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Is this modern threat affecting your family...?
16th November 2008
• Is this modern threat affecting your family...?
• A new type of addiction that can effect anyone
especially the young
• Why you should blink at your computer
A friend of mine Jo recently took her boyfriend
to the doctor's, convinced he had some virus or
illness.
He couldn't get to sleep easily at night, he felt sick
a lot of the time, and he was suffering from bouts
of dizziness...
All symptoms that might get you thinking you'd
come down with some bug.
But there was one symptom that stood out like a
sore thumb...
No, it wasn't an actual sore thumb, but it was
something pretty similar.
You see, as well as feeling sick and dizzy and not
being able to sleep well, he also had incredible
shooting pains in his arms.
Both of them. From wrist to elbow.
So the doctor gave him a thorough check, going
through all the 'cough please' tests and asking him
to say 'AAAAAAAAHHH'... but couldn't
immediately see anything wrong.
In fact, for a moment, the doctor was stumped.
That was until he started to quiz Jo's boyfriend
about his lifestyle. At that point, the problem was
clear...
Can you guess what he was suffering from?
Well here's the answer, and there's a chance that
someone in your family could be headed in the
same direction...
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Is this modern threat affecting your
family...?
It turned out that Jo's boyfriend was suffering from
playing too many computer games. He'd become so
engrossed with them, he'd shoot aliens for a couple
of hours every night.
And it was effecting his health. So much so, that he
was actually off work with the problem.
Now, you might think this is an extreme situation.
And you'd be half right - but it's probably not as
extreme as you think.
I mean it's not as if Jo's boyfriend snuck
downstairs like that bloke from the R.Whites
Lemonade advert to play until dawn.
But two hours, most days, was enough to effect his
health.
And it's not just computer games that are fast
becoming a 21st century health threat. |
A new type of addiction that can effect
anyone - especially the young
According to a doctor in China, Internet addiction
is becoming a real problem... something as addictive
as gambling or alcoholism.
Over four years he's studied the on-line habits of
over 3000 people, and made some shocking
conclusions.
He discovered that an Internet addict would spend
at least 6.13 hours a day - with the group at
greatest risk being (surprise surprise) young men. It
seems that addiction can grip in such a way that
they start to withdraw from society, refuse to
communicate with friends and family, and
practically live in front of a computer screen.
Pretty typical teenager you might think. In fact you
could probably add other 'symptoms' like grunting
instead of speaking and refusing to help with the
washing up.
Because let's face it, teenagers are built to display
anti-social tendencies.
So if your child is slumped in front of the telly
blasting off the heads of evil Thaaaargs with a laser
gun, and barely acknowledges you as you clean up
his room around him, does that make him an
addict?
Actually that sounds like me and Lara, except Lara
will smack me round the head with a newspaper
while I'm doing crucial studies on the Wales scrum
formation... and I'm not addicted to rugby.
I'm NOT.
So how can you tell if your child is on the Internet
too much, or playing too many computer games?
Well in my book it's easy... I would only let them
play computer games for ONE HOUR in a day. No
more.
I would treat it exactly the same way I treat fast
food or sweets - as a treat, not a pastime. The
Internet is a harder one to call because when used
properly, it can open us up to so much great
information. It connect us to parts of the world
we'd never usually have access to, and allow us to
share ideas and views that would never normally be
out in the open.
All great.
But again, I wouldn't want anyone in my family to
be staring at a screen for hours on end, be it a
computer screen, a gaming screen or a TV screen.
So I'd limit the access - no question.
But that doesn't really solve the problem. Even if
you're not an Internet or gaming nut, chances are
you'll be staring at a screen for hours every week
(TV, work computer, emails... reading this! It all
adds up).
In fact, one study I read estimates that some of us
spend up to 35 hours a week looking at a screen.
So if you can't avoid using a computer for long
stretches, follow these tips to help ease the
fatigue... |
Why you should blink at your computer
- If you stare at a computer for too long, your
eyes will dry out and leave them tired. This is
because your blink rate will drop by about 80%,
and that's a bad thing. Blinking helps spread
tears across the eye, and helps remove any
irritants. Basically it's giving your eyeballs a
little valet every few seconds.
So make sure you blink purposefully every five
minutes or so for about 5 seconds... more if you
can remember to - to compensate for the loss of
natural blinking.
- The 20/20 rule... stop working every 20
minutes, and look at something about 20 feet
away, for 20 seconds. Actually I guess this
should be called the 20/20/20 rule. This will give
your eyes a mini-workout, forcing the
mechanics to focus and re-focus.
- Cut out the glare. If your screen is badly lit,
your eyes will struggle to cope, leading to
headaches and eye fatigue. So make sure your
computer screen is fitted with an anti-glare
filter. Also, don't light the room like you
normally would do. Try and cut don't on the
lighting by 50% (if you've got a dimmer switch
- perfect), and make sure any lamps are not
directly hitting your screen.
- Sit straight and take breaks... spend to long at
a computer and it's inevitable your neck,
shoulders and back will start crying out for help.
So try and stave off any unnecessary pain by
sitting up straight (imagine a rod stuck up
through the centre of your head holding you
there), and make sure you take regular breaks
every twenty minutes. Stand up, walk around,
and stretch your back and legs.
And if you back really starts to hurt (or you
already suffer from back pain), then you really
should try one of these.
Designed SPECIFICALLY to end back pain,
these little things don't just mask the pain...
they target the problem and eliminate the cause.
I think these are so good, I just had to get these
over here and make them available to you.
This is the ONLY place you can get them in the
UK, so take a look and see what I'm making
such a fuss about:
Pain Ease Wrap
That's me done for the day. Enjoy the rest of your
weekend, and I'll be back next week with more tips
and advice to help you feel healthier and stay
healthier! |
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