Screen-Time.

Chris is 14 years old. He is in year 9 at school. Chris has grown up mostly with his nanny and his dog Boggs as both his parents are at work. His parents run their business and are successful entrepreneurs.

Chris spends his time at school. Once he is back he is with his nanny and Boggs. They get along too well.

I met Chris and his parents around 2 months back. As successful Business Entrepreneur’s they both desired to have Chris to soon join his family trends. But they anticipated that Chris was going to fail his grades and would drop out of school. It was last few years, that Chris started showing up behaviour that was quite different. He was most of the time isolated in his room. When checked by his parents he would be busy gaming or glued to a TV show.

Initially, his parents did feel that it was teen ageing. And they thought he required space but as time passed they realised it had turned into an Addiction.

Boggs missed playing with Chris. The outdoors didn’t hear the hustle of the two playing. The courtyard remained empty. Nanny expressed her worry as she waited for hours at the table for food. Chris didn’t realise he hasn’t showered for days.

The teachers at school noticed Chris distracted. It was difficult to hold his concentration. He was by himself in a break. His parents were informed of his falling grades.

His parents were flabbergasted. They felt the aura of something not going right. They rushed him to my consulting room. They shared all their concerns.

Now it was my turn to meet the lad.

I saw this young boy trying to fix him on my chair. His hair was grown a bit long for a grade 9 boy. He tried to straighten his glasses and tuck his shirt in. We started with a casual meet, as I wanted him to be comfortable. He had no idea why he was sitting there on the chair at 6.00 pm in my cabin. I got him comfortable and we spoke. I explored my path.

It was important to have another meet fixed. As just within the first 15 minutes, I saw unrest setting in. I didn’t want to have a forceful conversation so we decided to meet again. We met soon, and this time for a shorter while. Chris was happy as he knew it’s a small quick visit and so he spoke a lot. He spoke uninterruptedly.

With the few sessions I had, we already knew Chris suffered from Screen addiction. His start with a few minutes to hours and then almost hours and hours with the screen had changed his life. He got secluded from people he loved, his passion, his hobbies, his friends, his parents, his nanny and above all Boggs his best friend. But as usual, he wasn’t aware of what’s happening around as he was into screen addiction.

While I explored Chris, there was an emotional outburst. It may surprise you too.

While Chris had tears hesitating to drop down his eyes and he quickly cleared them off, he expressed his internal conflict. He didn’t mind spending his time with his nanny whom he loves and also Boggs who kept him occupied all day long. When his parents returned, he looked forward to sharing his floating thoughts, regurgitating emotions and all that he bottled up during the day.

But unfortunately, the dinner table was the time when his parents distressed with their mobile phones and the time just passed by. Every time he attempted to come up with his thoughts, he was reminded that dinner table wasn’t the right place to speak. A silent dinner was all that he could have. He waited in desperation to hold his mom and rest his head on her. But the arguments between dad and mom as to who would watch their favourite TV show would mostly end up in the family going to their rooms to rest without realising; Chris had a lot to say. Slowly the suppression got transformed into isolation.

Isolation healed its way with addiction.

Chris did not acquire addiction as a habit. It was passed as a trait from his parents to him. Much before he could inherit their business, they had equipped him with their addiction.

Unfortunately, both were unaware of where it originated from. After complete eye-opener sessions with Chris; I started screen time detox sessions with his parents to begin with. It was important to clear the clutter from its origin. For Chris, it was much easier to get rid of his addiction, once he got involved with his entire family, to specify his parents first and of course Boggs and his Nanny.

I reformed the mathematics of their family time and believe me the addiction just slipped away.

It’s 2 months now; the family has a good dinner time.

Boggs is closer to the father and son as he now plays with both. Nanny has off on weekends as Chris favourite meals are cooked by the mother and son duo.

Small reformation has bought big-time transformation happiness to the family as a whole.

Screen time Addiction has its healing hidden in the Detox of the carrier and his environment too.