Why Digital Drugs Harm Developing Brains

Anna and Oprah discuss craving, withdrawal, and how repeated digital hits dysregulate children's emotional states.

Play episode from 11:01

chevron_right

Transcript

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

Millions of parents and educators are in an overwhelming struggle to get children and teens to put their smartphones down or stop watching a screen on a tablet. To uncover what is at the root of an issue that is wreaking havoc at home and at school, Oprah sits down with Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Dr. Lembke, author of the New York Times mega-bestseller Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, explains why smartphones and tablets should be thought of as providing “digital drugs,” while describing the devastating impact these “drugs” are having on the still-developing brains of young people. Dr. Lembke and Oprah answer questions from mothers who are desperate for help managing their children’s screen addictions. Plus - British actress, Royal Family Member and Patron of Close Screens Open Minds Sophie Winkleman joins from London to talk about why she believes tech in schools has been disastrous for students and is destroying the education system from within.

'Dopamine Nation' by Anna Lembke

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Welcome Dr. Anna Lembke, author of “Dopamine Nation”

00:03:00 - Reframing digital media as a drug

00:08:30 - Smart phones are modern day hypodermic needles

00:09:15 - Addiction definition

00:12:10 - Kids experiencing craving and withdrawal

00:17:00 - Mom of 2 girls wants to know if they are addicted

00:27:15 - Managing teens devices

00:36:15 - How to help college-aged kids

00:42:00 - Actress Sophie Winkleman on ed tech

00:45:00 - Screens in schools