA" style="border: 0px none; color: rgb(41, 114, 177) !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">in Montreal University</a>, researchers have come across the fact that<br />
internet websites provide with 90% of porn material and only<br />
10% is shared by video stores.<br />
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As per Gizmodo, a technological blog, currently, there are thousand<br />
of websites with porn material. Such websites are 12% of the total websites.<br />
One can reach the porn sites by using some specific keywords for them.</div>
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Studies from Montreal University state that boys start searching<br />
for pornography at the age of 10.<br />
<br />
New Hampshire University conducted<br />
a survey on children of age group 10-17 years. According to <a href="http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-survey-adult-movie-addiction-sexting-boys-begin-early-at-the-age-of-10-4394176-NOR.html#" id="_GPLITA_0" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=VVM6MzE3MDg6MTg2MTp0aGUgc3VydmV5OjI1NWU3MTJkOTczOWY2MjExM2MxMjIxYjFlYWNhZjY1OnotMTAzMi02Mjg2MjpkYWlseS5iaGFza2FyLmNvbTo0Mzk2MDpiOGVlNjg3MWZmNzFlNzRmODkwNDdlNDFkMDEyMGRlNjo3ZDg2NGVlZGQ3OWQ0Njk3ODU2NDNkNTA0ODgwMjg1Yg" style="border: 0px none; color: rgb(41, 114, 177) !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" title="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">the survey</a>,<br />
42% of children committed that they have watched online porn<br />
in the past year where as 66% of them said that they don’t really need it.</div>
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The habit of making porn themselves is increasing in the youngsters.<br />
A study by medical branch of Texas University stated that 30% of<br />
American youngsters are exchanging nude pictures by e-mail and multimedia services.</div>
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</span></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-34964218781696334342013-09-22T09:56:00.000-07:002013-09-22T09:56:09.324-07:00Cyber Porn Addiction: My interview with Wendy Maltz LCSW<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s Wrong with Porn?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My interview with Wendy Maltz LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I recently had
the opportunity to interview Wendy Maltz LCSW, co-author (with her husband
Larry Maltz LCSW) of <b><i>The Porn Trap: The Essential Guide to
Overcoming Problems Caused by Pornography</i></b>, one of the most informative
and thought-provoking books I have read on the topic of pornography. Over the
past year, I have given considerable thought to creating a curriculum for teens
that would provide an open and honest appraisal of the risks and rewards or
cost and benefits of exposure to online or cyber pornography. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since 2005 I
have worked with adult sex addicts and through this work it is clear to me
cyber pornography creates more problems than any other behavior, including sex
with prostitutes, exhibitionism, voyeurism, and sex with multiple/anonymous
partners. Cyber pornography is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week
(home, work, or any place with Wi-Fi connection) and can be accessed without
any financial cost. When combined with compulsive masturbation, cyber pornography
can produce serious and long term problems in psychological, physical, and
spiritual well-being. As would follow, the relapse rate with cyber porn addicts
far exceeds the relapse rate related to any other sexually compulsive behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my
clinical work with adult cyber porn addicts a consistent story emerged:
exposure to pornography began as early as childhood and certainly by
adolescence. The vast majority of my clients said they believe their addiction
began with their <b><i>first exposure to pornography, particularly if that first exposure was
online.</i></b> The intensity and variety of online pornography provides a
degree of sexual stimulation that is simply impossible to match in any other
sexual context. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a result
of my work with adult sex addicts, it became clear to me that there should be
cyber porn education, prevention, and treatment for teens. With this topic in
mind, I asked Wendy Maltz how she would construct a sex education curriculum
for teens that specifically addressed cyber pornography. I began the interview
by asking Wendy what parents should do to help protect children from the
potential lifelong damage produced by cyber pornography. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy first
explained it is vitally important for parents to engage in an open and honest
conversation with children about the way sex is presented in the media. She
believes parents need to think about what type of sexual messages are being
endorsed within the media, which includes television, music, film, and online
pornography. Parents then need to talk to their children about what they are
seeing in order to create critical thinking skills. For Wendy the central
challenge for parents is to empower their children to take a critical stance
towards sexual content in media rather than become passive consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy
encourages parents to examine what type of sexual content (and stimulation) is
being introduced into their child's psychological and biological “systems,” in
the <b><i>same
way</i></b> they discuss eating habits, the use of drugs and alcohol, and
smoking. By beginning a process of sexual media education within the family at an <b>early age</b>, children can develop a
comfort level and sense of trust in talking about sexual behavior with their
parents, which is crucial for providing parental guidance. If both child and
parent feel unsure, anxious, and fearful about the discussion of healthy sexual
behavior, more than likely they will have great difficulty addressing the
complicated issues presented by cyber pornography. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I asked
Wendy what she would recommend parents regarding cyber porn specifically, she
said the message that needs to be related is that porn, although exciting and
entertaining, poses significant health risks. This conversation needs to happen
in a way where the parent is not shaming their teen for looking at porn or
attempting to provoke a guilt response. Parents need to explain, in a way that
avoids lecturing and moralizing, that the sex presented isn’t healthy sex. The
sex portrayed in pornography is distorted as it presents “good” sex as
impersonal, cut off from values and feelings, and removes relationship dynamics
and consequences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, the purpose of this conversation is inform and empower
so that teens will be make positive choices with respect to their “consumption”
of sexual content in the media and cyber pornography in particular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I then asked
whether she would recommend parents take the position of banning pornography
within the household. Wendy began by saying that although she appreciates there
are many different views of cyber pornography (e.g., it’s harmless fun, teens
are only curious, porn shows a variety of forms of sexuality, censorship is
wrong) and recognizes some teens can manage to engage with cyber porn without
significant negative consequences, she
would nonetheless recommend parents take the position that porn will not
be part of the family’s media diet-- <b><i>in
the same way that a parent would set a limit with respect to drug use, alcohol,
smoking, or overeating.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I then
turned our discussion to sex education for teens focusing on cyber pornography
(middle and high school settings). I posed the question “If given the
opportunity to speak to teens, what would you say about cyber pornography?
Would you recommend moderation? Abstinence?” In response to this question,
Wendy talked about her personal journey through pornography, which began with
the perception of pornography as a risk-free source of pleasure and
stimulation, to a positive influence on individuals and couples in the context
of sex therapy, to a concern about how pornography was affecting individuals
and couples, to the belief that pornography represents a true public health
risk. Wendy’s journey is described in detail in an article on her website (<b><i>Out
of the Shadows</i></b> on www.healthysex.com).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy
explained teens need to be made aware that cyber pornography can have a destructive
effect on the way their brains function that is very similar to the negative
impact of drugs such as crack cocaine. Consistent exposure to cyber
pornography, particularly when this exposure is combined with masturbation,
dramatically increases the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which
produces intense and sustained states of pleasure. The pursuit of this pleasurable/euphoric
state can shape a teens’ sexual preferences and choices in a way that can
permanently reduce (even eliminate) their capacity to experience healthy intimate
and passionate sex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy made
the important point that sex is a form of behavioral and emotional conditioning.
Every time we have sex certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are reinforced
by virtue of the pleasure or discomfort we experience during sex. Wendy
explained that an orgasm is perhaps the most powerful re-award/reinforcer that
exists in all of human experience. Wendy said teens need to understand that the
thoughts and feelings they have at the point of orgasm are reinforced and
ultimately become hardwired into their perception of sex -- which in turn shapes their sexual needs
and preferences. Hence, if a teen is looking at porn at the point of climax, it
is the images and messages of pornography that become part of the teen’s understanding
of what sex means. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy
believes that as a society we are going through a period of experimentation
with cyber pornography and this experiment has the potential to change our sexual
values and needs and thereby alter our capacity for healthy sex. As we were
concluding our, Wendy made the interesting and important observation that what
is available to children and teens on the Internet has the potential to produce
the type of trauma that we see in victims of sexual abuse. Wendy then wondered
whether our society will ever take active and decisive steps to protect youth
from online pornography, as we have with smoking and alcohol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After our
interview I began to think about how to frame a sex education for teens that
that would include the topic of cyber pornography when Wendy forwarded me an
outline of the type of content she would include in a cyber porn sex education
curriculum. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy's outline included the
following topics:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sex basics and realities (bodies,
brains, desires, functioning)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How sexual interest begins and is
developed and shaped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Defining healthy sex<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The role of sexual pleasure in mating,
bonding, love, self-esteem, and healthy communities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sexual rights (in contrast to sexual
exploitation)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gender similarities and differences
(what does it mean to “be a man” or “be a woman”?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sexual harm (what are harmful
influences and behaviors and why?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">8)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pornography (defining pornography;
traits of today's product; the effect of regular/heavy use on the brain; how porn
differs from other sexually explicit materials; how content is often
sexist/racist and becomes more violent/extreme; what pornography does not
show/teach; the benefits/rewards of looking at porn; risks related to looking
at porn; the lack of warning on pornography; the absence of informed consent
and regulation; similarities to sexual perpetration/abuse; trickery; peer
attitudes and pressure).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">9)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Making wise sexual choices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">10)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Understanding empathy and integrity
(impact of your sexuality on others)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">11)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How to create and maintain a healthy
sexual relationships<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">12)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How to build a healthy sex life (with
yourself)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">13)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How to develop skills of being a good
lover<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">14)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How to get help when needed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is
difficult to understand, 12 years in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, why the topic
of teen use of cyber pornography has not been incorporated into mainstream of sex
education at the middle and high school levels. The reasons for the absence of
this discussion in school settings is obviously complex and would invite debate
from many different groups, ranging from those who believe pornography is
morally reprehensible, to those who see pornography as a First Amendment issue,
to those who see pornography as a harmless form of sexual stimulation, to those
who have worked with sex addicts and see the potential damage of a relationship
with pornography. Notwithstanding the need to address the various concerns of
these groups, it seems more than reasonable for adults, particularly those who
are in a position to educate teens, to begin to at least take on the process of
developing a sex education curriculum that candidly addresses the types of
choices and experiences that teens have via the Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christopher
Mulligan LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-22083334338693752812013-09-22T09:44:00.000-07:002013-09-22T09:44:07.001-07:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt;">CYBER ADDICTION
RECOVERY CENTER <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">CHRISTOPHER
MULLIGAN LCSW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Internet and Video
Game Solutions<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cooper Black","serif"; font-size: 22.0pt;">Three hour parent
training session<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is your child/teen’s life controlled by the internet and electronic
entertainment?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is your child/teen showing signs of addiction<i> </i>to video gaming, the internet, texting,
email, or YouTube?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Signs of Internet and Electronic
Entertainment Addiction <o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen dedicate the vast majority of his recreational time to the
internet and electronic entertainment?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen organize his schedule around specific internet events, gaming,
or TV shows?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Are
your child/teen’s grades slipping? Is she failing to complete homework or hand
in assignments?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen refuse to leave the house because of his preoccupation with a
particular video game or internet activity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen talk compulsively about electronic entertainment, including
monologues about the minute details of a game or show?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen avoid any type of physical activity in favor of sitting in
front of a video/computer monitor ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen argue and complain whenever he is asked to turn off the
computer, TV, or gaming console? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">8.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen spend every weekend alone, playing video games, surfing the
internet and watching television?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">9.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen complain that all activities are boring and useless, except for
the internet and electronic entertainment? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">10.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen confuse internet acquaintances with true friends?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">11.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Does
your child/teen lack awareness of the amount of time he spends on electronic
entertainment?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">What Can You Do To Free
Your Child/Teen From the Internet and Electronic Entertainment Addiction? <span style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt;">Attend a 3
hour parent training session</span></b><b><u><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This session will teach
you to:<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-between: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; mso-padding-between: 1.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Understand how the
internet and video gaming can damage healthy brain development <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-between: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; mso-padding-between: 1.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Accurately measure your
child/teen’s degree of dependence on video gaming, internet surfing, social
media sites, texting, Youtube.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-between: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; mso-padding-between: 1.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Accurately determine the
affect of internet and video gaming on
your child/teen’s emotional, cognitive, and physical health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Establish new boundaries
and limits on the amount of time devoted to internet activities and electronic
entertainment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Teach your child/teen how
to cope with the emotions that trigger compulsive use of technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Help your child/teen develop
interests in interactive activities and outdoor activities (as an alternative
to indoor/solitary activities).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Help your child/teen
develop a social network of like-minded peers in order to decrease social
isolation<span style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Contact
Christopher Mulligan LCSW for more information.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">310/287-1640<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">cyberrecovery@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">www.teenvideogameaddiction.com<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693433688239406788.post-56648065072948960482013-09-19T14:01:00.003-07:002013-09-19T14:01:59.613-07:00Associated Press Reports Washington Gunman Obsessed with Violent Video Games<div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Friends of the gunman in the deadly shooting spree Monday at a Washington Navy Yard remember him as a nice guy with flashes of a temper and an obsession with violent video games. Aaron Alexis, the gunman who killed 12 in the rampage, was liked by neighbors, but he was known to immerse himself in violent video games for hours on end, one of his neighbors told <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130916-navy-yard-shooter-faced-gun-charges-in-fort-worth-seattle.ece" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the Dallas Morning News.</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div>
<div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Nutpisit Suthamtewakul, the owner of the Happy Bowl Thai restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, recalled Alexis as skilled at these games. Alexis would play marathon sessions for hours, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/09/16/friend-aaron-alexis-skilled-at-shooter-videogames/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal reported</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />. Another friend said that Alexis would play first-person shooting games online. These games would be so time consuming, that friends would bring Alexis food during these binges.</div>
<div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<dl class="related-mod aside-block" style="border-style: solid none none; border-top-color: rgb(187, 0, 0); border-width: 2px 0px 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 197px;">
<dt style="border: 0px none; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">SUMMARY</dt>
<div style="border: 0px none; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Editor's Note: This is Part Four in a series exploring the connection between video games and violence.</i></div>
<div style="border: 0px none; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/09/12/training-simulation-mass-killers-often-share-obsession-with-violent-video-games/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">Part One: 'Training simulation:</a>'</b>Mass killers often share obsession with violent video games</div>
<div style="border: 0px none; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/09/13/with-today-ultraviolent-video-games-how-real-is-too-real/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">Part Two: 'Frag him:</a>'</b> With today's ultraviolent video games, how real is too real?</div>
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<b style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/09/14/ultraviolent-video-games-different-ultraviolent-films/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">Part Three: 'Watch this:</a>'</b> How ultraviolent games and films different</div>
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<b style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Part Four: Case Study: </b>Has 'Grand Theft Auto' grown up?</div>
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While some neighbors and acquaintances described him as "nice," his father once told detectives in Seattle that his son had anger management problems related to post-traumatic stress brought on by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He also complained about the Navy and being a victim of discrimination.</div>
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Several other mass killers, including Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, have been linked to violent video games. And some experts worry that as the games get more violent and more realistic, so does their power to blur the line between fantasy and reality in alienated gamers.</div>
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“More than any other media, these video games encourage active participation in violence," Bruce Bartholow, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri, who has studied the issue, told Fox News earlier this month. “From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior. Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence.”</div>
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<i style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Associated Press contributed to this report</i></div>
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Christopher Mulligan LCSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13333078859642336212noreply@blogger.com0