APACenter https://www.apacenter.com Discovering Possibilities Mon, 14 Oct 2019 21:26:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 Is Video Game Violence to Blame for Mass Shootings? https://www.apacenter.com/is-video-game-violence-to-blame-for-mass-shootings/ https://www.apacenter.com/is-video-game-violence-to-blame-for-mass-shootings/#respond Fri, 06 Sep 2019 22:02:31 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6474 Do video games cause mass shootings?Sadly, America recently experienced several mass shootings in August of 2019 leaving 53 dead. How could this happen? Are video games to blame? What caused these recent mass shootings? Trump said that “Mental illness and hate pulled the trigger, not the gun.” But then he went on to, at least in part, blame video game violence for these shootings. In my first video, I address these topics, but read on below if you prefer!

 

 

Does Video Game Violence Cause Mass Shootings?

I encourage you to read my Psychology Today blog and/or watch my video(s). The short answer is that, no, video game violence does not cause mass shootings. While they keep getting scapegoated, they are a red herring. There is no credible evidence that playing violent video games leads to acts of homicide, including mass shootings. People want answers though, and video game violence becomes an easy target. Now it has become a partisan issue. But we need to go where the data take us. Life is complicated, and there are not easy answers to these questions. Still, we CAN say that video game violence is not the culprit.

Interestingly, countries like Japan and South Korea have about as many gamers, percentage-wise, as the United States, yet they have about 1/25 of the homicide rate. Gamers, even when playing violent video games, cannot (and do not) kill people with their controllers. There are reasons we don’t hear about “mass knifings” and “mass bludgeonings.” Guns are part of the problem, but they are not the focus of this blog.

As further evidence against the “video game violence is to blame” idea, the U.S. rate has gone down significantly from where it was from 1970-1994. Thus, before there were any video games or when they violence depicted in them was primitive, the U.S. homicide rate was higher than it is today. If playing video games with violent content caused homicides, we would see a tremendous spike in societal violence, especially as the games became more graphically sophisticated. We just aren’t seeing that trend. Although the homicide rate has gone up in recent years, including mass shootings, the overall homicide rate is still far lower than it was decades ago.

homicide rate

Is Mental Illness to Blame for Mass Shootings?

Most people who suffer from any form of mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder) DO NOT commit acts of violence. However, to commit an act of atrocity such as a mass shooting, something, inherently, must be “wrong” with a person. I mean, who in his/her right mind would commit such an act of violence? We must remember that mass shootings, while tragic, only account for a small percentage of the deaths by guns in the U.S. For comparison, in 2016, there were 71 deaths by mass shootings, 14,415 homicides by gun, and almost 23,000 suicides by gun.  There is definitely a link between depression and suicide, and suicides account for the largest number of deaths by gun. Better access to mental health care would likely reduce mass shootings, homicides, and suicides.

What About Hatred?

Hatred does seem to play a role in a number of mass shootings. For instance, the El Paso shooter and the New Zealand shooter both posted hate-filled, anti-immigrant, white supremacist manifestos prior to their acts of violence. But what’s behind the hate? Where does it come from? Gandhi said, “The enemy is fear. People think it is hate, but it is fear.”

Where Does the Fear Come From?

Fear is rooted in our evolutionary history. It is a primal emotion that has survival value. We needed to fear strangers and strange occurrences because they could pose threats to our life. Sure, they might be beneficial but, if they are not, we could be dead. Thus, fear is often the initial response to strangers. It is “hard-wired” into us, shaped by millions of years of evolution, to help us to survive. The trouble is, our current environment is very different from that of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Over 99.999% of our evolutionary history was spent as nomadic hunter-gatherers in tribes of about 100-150. The “melting pot” of America is very, ahem, “foreign” to our brains. Arguably, one of the purposes of our existence is to overcome or transcend our evolutionary heritage and more primitive instincts.

The Politics of Fear

Do you remember the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen? Michael Douglas plays Wall Street tycoon Gordon Gecko, who famously proclaimed to an audience of business people, “Greed is good. Greed works.” Politicians trying to win votes and get people to back them might echo these sentiments, although never publicly, by noting, “Fear works.”

Fear is such a primal emotion. It helped our ancestors avoid danger and survive. It’s relatively easy for politicians and advertisers to capitalize on this primitive emotion to motivate people to support them, vote, and/or buy their product. “There are invaders trying to take over our country! We must stop them because they want to take our jobs, rape our women, and kill us! Vote for me, and I promise that I’ll protect you from these invaders!” Politicians on the left my say, “Vote for me, and I’ll protect your from this lunatic!” It’s not a right/left thing. If you want to get elected, eliciting fear and offering you/your policies as the solution is a proven way to get elected.

From our evolutionary heritage, we have a tendency to fear others. We evolved in small, hunter-gatherer tribes who were nomadic. Strangers could be danger! Sure, they might be friendly but, if they are not, we could be dead! So, our ancestors evolved to have a fear of others first. Who was “the other?” Anyone who wasn’t in our tribe. But now our tribe is a melting pot. Our world is very different from our ancestors yet some of these primal emotional responses are very difficult to overcome. Just watch a college football rivalry to see modern tribalism in action!

What Do We Do About It?

I am inspired by advice from the Dalai Lama in his book, The Art of Happiness. In order to transcend some of the trappings of our evolutionary heritage, it can be helpful to look at how we are the same as others instead of focusing on our differences. For starters, we all want to be happy and don’t want to suffer. We all have the same emotions such as love, joy, anger, fear, sadness, and pride. We care about our friends and family members and want them to thrive. When it comes down to it, we are more alike than different. When we focus on our similarities, this can break down the walls that divide us. Then “other” is no longer “other.” When this happens, fear and hatred dissipate. I know, it’s easier said than done. However, if we make it a daily practice to reach out to others who are different than us, we will realize the truth that they aren’t so different after all.

 

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8 Simple Reasons You Need To Stop Obsessing Over “Likes” https://www.apacenter.com/8-simple-reasons-you-need-to-stop-obsessing-over-likes/ https://www.apacenter.com/8-simple-reasons-you-need-to-stop-obsessing-over-likes/#respond Thu, 11 Jul 2019 19:12:21 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6430 social mediaMy “proof” that your (and my) social media posts don’t really matter is to mean that they don’t matter significantly. When we compare the time it takes to post a photo (including time to edit, write a punny caption, etc.) to the amount of joy “likes” give us, it seems the benefits of social media do not outweigh our time spent posting. So, why post at all? When it comes to trying to get social validation, social media is basically a red herring. We are under a societal delusion that our posts matter, but they don’t. At least, they don’t in the ways that we deeply long for them to matter. I won’t bore you with research, but to prove my point you must be open to introspection. It’s important to view social media with a realistic perspective and answer the following 8 questions honestly:

1. How many times would you estimate that you “liked” people’s posts last week?

 

2. Can you think of a specific post you “liked” last week?

Go ahead… I’ll wait right here.

3. How long did it take you to think of that particular post?

 

4. How much time did you think about that post after “liking” it?

My guess is none.

5. How long after you “liked” it did it take you to stop thinking about that post?

Three seconds? Only long enough to scroll down to the next post on your news feed?

 

 

Now let’s flip these questions around…

 

 

6. What are those people thinking about your posts on social media?

That’s right. You know the answer. They are not thinking about your posts.

7. So, why do you even bother posting?

If the time spent posting was truly fruitful, we wouldn’t need to keep doing it. We would experience a sense of contentment as opposed to a neediness.

8. So, why do we spend so much time posting, viewing, and “liking” when, in the scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter?

It’s a bit crazy, right? If we don’t really care about other people’s posts, then we know they don’t really care about ours either.

The takeaway…

 

If you are similar to me and most people, it’s easy to get caught up with what is going on in people’s lives and letting them know what is going on in ours.We spend a lot of time on social media, and we get some benefits from it. But, in the scheme of things, social media is a bit like eating potato chips. They taste good, but they don’t truly nourish our bodies. The time we spend with others in-person is what develops the deep relationships and social connection that we truly “like.”

 

Click here for more on social media “likes.”

 

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Was Technology Ever Meant To Go This Far? https://www.apacenter.com/was-technology-ever-meant-to-go-this-far/ https://www.apacenter.com/was-technology-ever-meant-to-go-this-far/#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:42:55 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6440 technology too farWe’ve all seen movies or read books about technology becoming evil or dangerous, right? The first movie that comes to my mind is James Whale’s Frankenstein. Its running theme is the power of science and its unintended consequences. The same goes for plots from every Michael Crichton book (e.g., Jurassic ParkWestworld).

It’s scary to think, but many professionals argue that modern technology, especially cell phones, are yielding serious consequences. Computer scientist, Georgetown professor, and author Cal Newport wrote a New York Times op-ed that has received a lot of attention: “Steve Jobs Never Wanted Us to Use Our iPhones Like This.” Similarly, long-time tech investor and evangelist, Roger McNamee, wrote an article in Time Magazine, “I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. I Loved Facebook. But I Can’t Keep Silent About What Is Happening.” 

Both writers told cautionary tales about an over dependency on new technologies, but these horror stories have become too familiar to us. Perhaps the comparison is too grim to say that Steve Jobs’ and Mark Zuckerberg’s tech innovations are like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, but there are at least some disturbing similarities. While there are certainly many benefits of technology, here are just a few examples of those unintended consequences:

  1. Distracted Driving 
    Cellphone use is one of the leading causes of distracted driving (… and car accidents).
  2. The Russians Hacked Our Democracy
    Evidence shows the Russians used troll farms and social media to influence the 2016 presidential election.
  3. Governments Use Facebook as a Weapon
    Facebook can be used to further political ends and target people it considers a threat. This is especially true for the Philippine government.
  4. The Proliferation of Fake News
    It is difficult to discern fact from fiction.
  5. The Increased Polarization in Our Society

  6. Poor Physical Health
    Heavy cellphone users tend to be less fit.
  7. Cyberbullying
  8. Depression & Loneliness

Technology undoubtedly has consequences, but we can try to limit these consequences by using technology mindfully. With MET (Mindful Engagement with Technology) we use technology with an intended goal. Use your phone for that purpose, and then put the phone away. Through MET, we can be happier and more productive. In essence, our instinctual human need can be met through MET.

For more on the consequences of technology click here.

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The Toxic Advice You Are Giving To Your Kids https://www.apacenter.com/the-toxic-advice-you-are-giving-to-your-kids/ https://www.apacenter.com/the-toxic-advice-you-are-giving-to-your-kids/#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:39:32 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6431 Try your best“Always try your best” is a sage piece of advice almost every parent has shared with their kids. This saying is seemingly innocent, but in reality it’s not. When we really examine what we are saying, we’ll realize its inherent contradiction.

Let’s say we are trying to take our own advice and always do our best. I’m a married man with kids. I’m trying to be the “best” husband that I can be to my wife. I’m also trying to be the best father to my kids, the best neighbor to my neighbors, the best psychologist to my clients, the best blogger for my readers (the few, the proud…!), the best brother to my sisters, the best runner that I can be, the best supervisor to my interns, and so on. Now, you can probably see how ridiculous AND inherently contradictory this is. At a certain point, being the best husband comes into conflict with being the best colleague at work, the best blogger, etc. I just can’t be the best at all of them – it’s an impossibility!

I don’t always try my best. More so, I aim for “good enough.” I calibrate my effort depending upon the nature of the task and the need (or desire) to do well on the task. Sure, sometimes I try my best, but certainly not every time.

So, what do we really want from our kids? Suppose your high school son has two big finals the next day – one in chemistry and one in history. He has an 69 average in chemistry and a 97 in history. When studying the night before, should he “try his best” in both classes? With limited time available and being on the brink of failing chemistry and earning a high “A” in history, it would seem that he should spend more time in chemistry to ensure that he passes the class rather than history.

Ultimately, we want our kids to make mindful, judicious decisions in life. After all, time is a limited resource, and it is critical that they learn how to spend it wisely. Our kids need to learn when it is important to turn on the juice, and when they can take their effort down a few notches. Personally, I prefer the advice: Don’t always work hard. Work smartBut I’m sure we can poke some holes in that one, too.

For more on parental advice click here.

 

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Is Fortnite Bad for Kids? https://www.apacenter.com/is-fortnite-bad-for-kids/ https://www.apacenter.com/is-fortnite-bad-for-kids/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2019 22:53:20 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6366 If you have kids, especially a boy or male teen, you probably know a little bit about Fortnite Battle Royale already. It’s a 3rd person survival-shooter that game that can be played across multiple platforms (e.g., Xbox One, Playstation 4, tablets). As of March 2019, it has 250 million registered players. At any given time, over 10 million people are playing simultaneously (not in the same game, of course!). I did a video blog covering this topic on my Tech Happy Life YouTube channel (below) or you could read the transcript of that blog on Psychology Today. I’m going to provide a (slightly) abbreviate version here though to address the question: Is Fortnite bad for kids?

What’s the Appeal of Fortnite?

There are a number of reasons that Fortnite is so popular. These include:

  • It’s not gratuitously violent like the M-rated Call of Duty series. It’s rated “T” as being appropriate for teens and up, by the ESRB. Players are “eliminating” rather than “killing” other players. Thus, parents are more inclined to allow their kids to play Fortnite over the more graphically violent games available.
  • One hundred players are dropped into the same game at once. The world shrinks over time, which forces players to engage one another eventually. There’s no hiding behind trees or in buildings indefinitely. The average game time is about 15 minutes long.
  • Players experience a “near-miss effect.” So, as they play more frequently, they get closer and closer to winning games. More frequently than not, typical players will “almost” win a game. That gives them the feeling that, “Ah! Next time, I just might win! Let me try again!”
  • Related to the above, there is a “Vegas Effect” built into Fortnite. It is also known as a variable ratio reinforcement schedule. Every game is a little different, which means the odds of earning the reward of a victory is always tantalizingly close. This activates the dopamine reward system in the brain, which is the same system activated in addictive drugs. This does not mean that Fortnite is “truly” addictive, but it can be strongly compelling.
  • Since the game is cross-platform, players with different consoles or devices can play with or against one another.
  • Given the popularity of Fortnite, it’s almost like a social media platform so that groups of kids and young adults can “hang out” with their respective friends.

But Is Fortnite “Bad” or Harmful to Kids?

My short answer is “no.” In fact, Fortnite can be a lot of fun for players of all ages. In addition to interacting with one another online, many players discuss Fortnite offline. So, it facilitates social interaction for a large number of players. At present, there’s no compelling evidence that playing violent video games substantially increases aggression in players. Thus, I would say that for the majority of players, Fortnite represents an enjoyable activity that, if anything, probably enhances their well-being.

My main concern is that Fortnite is so fun and engaging that important physiological and psychological needs get pushed aside. For instance:

  • Some players are so “into” Fortnite that they are staying up late, especially on school nights, to play. Our need for sleep has not changed in tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of years. So, kids and teens who are losing sleep because of Fortnite will suffer. Chronic sleep deprivation results in a host of negative physiological and psychological outcomes.
  • Hours and hours of sedentary time playing video games might also contribute to some negative outcomes. This is compounded by the fact that all of us are sitting quite a bit these days – in school, at work, on commutes, watching TV, on the couch on our phones, etc. Fortnite becomes another sedentary activity that displaces physical activity. We have to keep in mind though that, for many people, if they were not playing Fortnite, they would just be using some other form of screen time.
  • While it’s true that many players interact with their friends online while playing Fortnite, there are many benefits of in-person social interactions. This is also in line with our evolutionary heritage. Historically, practically all of our social interaction took place in-person. Too much time playing video games and other on-screen activities might be displacing important in-person social interactions.
  • For at least some students, Fortnite can have a negative impact on their grades as they spend time and attention on the game rather than on their schoolwork.

How Much Fortnite is Too Much?

Honestly, no one has a definitive answer here. Flipping this around a bit, if a child/teen is getting enough sleep, is physically active, spends quality time with others in-person on a regular basis, and is doing “good enough” in school, I wouldn’t worry much about Fortnite. If I’m really pressed for a number, a very loose ballpark figure would be 1-2 hours of recreational screen time during the week and maybe 3-4 hours of recreational screen time on weekends, summers, and holidays.

We must remember that none of us did everything “right” when we were kids, teens, and young adults. No one ever maxes out his/her happiness by having the perfect diet, exercise regimen, hobbies, relationships, etc. Fortnite, as with everything else in life, falls under the broad category that there can be “too much of a good thing.”

As a parent, I would draw the biggest “red line” regarding video game/screen time at sleep. When are kids are not getting enough sleep because of screen time, or because of anything else for that matter, then there are likely to be problems. We must also remember to be role models ourselves with regard to our screen habits. We might not be playing Fortnite, but we know that it’s easy for us to overdo screen time too.

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The Quiet Epidemic of Sleep Loss https://www.apacenter.com/sleep-loss/ https://www.apacenter.com/sleep-loss/#respond Fri, 01 Feb 2019 23:21:12 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6235
sleep loss

Time to Say Goodbye to Sleep Loss

There is a new article in the Washington Post on the importance of sleep. I first blogged on this in 2006(!), and I have blogged on this topic a few times over the years. But it seemed to be a good time for an update and refresher on sleep loss. Simply put, there is a sleep loss crisis in America. In a 1942 Gallup poll, American adults reported getting about 7.9 hours of sleep per night. More recently, in 2013, that number had dropped by over an hour.

Basically, every major area of human functioning takes a hit when we suffer sleep loss. These include:

  • Memory
  • Concentration
  • Cognitive abilities (e.g., solving problems)
  • Immune system functioning
  • Weight (i.e., weight gain due to chronic sleep loss)
  • Immune system functioning
  • Cardiovascular health
  • Mood

New research even indicates that we might be at a greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s Disease due to sleep loss. Although it might not be “sexy” news, getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things we can do to improve our physical and emotional well-being. I consider it to be a “low-hanging fruit” to our well-being. Before searching for other ways to improve our well-being, we should start with the basics. Sleep is definitely on that short list.

Getting Versus Needing

Here’s one of those odd things about sleep loss. There’s a big difference between how much we get and how much we need. People often conflate these two things. That is, when they say, “I only need 6 hours of sleep per night” what they really mean is, “I am only getting 6 hours of sleep per night.” Most adults need 7-8 hours per night. Teens need about 9-10 (my teen needs about 12!). Kids need about 11-12.

Many of us think we function fine on less than optimal sleep. That it doesn’t make a difference. However, in well-controlled studies, time and time again, the results indicate that pretty much every metric of well-being diminishes with sleep loss. It is just the case that most of us have become accustomed to sleep loss that it feels normal. But it’s like breathing polluted air over a long period of time. If we have never experienced what breathing clean, crisp mountain air feels like because we’ve only been breathing polluted city air, we don’t even know what we are missing.

Evolutionary Mismatch

I recently blogged about the tribalism that is dividing us in America. One of the factors that contributes to both tribalism and our problems of sleep loss is called evolutionary mismatch. We evolved over the course of millions of years to live in a world very different from today. Simply put, when we live in a way that is incongruent with our evolutionary heritage, we will pay a price. Our need for sleep hasn’t changed in tens of thousands of years. Due to the demands of work, our home lives, and the Siren’s call of screens, we are getting less sleep than the amount nature “designed” us to get. The price of sleep loss due to this evolutionary mismatch is the hits on our physical and emotional well-being.

My Journey Out of Sleep Loss

I will admit to being a convert on the importance of sleep. I was sleep-deprived though much of my youth, had a very irregular sleep pattern in college, and graduate school really put the squeeze on my sleep. Not long after getting my license in psychology, my wife and I started having kids. While our kids are wonderful, they certainly did affect our sleep in those early years! Basically, I had gotten used to dealing with fatigue and certain levels of irritability.

As I started seeing clients back-to-back all day during my early years of private practice, I noticed that I really had a lull in energy in early to mid-afternoons. I decided to work on my sleep loss, and it made a difference right off the bat. I had a greater levels of alertness, energy, thinking clarity, and optimism right away. I also didn’t need to drink as much coffee!

A number of years ago, I started wearing a Fitbit to track my sleep. To my surprise, despite some improvements to my sleep, I was often getting more like 6-6.5 hours per night during the week. I thought I was getting more like 7-7.25 hours. What I learned was that I was not taking into account the time it took me to fall asleep, lost time for getting up at night to use the bathroom, to fall back to sleep, etc. By the end of the week, I was incurring a 3-5 hour sleep deficit, which can really make a difference. So, thanks to my Fitbit, I’ve made adjustments to my sleep schedule and now average around 7 hours per night.

What You Can Do to Improve Sleep

There are a number of strategies that you can use to improve your sleep. Here are just a few.

  • Try to keep a regular sleep schedule/routine
  • Track your sleep to see how much you are actually getting per night
  • Avoid caffeine in the afternoons
  • Avoid exercising at least 2-3 hours before bedtime
  • Remove screens from your room and don’t interact with them at least 30 minutes before bed. The blue light emitted by screens suppresses melatonin, a hormone involved in the sleep/wake cycle.
  • Read before going to bed and have a book handy in case you have trouble falling to sleep or you wake up
  • Dim the lights as you get near bedtime. Keep the room dark when you go to sleep.
  • Try using a white noise maker

The Takeaway?

Sleep is one the most important things we can do to improve our functioning. Most likely, you are suffering from at least periodic, if not chronic, sleep loss. Just as an experiment, commit to getting more sleep per night. Use some of the strategies that I’ve recommended or track down some more on the web. Do this for at least one week. Notice your mood and productivity. Notice whether you seem to be more optimistic and have more energy. If you have a partner, enlist him/her to give you their perceptions of you as you try this experiment. Chances are, a happier you will mean a happier partner and family. What do you have to lose – besides sleep loss?

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What is a “Gaming Disorder”and Does My Child Have it? https://www.apacenter.com/gaming-disorderand-child/ https://www.apacenter.com/gaming-disorderand-child/#respond Thu, 13 Dec 2018 06:31:31 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6230 A new, video game-related diagnosis appears in the ICD-11. Is it a real thing?

Here is my most recent episode of my Tech Happy Life YouTube channel. I hope you find it engaging and helpful!

Transcript of “Gaming Disorder: Are Games Controlling Your Kids?”

Hello, this is Tech Happy Life with Dr. Mike Brooks. In today’s episode we’re covering “Gaming Disorder”: Are games controlling your kids? Now, you might have read recently—this just came out—that the World Health Organization (WHO), which publishes the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), has recently classified Gaming Disorder as a new disorder.

Mental Disorders as Hypothetical Constructs

The idea that there could be a Gaming Disorder is a bit controversial, and frankly, I have some mixed feelings about it, so I want to delve into this topic today. First of all, any mental health disorder, including Gaming Disorder, would be considered a hypothetical construct. What do I mean by that? They aren’t “real” things—there’s not a blood test for any mental health disorder (not at this point). So, depression, anxiety, ADHD, even addiction, pretty much any mental health disorder, just consists of symptoms and behaviors that we all exhibit from time to time. Whether it’s restlessness, fatigue, sadness, concentrationproblems.

When Does an Intense Hobby Become a Disorder?

So when it comes to Gaming Disorder, the question is: When does an intense interest and fun derived from playing a game cross a threshold to become a gaming disorder? It’s really not clear! Diagnosing any mental health condition may never be an exact science, and Gaming Disorder is no different. How severe does the problem have to be before it crosses that threshold? How much impairment does it have to cause, and for how long? So, all these things are a little fuzzy, even if criteria are put out there by the ICD-11. It’s still not definitive—it’s still not black or white.

Symptom of an Another Problem?

Another critical issue is whether the “Gaming Disorder” is actually a symptom of another problem? For instance, there’s good data to indicate that people who are on their screens a lot, including gamers, tend to be more depressed. So, the more they’re on the screen, the more depressed they get. But then we’re talking about whether the “Gaming Disorder” actually a symptom of an underlying problem like depression.

What About Other Screen-Related “Disorders?”

This next issue is a personal pet peeve of mine, so I’m just going to throw it out there. So there are other forms of screen use that seem to be equally, if not more problematic than gaming, but gaming somehow is getting singled out and scapegoated as the biggest problem. That just doesn’t seem fair! Why stop at gaming disorder? What about news junkies? Or a generalized screen disorder? Social media addiction? Addiction to internet pornography? It’s singling out gaming as its own problem, but we all know that screens can be a problem for everybody, and for some, it’s very severe. So it seems a little odd to stop just at gaming disorder if you’re going to go down that road.

Disorder Vs. Addiction

But one thing I do like that I think the ICD-11 got right is they called it a “Gaming Disorder,” and not a “Gaming Addiction”. Now, if we ask whether it’s a gaming addiction, that’s a whole other can of worms, and in a future episode, we will take this on. Regardless of what we call it, I think we can all agree that too much gaming can cause severe problems in a person’s life.

For example, there are teens, and I know these teens, who are playing Fortnite. That’s the hot game now, and I don’t want to throw Fortnite under the bus, but there are plenty of teens and young adults and even kids who are playing hours and hours of Fortnite. I hear of teens playing on school nights until 2 a.m., and their grades are really suffering. So, it can merit clinical attention because it is causing severe problems in a person’s life. Although many activities can be very compelling and we spend a lot of time doing them, like reading, playing, or watching soccer (such as the World Cup), or playing a musical instrument, there is something a bit different about the video game experience that can make it so compelling that it is difficult to stop and disengage. What happens is playing video games can start to eclipse other important life activities, like sleep, physical activity, and in-person social interactions.

So, here’s the thing—companies know how to make compelling games—games that are so difficult to put down. And they weave different strategies, tricks, if you will, into the game and experience that makes it very difficult for gamers to put the game down. Sometimes, this is called “persuasive technology”. Companies know how to weave these things into games, because they hire neuropsychologists and psychologists and social psychologists to weave those tricks and strategies into the gaming experience so the gamers don’t want to put it down. Because companies ultimately make their money based on users spending time on their games.

The Bottom Line?

So, the bottom line is this: Although there are some legitimate concerns about a diagnosis of a Gaming Disorder, we all know that many people struggle with gaming, to the extent that it can cause significant impairment in many life domains. Regarding what to do about it, whether it’s a Gaming Disorder or just too much screen time, in the next episode I’ll be introducing the Tech Happy Life Model, which is an approach to help you and your family manage the challenges of screen time in a more effective way.

This is Tech Happy Life with Dr. Mike Brooks, and I hope to see you next episode!

 

References

World Health Organization. (2018, June 18). WHO Releases New International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/18-06-2018-who-releases-new-international-classification-of-diseases-(icd-11)

World Health Organization. (2018, March 14). Gaming Disorder. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/features/qa/gaming-disorder/en/
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Making Sense of Suicide https://www.apacenter.com/making-sense-suicide/ https://www.apacenter.com/making-sense-suicide/#respond Thu, 13 Dec 2018 06:26:57 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6228 making sense of suicideMany of us were rocked by the recent suicides of icons Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. Suicide is always tragic, no matter what. It’s sad to know that any person, regardless of his or her position in life, has gotten to the point that they believe suicide is the only escape from a hopelessly painful existence.

Like most of you, I didn’t know Anthony Bourdain or Kate Spade personally. I only knew them from what I learned though the media. I feel like I knew Bourdain better than Spade because of his TV shows and various media appearances. But, like most of us, it’s hard to imagine that either of them could commit suicide when they “had it all.” However, it’s only on deeper reflection that we realize that they had struggles under their media portrayal.

“Having It All”

Whenever I’d see Anthony Bourdain, like millions of Americans, I often thought: He has THE coolest job ever. He’s rich, famous, distinguished, smart, articulate, charismatic, talented, sophisticated, and so on. PLUS, he gets to travel the world, meet interesting people, eat great food, and experience different cultures. He’s won many awards and is adored by millions of fans. What a life! I wish I could have what he has!

Then we have Kate Spade who was such a successful fashion designer and business woman. She built a veritable fashion empire. What would it be like to have people wearing your designer clothes, using your handbags and other accessories—with your name on them—all over the world? Bourdain and Spade both went to the swankiest hot spots in the world, rubbed elbows with other wealthy, famous, and powerful people. What’s not to be happy about? Didn’t they both achieve the pinnacle of life?

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

In a previous blog in which I discussed why our screens don’t make us happier, I mentioned hedonic adaptation. Basically, this means that people sort of have a “set point” for our happiness level. External events, particularly things that can be bought, tend not to increase our happiness for long. We just get used to them and return to our happiness “set point.”

You’ve heard it said that “money doesn’t buy happiness,” and this is basically true. Now, if a person is so financially strapped that he or she cannot get their basic needs met (e.g., food, shelter, utilities, basic health care), then that type of financial deprivation can indeed have a negative impact on well-being. However, according to researchers, generally past around making $60K-$95K per year, more money doesn’t seem to improve happiness. In fact, researchers have found that fame, wealth, and beauty are psychological “dead ends” in terms of happiness. Pursuing these as life goals is related to lower well-being, even when one is achieving them.

I’m not trying to say that either Bourdain or Spade were just pursuing wealth, fame, and beauty in life. In our Western culture, we are often told, through advertising and marketing, that fame, wealth, and beauty are where it’s at. The message is that, if we have these things, we will indeed be happy.

However, the truth is that fame, wealth, and beauty are all part of the “hedonic treadmill” that we are convinced we should get on. We are taught to pursue them with the belief that they will provide happiness, but they don’t. The happiness that money can buy, especially in material terms, tends to be fleeting. But then we keep getting suckered into the idea that, “IF we only had more, THEN we will be happy.”

What “Having It All” Really Means

No matter what one’s level of income or social status, one of the keys to happiness in life is healthy social relationships. To the extent that we have strong, healthy, social relationships, we tend to be fairly happy. However, when we feel disconnected, isolated, alone, isolated, ostracized, or are in conflict, our well-being suffers. Also, when we experience loss in terms of relationship, through death, breakups, or loved ones having to move, we also suffer greatly. You don’t have to read the research on this to know that it is true. What have been the happiest moments of your life? Unhappiest? Chances are, they had something to do with relationships.

I actually don’t know much about the personal lives of either Anthony Bourdain or Kate Spade. I imagine that we will hear more about their lives and pain in the coming months. However, my guess is that we will learn that they suffered from difficulties in their personal lives, particularly their relationships. Also, some folks battle depression because of genetics, and that presents an additional challenge for some people.

We sometimes wonder how people like Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade could have committed suicide when they had it all. To help us better understand depression and suicide, let’s all be careful not to get confused by what “having it all” really means. Underneath the fame and wealth, they were people just like all of us. We all suffer from breakups, loss, and disappointments in the same way. Society, advertisers, and the media are constantly trying to tell us that “having it all” is about wealth, fame, and beauty. But if we pause and reflect long enough, we know that’s just not true.

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Why Can’t Screens Make Us Happy? https://www.apacenter.com/cant-screens-make-us-happy/ https://www.apacenter.com/cant-screens-make-us-happy/#respond Thu, 13 Dec 2018 06:21:47 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6225 Despite the benefits of our screens, why don’t they improve overall happiness?

You might have read my blog on the topic of why our screens don’t make us happier from several weeks ago. I followed that up with this video on my Tech Happy Life YouTube channel. This should be the last video in which I’m covering the territory as in a written blog. So, if you didn’t read my written blog or you just prefer some of that content via a video, here it is! I look forward to covering many more topics in future video episodes, and I hope that you will join me for those!

Transcript of Tech Happy Life YouTube Episode 3:

Why Don’t Our Screens Make Us Happier?

Hello! This is Tech Happy Life, with Dr. Mike Brooks. In today’s episode we’re going to be talking about why our screens don’t seem to be making us any happier.

The “Before”

Since you’re watching this, you probably remember the “Before,” just like I do. What am I talking about? The “Before” I’m talking about is before we had constant connection to the internet, before we had smartphones, before we had social media. In some ways those seem like simpler times, but we clearly benefit from all of our devices and our access to the internet.

Yet, with all the benefits that or screens provide, they don’t seem to be making us happier. But how can that even be?

Consider a smartphone for just a moment – in this one device, we have access to just about any song we want, at any time, any movie, TV show, book, video game. All of our friends and family we can contact in this one device. If someone had described such a device when we were kids, we would think, “This is a dream come true!”. And if someone had asked, “If you could have such a device, would that make you happier? Would it make other people happier?” – We would have said “Yes!” in such a resounding way! How could it not?

Hedonic Adaptation

One of the reasons our devices might not be making us happier [is] a concept called “hedonic adaptation” or the “hedonic treadmill”. Hedonic adaptation is the idea that when we experience positive events or something negative, that we have a bit of a set point in our happiness, and that soon after we experience the positive or the negative event, our happiness will return to baseline, or its set point. Consider when you got a new car, or a new handbag, or a new TV, a new smartphone – how happy did it really make you? How quickly did you return to normal? So it’s an idea that despite the benefits and the power of the technologies we have, we’ve just gotten used to them.

Pros and Cons Cancel Each Other Out

Another reason that our screens may not be making us a lot happier is because the pros and cons of our screens in a way cancel each-other out. For instance, let’s take a look at our social connection, with our smartphones and our social media, we have access to our friends and family, so that’s a positive. However, through social media, that can foster social comparison which can be a negative on the way we feel, and then also cyber-bullying.

Then if we take something like productivity, there are many apps and tools that we have to enhance productivity. We have access to all the information we could ever want. However, on the computer we can easily get distracted and go down rabbit holes, and then that interferes with our productivity. And then we have the entertainment options which I have described before – the songs, the music, the games, wonderful options – yet on the negative there are so many options it can be overwhelming and it can be hard to decide what to pick. And then, we can spend so much time on these things that it can interfere with things like exercise, sleep, and our in-person connections – and our productivity.

Sleep Deprivation

Another reason our screens might not be making us a lot happier – and this is a really big, important one, and I can’t emphasize it enough – is sleep deprivation. So there’s a lot of research that shows that all of this time and all these options we have to look at entertainment and be busy on our screens is encroaching on our need for sleep. Now, our need for sleep hasn’t changed in tens of thousands of years. We still need about 8 hours of sleep as an adult, and teenagers need 9 or 10. And basically, we’re not getting it. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on our physical and emotional wellbeing,  and that’s from staying up too late, and also the blue light from our devices suppresses melatonin, and melatonin is an important hormone involved in the sleep-wake cycles. And for children and teens,sleep is particularly important for physical and cognitive development. There’s research to show that kid’s brains do not actually grow as well as they should if they’re suffering a sleep deficit. Not only that, there’s a huge amount of research to show that our physical and emotional well-being take a huge hit when we’re suffering from sleep deprivation.

Loss of In-Person Connections

Now the last reason I want to go into is the loss of in-person connections. So there’s a lot of research to show that a good chunk of our happiness comes from the health of our in-person relationships. And, that isn’t just verbal communication. If we think about it, it’s touch, kisses, caresses, hugs, the warmth of a smile. All those things are something we can’t get through our devices, not even with emojis.

So if you think of – you might have heard of “attachment theory” – but he way we attach a parent to an infant is so critical to their long-term development and that’s the touch, the caress, the holding of infants, the smiles. All those things are built-in. But sometimes our eyes are on our devices, more than they’re on our kids. And if it’s too much, then what can happen is that can interfere with their development and their overall happiness.

What to Do About It?

So these are some of the reasons why our screens might not be making us much happier at a societal level. Now, as a parent, at this point you might be wondering “What am I supposed to do about it?”.  Well there’s good news. So, my colleague Dr. John Lasser and I, we developed a model that we call the “Tech Happy Life Model”. It is designed to help you and your family get more of the benefits of technology while minimizing some of those negatives. In the next episodes, we’ll be taking a deep dive into that model so that you’ll get some practical strategies on what you and your family can do.

So, this has been Tech Happy Life with Dr. Mike Brooks, and I hope to see you next week.

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Should We Be Worried About Generation Z? https://www.apacenter.com/worried-generation-z/ https://www.apacenter.com/worried-generation-z/#respond Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:31:11 +0000 https://www.apacenter.com/?p=6218 Are the worries about Generation Z merely hype or is there something to them?

I recently posted a blog on the topic of whether “Generation Z” is in trouble. Is this really just a case of generational finger-wagging or is there something to this concern? If you didn’t read my blog but are interested in this topic, perhaps you prefer this vlog format. I’m diving in and giving vlogs a try. So far, it’s been a fun adventure!

I have a bit of overlap right now between some of my written blogs and my vlogs, but I will be all caught up shortly and not replicating the same content in two formats. In the meantime, I hope you find this vlog informative and engaging – that’s my goal! And, like most things in life, I think these vlogs will get better over time, but hopefully I’m off to a good start with these.

Transcript of Vlog: Is Generation Z in Trouble?

Hello, This is Tech Happy Life with Dr. Mike Brooks. In this next series of segments we’re going to be taking on the question of, “Is Generation Z in trouble?”. So is this technological generation in trouble with their smartphones and social media.

You have probably seen various news articles and headlines about this and how teens are struggling in more ways than in generations past.

First I want to say, Who is Generation Z?

Generation Z are the kids who’ve grown up always connected. So they’ve basically never known a time before the Internet, and maybe not even smartphones or social media, so they’re growing up always connected.

Now, if we step back a little we’ll see that every generation has a form of moralpanic going on. And this goes back to, you know, when books were first introduced, newspapers, radio, television, video games. And the older generation will look at the younger generation with these new forms of media and do some form of generational finger-wagging. Saying, “Oh, gosh look at these kids these days – they’re going to hell in a handbasket with what’s going on!”. And then they’ll say stuff like, “Well back in my day, we had it better, and we did this or that or the other”.

But are our kids really in trouble? Are there reasons to be concerned, or are we just doing some version of this generational finger-wagging?

We’re going to take this on, and take a closer look – is there evidence of a screen problem?

First thing I’m going to do is steal from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the galaxy and say, “Don’t panic!”. Our kids are not falling off a cliff into oblivion, and despair, and depression. But if you’re here today watching this you probably have legitimate concerns, right?

So what we’re going to do here is we have anecdotal evidence of our personal experiences, but what does the research say about how screens are affecting us?

By many metrics the kids today are doing better than previous generations. So, for instance, [there are] fewer committing assaults, there are lower teen pregnancy rates, higher high school graduation rates, fewer kids are drinkingalcohol in high school. So by many metrics the kids are alright, but by some other metrics they’re not doing as well as previous generations.

For instance, depression rates are up, anxiety rates are up, suicide rates are up, so when you look at it, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s some serious concerns there, and legitimate concerns.

What I would argue if we had to pick one metric to look at on whether Generation Z is doing better or worse than other generations? I would say the metric would be their overall happiness.

So when we talk about happiness, psychologists often refer to this as “subjective well-being,” and what we’re looking at is a deep-rooted sense of contentment. We’re not talking about pleasure – now that has its place in life, and that can be sexdrugs, rock and roll, eating vanilla ice cream, or whatever. Pleasure has its place in life, but when we’re talking about overall happiness, we’re talking about that deep-rooted contentment.

And as parents, that’s really what we want for our kids, right, for them to be happy. And, in a way, happiness is the only goal we try to achieve for itself. All other goals, as parents, we want our kids to get into a good college, for instance.

If we say “Why?” –  Well, so they can get a good job. Why get a good job? So they can get a good income. Why get a good income? Ultimately it leads back to “so they’ll be happy”.

Now when we look at Generation Z, there is evidence that they’re a bit less happy than previous generations. Not falling off a cliff into despair, but a bit less happy, and it could be the technology and social media has something to do with this.

So, in future segments we’re going to delve into this more about why this could be.

Like and subscribe to Tech Happy Life! This is Dr. Mike Brooks, and I hope you join me on this journey.

 

To view more of my videos check out my YouTube Channel, or visit the vlog section of my website. I hope this information is helpful to you and your family!

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