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Felipe was downloading some music in the Lion’s
Den and said, “This is the best thing that has
happened to me since I’ve been in the hospital.”
Danny was playing a video game against his
brother. His mother said, “I wish I could get
them to play together that nicely at home.”
Sara’s mother began to weep as she watched her
daughter laughing and giggling in front of the
video game screen. She said, “Ten minutes ago
she didn’t want to get out of bed and look at
her now… she doesn’t even know she’s in a
hospital anymore.”
“Brandon had severe pain in his stomach and
wasn’t feeling very social,” the Child-Life
specialist said. “We coaxed him out of bed and 5
minutes in the Lion’s Den, he’s teaching the
younger boys how to play video games and he just
showed a girl how to access her email.”
Dr. Lonnie Zeltzer director of the Pediatric
Pain program at UCLA's Mattel Children's
Hospital recently conducted a study called,
"Diminishing Pain by Distraction". She
determined that positive mood and comfort
actually changes activity in the nerve
connections and the chemical environment that
bathes the brain in very powerful ways and can
actually turn off pain perception. She theorized
that there is a medical explanation as to why
children playing video games or watching TV are
less likely to feel pain from injury or surgery.
She said, "If the cognitive brain is involved in
another activity, there is no room for the pain
signals to get through. When a child watches TV
or plays a video game, like a magnet, chemical
activity in the pain perception area of their
brain is drained away and the kids report
feeling less painful sensations."
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