Advertise on podcast: Digital Distraction

Join Kristin and Dr. David Vigerust discussing the vaccination for Covid-19.

Listen in to a great show as Kristin speaks with Aaron Wanserski about helping remove mental health stigma within the gaming community.   Aaron Wanserski, the Video Game Outreach Director for The Center for Suicide Awareness, spent 12 years as a police officer before branching out into helping people in a new way.  As a self-proclaimed nerd, he realized that mental health is rarely talked about and set out to change that.  With their new podcast here on MHNR Network, The Center for Suicide Awareness, he hopes to help shatter the stigma.  The slogan for their podcast is "Everyone has a story."  This is to help people understand that their stories are just as worth sharing.   Be kind, you are loved, you are important, and remember, you are not alone. www.centerforsuicideawareness.org

You may have heard of grounding as a spiritual practice, but did you know it is the best way to detox from all things digital? Listen to Kristin, and co-host Georgia, speak with Laura Koniver, MD about her book, "The Earth Prescription: Discover the Healing of Nature with Grounding Practices for Every Season," and the health benefits of grounding. We hear how science reflects an ongoing practice of grounding your body to the Earth has incredible physical and mental health benefits. Dr. Koniver discusses further how helpful grounding is for anxiety and depression, even your circadian rhythm. Laura Koniver, MD, is an artist, author, holistic physician, and internationally recognized grounding advocate. Koniver has been featured as an expert in four motion pictures about grounding, and is also the author of the children's book, "From the Ground Up." https://www.intuition-physician.com/

Kristin discusses tech wellness with August Brice and what exactly electromagnetic sensitivity is and how to manage it. August is a Tech Wellness Advocate. That means her passion is making sure that you have the information you need to thrive in a world brimming with tech. She loves tech, however, her relationship with her digital devices and tech gadgets is guided by mindfulness… it’s from that place, that she founded TechWellness.com She began this tech wellness journey over 25 years ago when she developed something called Electromagnetic Sensitivity. ES led her to 25 years of research and discovery, unlocking the key to health and wellness, safety and security. The energy of a cellphone did not react well with her body, so she was able to watch as friends developed affection and dependence on their devices. This led her to pursue research on tech addiction and cyber-security issues with technology. The path culminated in a nice balanced ratio and respect for technology which we call the Tech Wellness Ways. www.techwellness.com

Craig DeLarge, one of the founders of The Digital Mental Health Project, joins Kristin for a unique discussion about how the use of digital media has impacted our mental health. Craig has been working on this topic since 2014 and shares why this topic is his passion and mission. Kristin and the team at Digital Tech Initiative are excited to have come across The Digital Mental Health Project as we've looked for organizations that discuss the positives and not so positive effects of digital technology on our mental health. Craig and his wife, Cheryl L. DeLarge, are the principals at Digital Mental Health Project. They are both mental health advocates and caregivers as well as healthcare executives. Craig is a digital health strategist and Cheryl is a learning & development leader. This Project brings together their occupational expertise and their vocational calling to positively impact mental health outcomes. Over 3 decades of his earlier career, Craig held healthcare marketing and digital health roles with Takeda Pharma, Merck, Sharpe & Dohme, Novo Nordisk, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Communications Media, Inc, IMS Health (now IQVIA) and the (U.S.) National Alliance on Mental Illness. He has additionally been a marketing, strategy, change leadership & communications professor at Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University, St. Joseph’s University, Chestnut Hill College, Drexel University, Penn State – Great Valley. He has degrees in Marketing from Philadelphia University (BSc), and Design Management (MBA) from the University of Westminster (UK). He is a candidate Public Health Masters student at Kings College, London. He is further a certified professional coach and published author of The WiseWorking Handbook (2014). During this same time, Cheryl held IT and HR learning & development roles with Merck, Sharpe & Dohme implementing innovative learning approaches and technologies for leaders and managers. She has degrees in Computer Information Systems from Messiah College (BSc) and Human Resources Development (MS) from Drexel University. Their team have put together some notes to help you reference the information shared on this episode. Please visit www.digitalmentalhealthproject.com and enjoy a tutorial video: https://youtu.be/p1cCYBNpXTw The NAMI Family-to-Family Program which was a life saver for Craig and Cheryl when they first encountered severe mental illness in their family. https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/NAMI-Programs/NAMI-Family-to-Family The blog post on “embedded digital mental health”: https://digitalmentalhealthproject.com/embedded-digital-mental-health-gateway-to next-wave-of-adoption/ The MentalTech Wearables presentation that was alluded to during this episode: https://digitalmentalhealthproject.com/anxietytech-conference-mentaltech-wearables-talk/ Their StressTech Literacy Series that was alluded to during this episode: https://digitalmentalhealthproject.com/stresstech-literacy-series-using-digitaltech-to-achieve-healthier-stress-levels-is-launched/ Blog about The Digital Stress Management Survey, one of their research offerings, which they welcome your participating in: a...

Join Jennifer and Kristin as they talk about why the answer to all addiction is connection. Seeking healing through connection is the answer for us in this tech connected and online world. The need for treatment programs to tackle digital media addiction is starting to take off and it is long overdue. Jennifer explains how a new kind of addiction treatment is what will move us through our collective and individual pain in 2020 and beyond. Jennifer Nicolaisen is the co-founder and Executive Director of SeekHealing, an Asheville-based non-profit pioneering a novel protocol for treating addiction and fighting the opioid overdose crisis. Her approach to helping individuals by first addressing addiction as a community disease is grounded in harm reduction and the importance of recognizing connection as a basic human need. www.seekhealing.org

Join Dr. I and James Asher with host Kristin Walker as they discuss how digital media distractions are affecting the mental health of teenagers.

What can we do to help high school students understand the impact of social media usage? Present at Michigan's first Student Mental Health Summit. We are honored to have been invited to speak and hold presentations and workshops in Lansing, Michigan. Tune in to hear what the state of Michigan is doing to provide Mental Health services to all of their secondary schools. It's much needed and we hope other states follow their lead! Matt Alley is the Director of Student Services for MASSP and MASC/MAHS Michigan Student Leadership. Our student association facilitates over 30 programs and events a year, working with hundreds of schools and over 10,000 students from across the state of Michigan. Matt graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and with a Master of Arts in Counseling. Matt and his wife, Riley, are the proud parents of four wonderful children (debatable depending on the day): Auden, Laken, Reddick and Sutter. https://massp.com/SMH This event is the first summit and SOLD OUT! We are excited to participate with Dr. Lisa Day, Frank King, Sahen Garcia and Kristin Sunanta Walker talking about Social Media Addiction!

Minisode teaser with Joseph Fusaro of www.hysteriaradio.net. Social Media can be like a slot machine! Careful how you use it.

Join hosts Sahen Garcia and Kristin Walker with Dr. David Vigerust discussing genetics and digital media use. Could an addiction to social media, our smartphones, online gaming, online anything be in our genetic makeup? Is there a genetic test we could take to determine this? Does epigenetics play a part? Let's hear from someone who completed their education with honors and is an actual geneticist! Dave Vigerust, MS., Ph.D. is the Director of Clinical Affairs for Volente Healthcare and a founding member of Digital Tech Initiative. After earning his bachelor’s in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso, his master’s in Microbiology and Immunology from Texas Tech, and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from Vanderbilt University, Dr. Dave Vigerust conducted post-doctoral research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in viral glycosylation, host defense from influenza, and bacterial secondary infection. He then transferred back to Nashville where he completed a second fellowship on the molecular biology of pediatric respiratory viruses at Vanderbilt. While serving on the faculty at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, he was concurrently a Health Research Scientist and managed his own laboratory in the Nashville U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Dr. Vigerust later served as the Chief Scientific Officer for a molecular diagnostics laboratory focused on prevention medicine. Dr. Vigerust has been published extensively in international journals, is an active editor and reviewer for several scientific journals and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. Dr. Vigerust is also an inventor and innovator and has developed several novel molecular diagnostic assays for predicting cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes, infectious disease and cancer. Over the past 20 years he’s received many awards for his research and was selected as a TEDx speaker on the subject of precision medicine. Dr. Vigerust currently maintains Assistant Professor positions at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Maryland. www.digitaltechinitiative.com