Category: Media

Talk with Your Kids After Watching the New Inside Out Movie

6/23/2015

While I am not one for promoting movies, I have to tell you that I watched Inside Out at the theater over the weekend and was pleased to see a movie free of violence that introduces children to the important role that emotions play in our lives. Those of you who watched understand that the movie goes beyond an introduction to primary emotions and illustrates the influence of thoughts, experiences, and emotions on behavior. Children and teens often have the belief that only positive emotions are acceptable, when all emotions play an important role in shaping experiences and getting our needs met. As with most media content, I suggest you help your children process what they are seeing. If you watched this movie with your children, I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with your kids and discuss their perception.

Here a few discussion questions you could use with your children after viewing the movie:

Which of the emotion characters do you think plays the biggest role in your mind?
Which other emotions should have been included in the movie?
What are some of your most significant memories?
What do you think about the role the emotion of sadness played in the movie? How important is it to be joyful/happy all the time?
How do coping strategies (e.g. taking a break, deep breathing, doing a favorite activity) influence the emotions in your body?
Who can you talk to when negative feelings take over your mind? What can this person do that will help you feel better?

Having Trouble Falling Asleep? Consider Changing Your Screen Time

4/3/2015

I often hear people complaining about difficulty with sleep or still feeling tired when they wake in the morning. While a number of factors can contribute to sleeplessness (e.g. stress, trauma, depression, and shift work, to name a few), one thing you may not have considered is the impact that your screen time has on the quality of your sleep. Hopefully you’re not reading this blog in bed right before you try to sleep! Most of us are guilty of reading one last email, checking social media, texting, or even playing computer/video games in the hour leading up to bed. So, what’s the big deal?

Recent research suggests the use of screens 1 hour before bed is associated with taking longer to fall asleep, decreased melatonin secretion, having less REM sleep, and feeling more sleepy the next morning (Chang, Aeschbach, Duffy, & Czeisler, 2015). Further, another study suggests the use of multiple devices and interactive or stimulating technology use before bed intensifies difficulty with falling asleep. This is concerning since 90 percent of us are using technology within 60 minutes of going to sleep (Gradisar, et al., 2013).

Since we know sleep affects our mood, productivity, and is essential for our health, consider changing your media use before bed.

Here are some ways you can make changes:

Adopt a “no smart phone in bed” policy with your partner—connect with your partner instead
Avoid stimulating video games, chatting, blogging, and emailing 1 hour before bed—allow time to unwind with a paper book, drink a cup of non-caffeinated tea, or take a bath
Take the TV out of the bedrooms in your home

See the citations below to read the studies yourself.

References:

Chang, A.M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J.F., Czeisler, C.A. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. PNAS, 112(4). Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1232.abstract

Gradisar, M., Wolfson, A.R., Harvey, A.G., Hale, L., Rosenberg, R., Czeisler, C.A. (2013). The sleep and technology use of Americans: Findings from the National Sleep Foundation’s 2011 Sleep in America Poll. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9 (12). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24340291

Talk with Your Kids After Watching the New Inside Out Movie

Having Trouble Falling Asleep? Consider Changing Your Screen Time

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