Tagged With "Centre for Addiction and Mental Health"
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Sit less, play more: WHO wades in on screen time use for children
The debate over just how much screen time is OK for young children rages on. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its latest guidelines : no screen time for babies under 1 and no more than 1 hour a day for kids 1-4 years old. Kids should be more active and sleep more, rather than engage in passive screen time, which can lead to health problems later on in life. The main concern is the impact of physical inactivity - of which sedentary screen time is a part - on the risk of...
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Sleep problems in teenagers reversed in just one week by limiting screen use
Sleep in teenagers can be improved by just one week of limiting their evening exposure to light-emitting screens on phones, tablets and computers. The study indicates that by simply limiting their exposure to blue-light emitting devices in the evening, adolescents can improve their sleep quality and reduce symptoms of fatigue, lack of concentration and bad mood, after just one week. Those who had more than 4 hours per day of screen time had on average 30 minutes later sleep onset and wake up...
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Gambling and Gaming Harms: Ontario Professional Development Forum
On May 9 th and 10 th , the Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use team under the Provincial System Support Program at CAMH and Gambling Research Exchange Ontario co-hosted the Gambling and Gaming Harms: Ontario Professional Development Forum. The forum brought together over 100 clinicians and community partners, providing an opportunity to interact and learn from each other’s experiences, broadening their outlook beyond their own practice. Dr. Carlo C. DiClemente, one of the founders of the...
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The increasingly blurred lines between gambling and gaming
Last week, we published an article on camh.ca highlighting how the lines between gambling and gaming are blurring. The article features quotes from @Registered Member speaking about her family's experience with video gambling problems and @Registered Member speaking about how gambling elements are increasingly found within video games. Read the full article here: https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/the-increasingly-blurred-lines-between-gambling-and-gaming I...
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Social media, but not video games, linked to depression in teens, according to Montreal study
Screen time — and social media in particular — is linked to an increase in depressive symptoms in teenagers, according to a new study by researchers at Montreal's Sainte-Justine Hospital. Conrod and her colleague, Elroy Boers, found that the increased symptoms of depression are linked to being active on platforms such as Instagram, where teens are more likely to compare their lives to glitzy images in their feeds. The most surprising finding for Boers was that time spent playing video games...
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Fall 2019 Newsletter
Just in case you missed it, our Fall 2019 newsletter was released today. Our newsletter recently merged with the EENet newsletter to streamline how you stay informed about trainings, webinars, research, and other news related to mental health and addictions in Ontario. You can find the full Fall 2019 newsletter here . If you haven't done so already, please sign up here to keep up-to-date with the latest gambling, gaming and technology use news.
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Panicking About Your Kids Phones? New Research Says Don’t
A growing number of academics are challenging assumptions about the negative effects of social media and smartphones on children. SAN FRANCISCO — It has become common wisdom that too much time spent on smartphones and social media is responsible for a recent spike in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, especially among teenagers. But a growing number of academic researchers have produced studies that suggest the common wisdom is wrong. The latest research, published on...
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COVID-19 and Gambling (Resource)
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic could have a significant impact on how, why, and when people gamble, resulting in important implications for the way we design gambling prevention, harm reduction, and treatment initiatives. GREO is committed to curating and sharing the best available evidence to inform meaningful and responsive policy and practice across the gambling landscape. In partnership with international stakeholders, we ha ve created this collection of evidence related to gambling...
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Re: Teens in Urban Regions Are More Likely To Experience Problem Video Gaming
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, @Registered Member. This is based on the results of one article, so it may be possible that other studies looking at the differences in problem video gaming between teens in urban and rurals regions could yield different results depending on the region, access to technology and offline activities available, among many factors. And thanks @Registered Member, I agree that it would be vital to educate students (and parents/guardians) about gambling, video...
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Re: How mental illness is discussed on the internet
There are so many horrible things and misinformation on the internet regarding mental health and addictions. In a sea of confusion, it's hard to find the truth. I think it's critical for those of us working in this field to stop using jargon and psychobabble to reach the general population. People are looking for credible information that they can understand and share on social media. I saw a "problem solving" cartoon the other day that showed someone who hung himself and the other person...
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Re: How mental illness is discussed on the internet
Alison, That is a horrific image that was posted on FB. I can't believe that nothing was done even after you notified FB. It's interesting that those platforms (ie FB and IG) will remove and mark as inappropriate a picture of a woman breast feeding her child but not what you reported. I was listening to a podcast where people who have diagnosed OCD talked about their experiences, shared parts of their daily lives that have been impacted by their OCD and talked about how hurtful it is when...
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Re: Lots of video gaming online: problem ?
Hi Suzie, Thanks for joining our community and posting your question. ConnexOntario is a great resource for information about referrals for mental health and addiction services that you and/or your son can access. You can reach them through online chat or email at https://www.connexontario.ca/ or by phone at 1-866-531-2600. If you reside outside of Ontario, they also provide a list of services in Canada and internationally: http://www.connexontario.ca/Home/Links . Since you mentioned that...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
It will be interesting to see if they control for things like income and other social determinants of health. I have a sense that it might be more likely for parents with fewer resources to use the phone/TV as a coping strategy, especially if they don't have as much support as other more affluent parents.
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
Hi Nimira, You make an excellent point. Another thing to consider, on the opposite spectrum, is that many middle class to upper class schools now utilize tablets and laptops as part of the school curriculum. Does the content matter? Or is it just screen time. I wonder if the added family resources outside of school, that may support vacations, hobbies and sports (events away from screen time) and resources that support enhanced learning, is large enough to combat the effects of increased...
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Re: The first long-term study on how screen time affects children's brains
I was just about to say that Aaron! Content matters! This has been an ongoing debate and I'm afraid I'm on the pro-screen time. I find these studies skewed... "If you give a child an app where they play with virtual Legos, virtual blocks, and stack them, and then put real blocks in front of them, they start all over," Why would you test block-building capacity and say this skill isn't transferable when using real blocks? Seems pretty obvious. I'm sure if you tested for non gross motor skills...
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Re: Bell Let's Talk - part of the problem?
With Bell ,there were Incredible Long-distance Bills many struggled to pay over decades of people calling family members and friends to talk about problems. Way past time for Bell to send Billions to badly needed Mental Health Services. I worked in Supportive Housing -where are the new buildings and Group Homes?Family and Friends often fall-away and abandon people who have problems or seem different or weird. Been reading NOW Magazine since the start as a source of Free or Low-cost...
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Re: Bell Let's Talk - part of the problem?
I really don't think there is much substance to this article. Screen time, social media and all-the-time internet access is the reality of today. Not everyone abuses or is negatively affected by these mediums just as not every person who drinks is addicted to alcohol. I agree that there does seem to be some sort of shallowness to the campaign but it does get people talking. Moreover, I agree with the possible negative effects of these new communication mediums. However, it is not as if this...
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Re: Bell Let's Talk - part of the problem?
I completely agree Aaron! Bell is not to blame for mental health prevalence, stigma, and or self-esteem issues. It is merely a medium, as you put, a vessel by which content is delivered. People like to make the argument that perhaps Bell is enabling mental health issues but perhaps it is also enabling change - which is exactly the purpose of the BellLetsTalk campaign. For a campaign that brought in $7.2M in grants (800k being put towards Indigenous communities), not to mention the level of...
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Re: Bell Let's Talk - part of the problem?
I echo a lot of what has been said by Aaron and Michelle above. Pointing the finger at a company like Bell without looking at the wider social structures (hyper-capitalism, an increasingly digital world, the shift towards the singularity of human/tech interaction) does miss the mark in my opinion. I actually studied smartphone dependency/addiction for my MSc thesis and do very much think that we're still figuring out that 'sweet spot' between tech being beneficial or detrimental to our...
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Re: "An age-by-age guide to kids and smartphones"
Thanks for sharing, Matt! I think this article provides a lot of great discussion points and things to consider. As mentioned in the article, guidelines from the Canadian Paediatric Society and American Academy of Pediatrics suggest limiting recreational screen time for youth to minimize the risk of future problem technology use but I think this is just a starting point. Risk factors such as a child's developmental stage, any existing mental health problems and even what the child is doing...
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Re: ADHD study links teens' symptoms with digital media use
Great article, Howie. And thanks for shedding light on your personal experiences, Elaine. It's interesting because most of the theories I've heard concerning the link between ADHD and digital media use focus on how the symptoms of ADHD (e.g., inattentiveness, impulsivity, etc.) put a person at risk for developing problematic technology use as an unhealthy way of coping with/expressing these symptoms. However, in your son's case, it appears that his video gaming preceded his ADHD symptoms.
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Re: Gambling, Gaming, and Technology Use Knowledge Exchange
Thank you for posting this article, Elaine! I think it is relevant food for thought for both parents and professionals. I especially like that she talks about the importance of ruling out and addressing electronics in mental health assessments. In the article, Dr. Dunkerley also says, “ Time and again, I’ve realized that regardless of whether there exists any “true” underlying diagnoses, successfully treating a child with mood dysregulation today requires methodically eliminating all...
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Re: is the news the new FOMO?
Thanks for sharing this, Beth. This is a really interesting perspective and one that could play a role in harm reduction, as you mentioned. I think more research is needed to understand the interplay between social media and mental health. I came across a news article entitled "Does social media actually decrease anxiety?" that was recently featured in the Globe and Mail and discusses some of the different findings in the research about whether social media decreases or increases anxiety,...
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Re: Can anyone suggest an gambling clinical practice guide, that incorporates "cultural competency" on the idea of "lucky?"
Hello Bill, Please find the attached document, "A Guide for Counsellors Working with Problem Gambling Clients from Ethno-cultural Communities." On page 16 there is content related to your question. Best, Lisa
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Re: Teens in Urban Regions Are More Likely To Experience Problem Video Gaming
I like your idea Tiffany of adding safer gaming practices into curriculum with safer gambling information. I also think that there is a need for a paired curriculum for parents/guardians on both of these topics, especially as technology use is so ubiquitious. I wonder how influential overall wellness and mental health education would be at addressing some of those underlying issues and how students would respond if the curriculum not only taught safer gambling and gaming practices, but...
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