{"id":4678,"date":"2015-12-14T12:55:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T17:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=4678"},"modified":"2018-08-13T15:17:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T15:17:08","slug":"tip-1-to-limit-tics-reduce-electronics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/tip-1-to-limit-tics-reduce-electronics\/","title":{"rendered":"Tip #1 to Limit Tics: Reduce Electronics"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article,<\/a> I wrote a list of 20 things I\u2019m doing to manage tics. I broke the list down into simple changes\/habits vs. more technical. Because it\u2019s Christmas and I have so much to do that pretty sure I\u2019ll be ticking myself, I am starting with the easy changes. I\u2019d love your opinion, too!<\/p>\n

# Tip to Limiting Tics: Less Screen Time\/Video Games<\/span><\/p>\n

This article by Psychology Today<\/a> suggests a screen fast of up to 3 weeks to calm the tics down. \u201cElectronic screen media<\/strong>\u2014since video games and computer use increases dopamine<\/a>and tics are dopamine-related, it\u2019s understandable that electronic media worsens tics.\u00a0 For bothersome tics, I recommend a three week \u201celectronic fast\u201d(link is external)<\/span><\/span><\/a> to normalize brain<\/a>\u00a0chemistry and improve sleep<\/a> (restful sleep improves tics in and of itself).\u201d<\/p>\n

Having gone back and forth with this for over 8 years (see this post from 2011<\/a>\u00a0when I attributed the Nintendo DS to devil\u2019s dung) I have a few things to say about an electronic fast.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It works.<\/li>\n
  2. But is it worth it?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Yes, there are many moms (such as this post from ACN shows<\/a>) that have seen improvement with their kids\u2019 tics by eliminating screen time altogether, but this can be tricky if you have a child like mine. Sometimes the pressure and sadness over not being able to do what he loves make my kid tic more.<\/p>\n

    Many of my super holistic friends, as well as Stink\u2019s naturopath, are of the ilk that just because a kid likes something doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s healthy for them. For them it\u2019s a no-brainer (no pun intended on the messing up one\u2019s brain-er part) that if something is bad for you, it must go.<\/p>\n

    I choose, for example, not to drink wine at all because 3 glasses of it makes me nutty. The thing with video games, for this mama anyway, is that I don\u2019t find the usage \u2013 in moderation \u2013 to be the same thing as drinking and driving over squirrels with my kids in the back seat of the SUV (playing video games).<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve decided, after battling the video game demon for 8 \u00a0years, that a few tics in exchange for moderate video game use is okay. It\u2019s not an all or nothing thing for us. Combined with many other healthy alternatives, I\u2019m okay with it. For my kid, I let him play as long as there are adequate boundaries around it.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s how I handle the video game usage<\/p>\n