Brief Description
"Increasing numbers of parents grapple with children who are acting out without obvious reason. Many of these children are diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar, or autism spectrum disorders. They are then medicated with often poor and side-effect-riddled results. Author Dunckley specializes in working with children and families who have failed to respond to previous treatment and has pioneered a new program. In her work with more than 500 children, teens, and young adults diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, 80 percent showed marked improvement on the four-week program presented here. Interactive screens, including video games, laptops, cell phones, and tablets over stimulate a child's nervous system. While no one in today's connected world can completely shun electronic stimuli, Dunckley shows how the most vulnerable amongst us can and should be spared their damaging effects"--
Learn More about the Book
A no-cost, nonpharmaceutical treatment plan for children with behavioral and mental health challenges
Increasing numbers of parents grapple with children who are acting out without obvious reason. Revved up and irritable, many of these children are diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar illness, autism, or other disorders but don t respond well to treatment. They are then medicated, often with poor results and unwanted side effects. Based on emerging scientific research and extensive clinical experience, integrative child psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Dunckley has pioneered a four-week program to treat the frequent underlying cause, Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS).
Dr. Dunckley has found that everyday use of interactive screen devices such as computers, video games, smartphones, and tablets can easily overstimulate a child s nervous system, triggering a variety of stubborn symptoms. In contrast, she s discovered that a strict electronic fast single-handedly improves mood, focus, sleep, and behavior, regardless of the child s diagnosis.
Offered now in this book, this simple intervention can produce a life-changing shift in brain function all without cost or medication. Dr. Dunckley provides hope for parents who feel that their child has been misdiagnosed or inappropriately medicated, by presenting an alternative explanation for their child s difficulties and a concrete plan for treating them."
Review Quotes
1. 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"
Readers will . . . feel relieved to have such a helpful guide to teaching children that there is more to life than staring at a screen.
"Publishers Weekly"
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 accelerated 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"
"Many parents won t want to hear this, but child psychiatrist Dunckley makes a compelling case for an 'unrecognized disorder' she terms Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS). From kids who melt down without cause, refuse to look people in the eye, are 'wired but tired, ' or otherwise just hole up in their rooms all day, Dunckley s research identifies the common thread of dysregulation owing to screen use and orders an immediate electronic 'fast.' Showing how ESS affects brain chemistry, arousal, sleep, and behavior, to name but a few outcomes, the author moves into a four-week step-by-step plan to 'reset' a child s brain, resulting in better focus and organization, improved compliance, and more mature social interactions."
"Library Journal"
Parents will probably recoil from the idea of taking their children s cell phones and laptops away from them. Let them know that Dunckley acknowledges the mountain that she is asking them to climb and, not only gives them thorough reasons for doing it, but also a highly detailed plan for accomplishing it.
"Retailing Insight"
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"
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 important, 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 NetAddiction.com
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"
Victoria Dunckley makes a convincing case that parents should be very concerned about their children s constant exposure to electronic screenbased 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 and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
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, TheParentingDoctor.com"
