Parents, take note. If you’re the type who has the tendency to hand over a tablet or smartphone everytime your child is bored or throws a tantrum, you might want to listen to what the experts have to say about it.
Parents should place limits on the amount of screen time young children are engaging their devices.
Parents should also be alarmed when regular family routine activities or tasks cannot be performed by the child anymore because he or she cannot be ‘taken out’ from screen time.
According to a new research, prolonged use of mobile devices can actually lead to Screen Dependency Disorder (SDD) which brings “a myriad of symptoms, including insomnia, backache, weight gain or loss, eyesight problems, headaches, and poor nutrition as physical symptoms,” reported SmartParenting.
In addition to the physical, SDD also has emotional symptoms such as anxiety, dishonesty, feelings of guilt, and loneliness.
Dr. Aric Sigman, psychologist and author of the research paper, said that the condition is very similar with Internet Addiction Disorder.
According to Sigman’s research, screen addicts “exhibit dependent, problematic behavior, including withdrawal symptoms, increasing tolerance (for screen use), failure to reduce or stop screen activities, lying about the extent of use, loss of outside interests, and continuation of screen use despite adverse consequences,”
Although further research about the disorder is currently ongoing, past studies point out that those who suffer from SDD have “microstructural and volumetric differences in, or abnormalities of, both grey and white matter” in their brains, said Dr. Sigman.
Simply said, SDD can possibly lead to brain damage.
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