European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The mashing of Couch potatoes by Mark Schwed United press International ouch potatoes beware. Nol Only is your mind being mashed from watching All that television but your body is being crashed As Well. All that vegetating i3 creating a new generation of moaning misfits. The american physical therapy association says More and More heavy to viewers Are showing up at the therapist s door complaining of aching backs stiff necks and twisted discs. Business is booming said Kay Scheeler a physical therapist based in Washington . There Are lots of Couch  the Anta a National association representing 44,000 physical therapists assistants and students in the United Stales even has a scientific term to describe Couch potatoes Hyp kinetics persons suffering from stiffness weakness and pain caused by the inadequate muscular activity of their languid lifestyles the therapists blame the favorite position of the television viewer he full body slump for Ell the pain and suffering. Schaefer said she is treating a growing number of hypo kinetics and that May have something to a with the tact that More people Are planting themselves in front of the to set thanks to the proliferation of channels and the Var Boom. These Days Home is where the action is and that s the problem. There s no action in Couch slumping. People come in and say my Back hurls " Schaefer said. So we ask them about their daily routine. We ask them How they spend their evenings. And they say i watch television.1" to to to a letters Tol on a soft so a or chair in a Semi reclined position with the lower Back slumped and the head and neck rolled Forward. After just 30 minutes one sitcom or half a cop drama Muscles ligaments joints and connective tissues tighten creating a feeling of stillness he association said. By the time the Everage adult has clocked More than four hours and five minutes of television daily the latest averages irom the . Nielsen co Iho body is in Lull protest. The proper Way to Sil is with your Back firmly against the Back of the chair like your Mother told you Schaefer said. Your feet should be Flat an floor or on a foot Stool and your head should be hold upright or supported by the Backol the chair but let s be practical. Nobody s going to do  Over time Hyp kinetics walk with the bowed head rounded shoulders and protruding stomach commonly seen among elderly people who Are immobile Lor Long periods of time the Anta said. You re More prone to injury Schaefer said what we see frequently is a 50-year-old Man who says i Don t understand in but i Bent Down to get the eggs out of the fridge and i slipped a disc. The eggs weren t that heavy Well it was t the eggs. Ii was the years of slumping and being a Couch  the Way to avoid the Couch potato syndrome is to exercise your Way through prime time irom the evening news to la  Bui anybody who does that by definition loses Couch potato status. Schaeler is a realist and suggests a Compromise. Slump during the show and stretch during the commercials she said. Do some neck circles or shoulder Rolls or Pelvic  even More damaging than slumping on the Couch is lying in bed watching television with the body twisted Al an Angle or supporting your body weight an one Arm that can Lead to a pinched nerve in the neck or pain Down the Arm. That s a bed potato Schaefer said. Reducing the fear of a Hospital stay by Gayle Young United press International or most people lying in a hos Pilaf bed the sight of an orderly arriving to wheel them to the operating room brings Waves of anxiety and sometimes downright panic. It s just this Type of stress that May make people sicker and slower to recover than they might otherwise be psychologists say. Recent studies have indicated people who go through stress reduction programs before their Hospital stays recover More quickly and experience less pain than do patients who a not participate in such programs. In one recent study Al the University of notre Dame i patients who had stress reduction therapy were discharged 3 it Days earlier than 21 patients in a control group at a savings of �300 a Day for each. The difference is quite  said George Howard chairman of the department 01 psychology at the school. It s findings like this that make Hospital administrators sit up and take notice " Hospital patients vary in the amounts of stress and anxiety they experience but almost All people have some worries when they Are hospitalized not being Able to sleep in strange surroundings feeling doctors Aren t responding quickly enough tack of privacy these Are Al things people report to some degree said Judith Wells the researcher who conducted the notre Dame study. Added to that is a list of worries she said. They Are nervous about their families about Money and the Cost of the  about their future and their Job Security and they Are concerned about their medical condition. They worry they might be handicapped or scarred or sick for a Long time she said. They worry about  Wells said running through All these worries and anxieties is a common thread Trie feeling of being out of control. They can t control the Way the Hospital is set up. They can t control the events that Are happening to them she said. It is important to give them Back that sense of  Wells and a growing number of colleagues Are attempting to help Hospital patients by preparing them psychologically before they Are hospitalized or undergo surgery. The studies have shown it works said Wells now a Start psychologist Al cares systems inca rehabilitation Center in Calumet City Illinois. What s important to me is having the patient say afterwards that they Are  in most preparation programs patients Are shown How to distinguish cues that indicate they Are Lanse such As increased heart rate muscle spasms and tuesday septembers 138? shallow breathing. The patients Are then taught muscle relaxation exercises end asked to visualize an image they Lind comforting or relaxing. A woman going for a Mastectomy May have terrible thoughts of being  Harvey said. We help them counteract that with imagery of lying on a tropical Beach feeling  once patients Are in the Hospital they Are told to use the exercises whenever they Teel anxious or feel pain it s like a football player getting Hurt on the Field Wells said. He s concentrating on the game and does t decl any pain. We do the same Type of things with patients she said. When the pain gets bad they concentrate on their imagery they relax Jwj the pain  Harvey said in the moire Dame study patients who used the techniques asked for significantly fewer painkillers than did patients in the control group. Once patients Leel they can reduce their pain and their anxiety. They Teel More in control Wells said. That feeling of control reduces a lol of the psychological problems that patients  the programs May have an added Benefit As Well. Wells said a number of ormer patients have reported they use the techniques taught in he Hospital to improve their lives at work and at Home. They use it in other situations she said so it s helping them for the future As Well As for the Hospital  the stars and stripes Page 17