ADVICE | BEING HUMAN | SELF DEVELOPMENT
How To End Screen Time Peacefully
Easy to follow steps by psychotherapist Isabelle Filliozat
“Three things are needed to solve any issue: education, education, education.” — Tarja Halonen
Addiction
Being focused on our screens. We have all been there. Actually you are here right now.
I wanted to share this advice immediately after learning about it. I consider the following approach essential to our modern screen society, as should you.
I’m not a big supporter of should, but this one is a must-should.
Ok, the expectations are high now. Would you be upset if for some reason you couldn’t read further? Should your phone or any other screen suddenly “go dead” on you.
Let’s face it, we are all addicted, some more than others. We are slaves to our subconscious baggage of hunter-gatherer times. Curious beings that is.
High on dopamine
Our brain feels good when the screen is ON, and it doesn’t appreciate a quick change of things. So what happens to the brain when the screen suddenly turns OFF?
Well, when the screen is ON, our brain produces dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that relieves stress and pain. And in that sweet moment of relief, being fully focused, your battery dies…
Brain screams: “What the….”
Yes, that uncomfortable feeling might or might not involve some cursing. Your brain communicates that sudden drop of dopamine levels in the body as a sensation of pain.
“Behind every beautiful thing, there’s some kind of pain.” — Bob Dylan
Our most sensitive group
For our dear children, sudden switch like that turns the sweet screen time to an ugly scream time.
Solution? A timely warning maybe?
Not really, because turning off the screen after warning time is over will be still sudden and hurtful. Nobody even heard the warning.
Isabelle Filliozat suggests join the party instead.
Isabelle is a French psychotherapist, writer, lecturer, and trainer. She has written 35 books, one of them being “Understanding Children’s Emotions”.
She advises the person responsible for the child to get into the subject displayed on the screen. Then asking questions about it. Getting a reply means the person behind the screen is coming back to reality. Now it’s time to start talking about the topic of the hour.
Does that make sense to you?
I was literally blown away when I read these lines of advice. I had witnessed too many wrong approaches dealing with these daily situations, including my own.
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” — Randy Pausch
Recap
- Join in with your screentimer and get acquainted with the subject
- Ask a question about what is displayed on the screen
- Wait for the reply, making sure there is a re-connection with the reality
- Start talking about the topic of your choice
Try it. It works like a charm, as it suppose to. Thank you, Isabelle.
A humble thank you for reading. Kind Greetings, Chowa.
Sources: 1. https://www.mother.ly/child/how-to-turn-off-screen-time 2. https://www.filliozat.net/english/ 3. https://www.amazon.com 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/
Places to follow my thoughts: Twitter, YouTube, Quora, Medium, Instagram.
If you liked this, you will probably like… wait, I haven’t written something like this before, but you can still buy me a coffee :)