Screen Time Up
 

Over the past week or two I have noticed my ability to use my iPhone 5s on the lowest brightness setting has increased dramatically. I spent nearly 3 hours on it yesterday and today seems to be the same. I am having barely any symptoms from this. A month ago I was unable to text without my head hurting, I was using voice command.

I still have extreme light sensitivity to the sun and am too scared to look at a computer monitor or TV screen but this has got to be good news, right? Finally some progress!

I'm trying to be cautious with it but it's so nice to be able to do something to fill my time during the days.

How often are you texting ? Do you also follow Twitter feeds ?

I'm not texting people very often. I have been just browsing mainly but I am texting here and into google search fields often. I deleted my Twitter app a month ago during one of the tough stretches. I have considered redownloading if I have no setbacks.

I have been playing lumosity and elevate just to keep my mind active as well.

Good to hear. Some people get addicted to texting and Twitter such that it contributes to anxiety. They are constantly needing that fix and when it does not come, they get anxious. Definitely not a way to reduce stress.

I am concerned about the Lumosity and Elevate activity. It is important to keep good blood flow and other brain actions going.... But, Lumosity and such have grossly oversold their value. If you can do them without any struggle or frustration, they may be OK. But, if you find that you are constantly feeling like you could do better and straining to get a higher score, it might be more than you want right now.

Think of the difference between exercise and body building. You want just exercise. You are not trying to improve your functions. Any improvements i function should come after your have recovered from the other PCS symptoms.

It is better to have games and exercises where you are frequently able to be successful and complete the task fully than to have exercises where you have to improve 25% to complete the task. There are negative chemistries left in the brain when the task is left uncompleted or there is a sense of failure even if it is only partial failure.

Don't feel like you are stuck with a Use it or Lose it risk. That is not the case. Once you have reached maximum recovery, you can restore lazy functions quite easily.

It would be great if these brain training games established a par based on early performance so the goal is to maintain that par. Then, they would adjust the game so you can accomplish par or just above with a slow hidden change in par over time, as you improve.

I've done some where I completed 70% of the tasks in the time allotted but then am told I did better than 90% of participants. The sense that I failed 30% is counter to the kind of reward the brain needs.

I have done the free exercises at Lumosity, FitBrains and have a full copy of the Posit Science exercises.

I do my exercising on a laptop. Those small screens are too intense for me.

I do MSN Games JigSaw puzzles.
http://zone.msn.com/en/jigsaw/defaul...Strip_2_Jigsaw

There are three new ones each day. They usually take me 30 minutes total. Sometimes a tough one will take a long time. The tough ones are good exercise at calm perseverance. The point being to be able to complete the frustrating puzzles without stressing out. Last night, one puzzle took me 55 minutes.

The MSN JigSaw Puzzles have aids/tools. You can select Tools then Edges so you just work the edges until they are done. Then I select Tool/Arrange and the rest of the pieces are placed outside the puzzle so they are not overlapping. This reduces the processing load. I also leave the 'rotate' function off so all the pieces are oriented correctly. My fastest puzzle is under 7 minutes but most are 9 to 13 minutes.

www.thejigsawpuzzles.com also has free puzzles to do. I select the 100 piece classic layout. There are no aids or tools so it can be more of a challenge. A fast 100 piece puzzle takes me 13 minutes or so.

Remember, exercise not body building.

Your brain already has enough to do.