Those who assist others, caregivers and helpers in various guises, tend to be overly externally referenced versus self-referential. This is simply a fact. I have written an entire book on the subject but for this brief article, I ask you to consider the role that the media plays in terms of influencing the health and well-being of those who orient to help others. This objective and material world is filled with ever-expanding technological wonder, much of which I admire and participate in. Yet it tends to be so omnipresent and seductive that I truly wonder if its influence on us is becoming insidiously and demandingly distractive. We all would benefit from regular down time after working hard all day. A question I have been considering for a while is what do sensitive people who take care of others as their profession (or even as their desire to help their aging parents), do at the end of the day to relax and restore themselves for sustaining their good flow of life energy and maintaining positive mental attitude? TV networking has had a proliferation of crime-related shows of late and movies, with blu-fay high definition and 3D technology are now making their way into our living rooms. Where does quiet meditation or reading fit in juxtaposed against the proliferation of expanding and enticing “entertainment.” There is just SO MUCH to choose from now. While I wish I had easy answers to address this issue, one important fact to consider in all this is that sleeping pills for both children and adults continue to grow as doctors give out more and more prescriptions every year. This points to something amiss, and I suspect it just may be related to overuse of the media that supports more stimulation to our nervous systems rather than less. I would enjoy your feedback on this.
Howard Brockman, LCSW
Posted 4-9-12
Howard Brockman
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