What should I do if my child feels down without playing with their phone

Children who experience low mood without playing with their phones can be intervened through adjusting family interaction patterns, cultivating alternative interests, establishing rule awareness, psychological counseling, and necessary medical evaluations. This phenomenon may be related to factors such as excessive reliance on electronic devices, lack of real-life social activities, insufficient family companionship, potential emotional disorders, or environmental stress.

1. Adjust the family interaction mode

Parents need to actively increase their parent-child interaction time and divert their children's attention from their phones by participating in household chores, board games, or outdoor activities together. It is recommended to schedule high-quality companionship for at least 30 minutes every day to avoid family members using electronic devices separately. You can try using collaborative activities such as role-playing and crafting to replace screen time and gradually rebuild emotional connections in real life.

2. Cultivate Alternative Interests

Introduce offline interest classes such as sports, painting, or music based on the child's age characteristics, and parents can accompany them in the early stages to reduce resistance. Choose projects that can instantly provide a sense of achievement, such as LEGO building, skateboarding, etc., to help children experience the fun of non electronic entertainment. Arrange 2-3 regular activities per week to form a habit, and be careful to avoid confrontational treatment between new interests and mobile phone usage.

3. Establish rule awareness

Develop clear electronic device usage protocols and adopt a progressive restriction method starting from reducing 10 minutes per day. It is recommended to bind mobile phone usage with mandatory tasks, such as using it for 20 minutes after homework. Parents should lead by example and abide by family rules, avoid compromising due to their children's crying, and set up a screenless rest area to enhance the sense of boundaries.

4. Psychological counseling

Observe whether children's emotional changes are accompanied by changes in appetite, sleep disorders, and other manifestations, and help express inner needs through drawing diaries or emotional cards. For prolonged periods of low mood for more than two weeks, a preliminary assessment can be conducted using a children's emotional scale. To avoid simply attributing addiction to mobile phones, it is necessary to investigate potential triggers such as campus relationships and academic pressure.

5. Medical evaluation

If accompanied by sustained loss of interest, social avoidance, or physical symptoms, a child psychologist should investigate anxiety, depression, and other illnesses. Doctors may recommend cognitive-behavioral therapy or prescribe antidepressants such as sertraline hydrochloride tablets and fluoxetine capsules. Parents must strictly follow the doctor's advice when taking medication. For comorbidities of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it may be combined with methylphenidate sustained-release tablets for treatment. Parents should maintain a stable emotional response in daily life and avoid blaming their children for withdrawal symptoms. Gradually enrich the family environment with physical books and educational toys, and regularly organize peer gatherings to promote real-life socialization. Pay attention to observing whether emotional fluctuations are related to specific events, and if necessary, record behavior logs for doctors' reference. Ensure sufficient sleep and a balanced diet, limit the intake of high sugar snacks to stabilize emotions. If symptoms continue to worsen or self harm tendencies occur, seek medical attention immediately.