Reset your child's brain : a four-week plan to end meltdowns, raise grades, and boost social skills by reversing the effects of electronic screen-time

386 Pages·2015·12.14 MB·English

by  Victoria L. Dunckley MD

Praise for Reset Your Child’s Brain
“This practical and easy-to-read guide is a much-needed wake-up call for this
digital age. Buy Reset Your Child’s Brain for your family, your school, and
your local library.”
— Kerry Crofton, PhD, cofounder and executive director of Doctors for
Safer Schools and author of A Wellness Guide for the Digital Age
“One of the problems worldwide that relates to this book is sleep deprivation.
This has many consequences and — to put it bluntly — makes the sleep-
deprived person fat, lazy, stupid, and depressed! The more that books like
this expose the problem, the sooner we will be moving to a higher and more
secure state of well-being!”
— John J. Ratey, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry,
Harvard Medical School, and author of Spark
“This book looks at how electronic media use can affect the central nervous
system long after the offending device has actually been used — an effect
similar to that of drug addiction. It presents new studies that show how,
as with drug use, functioning may not be impaired immediately, and in
some cases it may even improve initially but then becomes worse. Finally,
Dr. Dunckley outlines issues in diagnosis, in assessment, and most import-
ant, in treatment for battling and resetting the brain to overcome the rapidly
emergent condition of Electronic Screen Syndrome.”
— Dr. Kimberly S. Young, founder and director of the
Center for Internet Addiction and www.NetAddiction.com
“Victoria Dunckley makes a convincing case that parents should be very con-
cerned about their children’s constant exposure to electronic screen–based
entertainment. Citing medical research as well as her work with hundreds of
patients, Dr. Dunckley explains how electronic media overwhelm children’s
nervous systems and impair their physical and mental functioning. Families
who follow her practical approach to discontinuing electronic screen-time
will see dramatic improvement in their children’s health and behavior.”
— Jessica Solodar, award-winning medical journalist and
former medical writer for Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Psychiatry and the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
“Impressively researched, eye-opening, and eminently practical, Reset Your
Child’s Brain is an invaluable contribution to any parent’s library. Dr.
Dunckley’s plan is sure to provide relief to a great many children — and
their families.”
— Craig Malkin, PhD, instructor in psychology, Harvard Medical
School, and author of Rethinking Narcissism
“Dr. Victoria Dunckley has given every child psychiatrist and pediatrician in
America a wonderful gift. This book gives us a tool to share with the parents
of the millions of children in the US who are agitated, unfocused, and out of
control. She also answers the question about why this problem has acceler-
ated in the last decade: it is screen-time, not a lack of Ritalin. I completely
agree with her premise and her interventions. Thank you!”
— Scott Shannon, MD, integrative child psychiatrist,
past president of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine,
and author of Please Don’t Label My Child
“Parents are constantly asking, ‘What are the effects of screen use on my kids,
how much is too much, and how can I regulate the use of screens by my
kids?’ Finally, thanks to Dr. Dunckley’s Reset Program, parents have the
answers and the tools to work on a solution!”
— Ann Corwin, PhD, MEd, parenting education consultant,
www.TheParentingDoctor.com
RESET YOUR
CHILD’S BRAIN

RESET YOUR
CHILD’S BRAIN
A Four-Week Plan to
End Meltdowns, Raise Grades,
and Boost Social Skills by
Reversing the Effects
of Electronic Screen-Time
Victoria L. Dunckley, MD
New World Library
Novato, California
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949
Copyright © 2015 by Victoria Dunckley, MD
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a re-
trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or
other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may
quote brief passages in a review.
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of
diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed
or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or
liability taken.
The author’s experiences used as examples throughout this book are based on true events,
although some identifying details have been changed for privacy reasons.
Text design by Tona Pearce-Myers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunckley, Victoria L., date.
Reset your child’s brain : a four-week plan to end meltdowns, raise grades, and boost
social skills by reversing the effects of electronic screen-time / Victoria L. Dunckley.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60868-284-3 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-60868-285-0 (ebook)
1. Video games and children—Health aspects. 2. Behavior disorders in children—Pre-
vention. 3. Problem children—Behavior modification. 4. Internet and children. 5. Elec-
tronics—Social aspects. 6. Parenting. I. Title.
HQ784.V53D86 2015
004.67'8083—dc23 2014046885
First printing, August 2015
ISBN 978-1-60868-284-3
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Respon-
sible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative.
www.greenpressinitiative.org
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all the parents, kids, and young adults I’ve worked with who took the
road less traveled by going screen-free. Your efforts, candid feedback,
and creative ideas have helped many others already, and will hopefully
help many more through this book. I salute you all.

CONTENTS
Introduction: Something Wicked This Way Comes 1
Part One — Is Your Child’s Brain at Risk?:
The Inconvenient Truth about Electronic Screen Media
Chapter 1: Electronic Screen Syndrome:
An Unrecognized Disorder 13
Chapter 2: All Revved Up and Nowhere to Go: How Electronic
Screen Media Affects Your Child’s Brain and Body 31
Chapter 3: Insidious Shape-Shifter: How ESS Mimics a
Wide Variety of Psychiatric, Neurological, and
Behavioral Disorders 53
Chapter 4: The Brain Liberated: How Freedom from
Electronic Screens Can Change the Brain in Days, Weeks,
and Months — and for Years to Come 109