Latest news with #GailSaltz
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why Doctors Say Doomscrolling Is ‘Terrible' For Your Skin
We're living in an age where information from across the world is easily accessible, at our fingertips in a heartbeat—just a tap and swipe away on news apps and social media feeds, all day every day. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that over 54% of U.S. adults now get their news via social media, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2020. It's no surprise that the all-too-addictive behavior known as doomscrolling can impact your mental health, but excessive screen time can also affect your skin. It's important to stay up-to-date on current events (hey, that's what we're here for), but it's just as important to take care of yourself, both physically and emotionally. Getting nonstop push notifications about the worst of humanity or constantly refreshing your newsfeed, unable to resist clicking on the latest awful thing—well, those habits probably won't be conducive to the well-being of your mind and body. Here's what you need to know about the effects of doomscrolling on your skin and how to fix it—you know, beyond chucking your cellphone out of a window. What is doomscrolling, and why do we do it? Doomscrolling happens when an individual struggles to refrain from endlessly engaging with bad news stories or social media content, often leading to feelings of anxiety, stress, depression, or sadness. 'Doomscrolling has a built-in biology to it,' said Gail Saltz, an associate professor of Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine. 'You get a hit of your fight-or-flight response where your brain is telling you, 'you better look, because if you don't scan for danger, you're going to be a victim.'' That wiring is reinforced by dopamine, the feel-good chemical linked to reward. When we feel more informed or prepared, our brains give us a slight boost of satisfaction. But when we consume disturbing content, the stress hormone norepinephrine is released, triggering a jittery, high-alert reaction. This not only affects individuals' happiness but also impairs their ability to function and focus on other key routines, such as work, sleep, and self-care. 'Engaging with this material is a constant trigger for stress,' Dr. Saltz told The Daily Beast. 'If you're chronically stressed, then you are chronically producing more circulating cortisol, which has many different effects on physical and mental health.' How does emotional stress translate to breakouts and inflammation? The main function of cortisol, also known as the 'stress hormone,' is to help regulate blood pressure and glucose levels while also combating inflammation during moments when our bodies enter 'fight or flight' mode. But issues arise when cortisol levels become elevated too frequently as a result of stress. Engaging with this material is a constant trigger for stress. 'If [doomscrolling] is something that causes chronic stress in a person, it can have a negative impact on the cosmetic appearance of the skin,' said Jeremy Fenton, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York. 'Cortisol in excess can [harm] the skin in the long term, causing it to become thinner or weaker.' While it may be challenging to look at a person and assume that they spend too much time on social media based on their face, Dr. Fenton said patients can usually recognize the connection themselves. Patients with inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis, acne, and eczema often realize that their symptoms progressively worsen not only when their stress levels are high but also when they are sleep-deprived. How does nighttime scrolling hurt your skin? Like the rest of your body, your skin needs a chance to heal itself. Unfortunately, endlessly thumbing through terrifying news stories can mess with its ability to do that. 'Doomscrolling is a terrible thing to do before going to bed because you're revving up your system,' Dr. Saltz said. 'To sleep, you have to bring on board your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the side that is relaxing.' Binging the news or your Insta feed before bed not only impacts falling asleep, but the body's ability to fall back asleep if one were to wake up in the middle of the night due to anxiety. 'Your body needs sleep for regeneration, your brain needs sleep, and all of your tissues need sleep in order to trigger the appropriate regeneration and recuperation,' added Dr. Fenton. Doomscrolling is a terrible thing to do before going to bed. Sleep deprivation can also lead to increased cortisol and other hormone changes, such as a reduction in the production of melatonin, which may impair the skin's ability to repair itself. When the body is unable to get the rest it needs to replenish itself, inflammation occurs, which can cause an increase in breakouts, skin sensitivity, redness, irritation, and puffy eyes. 'Sleep is a critical component of your overall health across many different facets,' says Dr. Fenton. 'There's no doubt that sleep deprivation is going to have a negative impact on overall skin health.' Does blue light really mess with your complexion, or is the issue more complicated than that? Digital and LED screens emit blue light, a high-energy, short-wavelength visible light. Extended blue light exposure, similar to excessive sun UV rays, can harm the body, causing issues like eye strain and, yes, sleep problems. Some studies suggest blue light may do a number on your skin, but Dr. Fenton noted that these claims remain debated. 'You can find some evidence of the negative effect of blue light on the skin, potentially increasing DNA damage, breakdown of some of the supporting tissue in the skin,' Dr. Fenton says. 'But you can also find evidence where blue light is also used therapeutically—it's used sometimes to help treat, treat acne, and other things.' Dr. Fenton recommends daily sunscreen and antioxidant serums for anyone who spends a significant amount of time behind a screen and is concerned about the long-term effects it might have on their skin. 'If you use sunscreen, a physical sunscreen with a tint is ideal as the iron oxide in tinted sunscreens offers protection against visible light in addition to UV light,' he said. In other words, next time you notice the moon peeking through your blinds while you're caught up in a TikTok session, put down your phone and pick up a book instead.
CNN
09-07-2025
- Climate
- CNN
How can families handle anxiety around summer camp after the Texas floods?
Hurricanes StormsFacebookTweetLink Follow When tragedies are in the news — natural disasters, plane crashes, fires — parents naturally and unavoidably react by thinking about what might happen to their own children. And children worry in turn about what might happen to them. The flash flooding last week that killed more than 100 people along the Guadalupe River in central Texas, including dozens of campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, was a family nightmare come true. Every summer, kids hug their parents goodbye for camp, with both sides full of anxiety about what it means for children to be away from home and family. Now that those normal worries are being amplified by the news from Texas, what should parents and kids do? Children who have been planning for camp should still go to camp, even if it feels difficult, said Dr. Gail Saltz, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill-Cornell Medical College. 'When we don't do a behavior that makes us anxious, it restricts us further and actually tends to make us more anxious.' Fear is understandable but it's important to recognize when it becomes irrational and unnecessarily limiting, potentially even threatening formative experiences in children's lives, Saltz said. The devastation at Camp Mystic feels especially distressing because summer camps are places people choose to go, that often hold their fondest memories. The very nature of overnight camp removes the sense of control many parents feel when their children are home. 'It's a transition to something new and different. That evokes separation anxiety for both parents and kids, even in older kids,' Saltz said. Watching an unfolding tragedy of this magnitude can trigger what Saltz calls 'irrational, catastrophic fears' and deep feelings of helplessness — and just at the moment when families across the country are dropping off camp trunks or waiting for messages home. No matter how unprecedented an incident, hearing about it makes it feel as if it's likely happen again, 'certainly in the immediate aftermath,' Saltz said. 'It's important to remember it's bizarrely rare.' The deadly flooding occurred after drought conditions and a massive amount of rain — another example of extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent amid rising global temperatures. 'It adds this element of helplessness — the same kind of helplessness, for example, that many people feel about guns and school shootings,' Saltz said. 'And so that feeling of being stuck adds to that distressing, helpless feeling, not being in control.' Bob Ditter, a clinical social worker for the American Camp Association, said stories from Camp Mystic alumni reflect a place that has been around for nearly 100 years and where people feel safe and a strong sense of belonging. 'The reason that this has resonated with so many people is the specter of having our safe, happy space swept away from us is just unimaginable,' he said. Dr. Leslie Paris, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia who studies American childhood, said that camps have historically been treated as safe havens from crime and disease. They encourage tradition and nostalgia, too, drawing generations of parents 'eager to provide similar opportunities to their own children.' Going to camp has never been perfectly safe. Deadly drownings, disease outbreaks, and lightning strikes have happened through the generations, but not so widely or frequently that they drove campers away. 'The scale of the tragedy at Camp Mystic is particularly significant,' Paris said. 'I think that we are collectively shocked because these are deaths so deeply out of order, so fundamentally wrong.' Parents and caregivers should acknowledge their fears but resist the temptation to avoid anxiety or discomfort. They can do their due diligence about safety, including asking camps about their emergency plans and how they can communicate with their children. But they'll have to accept that some degree of uncertainty will always exist. Parents acknowledging and tolerating that uncertainty is a model for their children, Saltz said. 'You're operating as a family. There are a million things in life that you cannot do if you can't tolerate any risk at all,' Saltz said. 'You can't cross the street, you can't fly to a vacation. Everything has some modicum [of uncertainty] so it is important in the world of resilience, experience, managing new tasks, to be able to tolerate that.' For parents with anxious children, Saltz suggests leaving the news out of family discussions or letters to camp. 'There's no reason for a child in a camp in Vermont to be hearing about this camp in Texas,' she said. 'In pre-internet days when camps were around, they wouldn't have.' Still, word will spread. And when it does, 'the most important thing to do is to point out how rare it is to tell them that they can absolutely talk with you about it,' Saltz said. 'They can ask you any questions. You may not know the answers, but you'll try to find out for them.' Ditter from the American Camp Association said that parents should emphasize 'that there's a difference between something that has happened to somebody else that resonates with us, but that hasn't happened to us. It's our empathy that makes us frightened and makes us feel these things deeply. In fact, we even have a name for it. We call it empathic distress.' Saltz emphasizes that neither parents nor children should immerse themselves in the news. 'I would advise parents who have learned about the story not to keep watching the news story over and over again,' she said. 'There's no benefit, but there is repeated triggering.' Even if it feels uncomfortable, children with mild anxiety disorder, mood issues or separation anxiety still benefit from taking risks and developing away from the normal routines of home. But sleepaway camp may not be for everyone, including children with a panic or mood disorder, phobia, or who have experienced a recent tragedy or trauma. 'If you send them somewhere where they can't get any treatment, you may be doing them a disservice,' Saltz said.
USA Today
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
This mom ‘de-pilled' her teen son. What is that and why are people praising her?
This mom 'de-pilled' her teen son. What is that and why are people praising her? Show Caption Hide Caption What the emojis in Netflix's 'Adolescence' mean Since its release, Netflix's 'Adolescence' has sparked widespread discussion, offering a chilling look at the impact of the internet and social media on children. unbranded - Entertainment As the Netflix series 'Adolescence' continues to spark difficult conversations about social media, "red-pilling" and the manosphere, one mom took to social media to share how she 'de-pilled' her son − and her post is making waves. The term red-pilled comes from a scene in the 1999 movie 'The Matrix' where a character chooses between a red pill that reveals the realities of the world and a blue pill offering blissful ignorance. 'De-pilling' is meant to undo 'red-pilling." In the context of the manosphere, a web of conservative cultural critics, the "red pill" refers to being awakened to the supposed truth about men and women. In this mother's TikTok video that amassed over 2.4 million views, she explained how an off-handed comment hinted to her that her son may have been exposed to content that disparaged women. "We were just having a normal conversation, and he said to me 'well, women are gold diggers anyway.' " During their conversation, she asked him questions and he eventually showed her the video where he heard similar comments. Dr. Gail Saltz, an associate professor of psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College, says this is the right approach: To be 'inquisitive and curious.' 'If you lecture your child… You shut down the conversation,' she says. 'Try being curious and letting your kid share with you what they're seeing and how they feel about it.' Hearts, kidney bean: Netflix's 'Adolescence,' toxic masculinity and what these emoji really mean Know the signs The first step is to learn the terminology used in the manosphere. In the series 'Adolescence,' detectives learned that emojis – such as hearts, kidney bean and the 100 emoji – had different meanings that nodded to the manosphere. A TikTok user who commented on the viral video wrote: "Mine said '...well women are supposed to be mothers.' " Another commented her 14-year-old suddenly began using the word "females" instead of women or girls. (The original poster replied: "a very good sign, that's how they're referred to in those videos.") 'It's naïve to think that your child will not see this stuff at some point and so really what you're trying to do is stay open to it and aware that it's there,' Saltz says. 'Educate yourself about the words they're talking about… if you hear the terminology crop up, you're going to know what's going on.' Apart from terminology, Saltz also recommends parents be aware of behaviors that could point to mental health struggles, such as more time alone with a device, mood changes and poor grades in school. How to counteract toxic internet culture The best approach to talking to kids about conspiracy theory, toxic or controversial internet content is to be as direct as possible with curious questions regarding how they feel about what they've seen and where they found it, Saltz says. She emphasizes the conversation should be an 'exploration, not an interrogation' and recommends asking kids to share concrete sources for what they've heard. In the viral TikTok video, the mom began her line of questioning by asking her son what women in his life he would consider to be gold diggers. When he couldn't name one, she pivoted to his sourcing and asked her son what he thought about the men in the videos making these assertions: Do they look like they know what they're talking about? Are they in functional relationships? 'She guided her son in some evidence-based thinking, which is smart because that is the way out of conspiratorial thinking,' Saltz says. "A trusted relationship has the best chance of questioning this supposed truth that this child has been offered as a belief system… Moms are in a good position to do that.' It's also important to address mental health struggles and possible feelings of loneliness or isolation, and seek professional help, she added. 'Young boys and young men are increasingly lonely, disenfranchised, depressed, anxious and feeling unsupported," Saltz says. "All of those things make them more susceptible to becoming radicalized in these communities." Women are abused online every day. One turned her nightmare into a book. Prevention is key While it's never too late to de-radicalize a child, Saltz says parents can take some preventative measures ahead of time. Parents can try limiting their child's access to social media by pushing off giving them a smartphone for as long as possible or enforcing house rules that limit smartphone use, including keeping phones in common areas like the living room or handing them back to parents before bedtime. But the best thing parents can do is have an honest, open and empathetic relationship with their child. If they have this type of relationship from the start, it will be easier to address issues in the future. It also gives children social-emotional tools for when they're inevitably confronted with one of these videos in an algorithm. 'Start with little kids being like, 'How do you feel? What do you think about those feelings and what do you understand?' ' she says. 'This is just good empathetic connecting and you're helping your child develop those skills for themselves… It gets harder when you get older.' Contributing: Rachel Hale, USA TODAY. Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
