Screen Time & the Developing Brain (with Dr. Carrie Mackensen)

This episode explores how interactive screens and short-form media affect children's brain development, featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Carrie Mackensen. She explains that while healthy activities provide moderate dopamine boosts through effort, social media and platforms like YouTube Shorts flood kids' brains with 100 to 200 times more dopamine without any effort, overstimulating the emotional center while bypassing the thinking brain. This leads to underdeveloped critical thinking skills, increased anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and withdrawal. However, thanks to the brain's neuroplasticity, it's not too late for parents to help rewire these patterns. Dr. Mackensen and host Nicki Petrossi offer practical tools and screen-time guidelines to help families establish healthier digital boundaries and restore balance at home.

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