Dr. Anna Lembke

Now, some of that is characteristic of being a teenager anyway, but it's really much, much worse when kids get caught up in this world.

Parents often talk about losing like that child that they knew and this being a person that they don't recognize.

And that's true also with many other types of addictions.

So I would reflect back to your son, in particular, the specific unacceptable behaviors, his rudeness, his lateness, his not doing his chores, his lying, his disrespecting.

And talk about how it very well may be linked to his over-dependent slash addictive use of digital media.

And what you can then do is, again, advise him.

Right.

And then what I'm getting to here is setting boundaries.

Right, tell me what you're seeing.

And then, you know, and elicit from him what he's, again, this is a sort of, we were saying that.

And then the offer of help.

Would you like to get some help with this problem that we're observing?

Would you like to see a mental health counselor?

What if he says, I don't think I have a problem?

He probably will say that.

Yeah.

But at least you've identified that you see a problem, what you're observing.

You've made the offer of help.

Maybe he doesn't want help now, but maybe don't.

Right.