Review of "Zap - How Your Computer Can Hurt You"

Health Tips / Book Review

ZAP! How Your Computer Can Hurt You - And What You Can Do About It

by David L. Bertman

It is a rare editing room that's not well stocked with pain relievers. I usually carry a choice of flavors: Tylenol or Excedrin. But the real solution is not in tablet form; it comes in a variety of work style changes that could be as simple as lowering an editing chair to as complex as having wrist surgery to correct acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Before we all scramble to check-up on our union medical plans, we might be wise to read a new book called "Zap! How your computer can hurt you - And what YOU can do about it" by Don Sellers. In this book, Sellers spends considerable time explaining causes, symptoms, and solutions to real world stress-causing activities in the workplace.

While the book is not geared specifically towards the entertainment community, it does offer insight into the perils of staying in one location or one position too long. Post production, perhaps more than any other part of the film and television industry, has become sedentary as computers and electronic workstations become the norm. While there may not always be bosses looking over our shoulders, excessive, immediate, and often unrealistic deadlines are frequent in our craft. These very deadlines, according to the book, can in fact be hurting our health, emotional states, and in the long term, our very lives.

The book does not advocate revolt, but it does suggest certain simple cures that can save hours of pain and stress down the road. Did you ever think that lowering your armrests by a couple of inches could ease wrist soreness? Or that dimming the brightness on your monitor could cure your headache? The book goes a step further and explains how to treat cases of work related injury, eye strain, nausea, facial dermatitis, stress, wrist fatigue and a variety of other ailments.

"Zap!" reiterates many things that most of us learned growing up: "an apple a day keeps the doctor a way," for instance, may seem so commonsensical that one might ask why spend $12.95 on a book? But Sellers does a nice job of integrating these truisms with real world facts and statistics. For example, between 1992 and 1993, 75% - 90% of visits to a primary care physician were due to stress-related ailments.

But, while most of us would like to alter our work styles, unfortunately, we cannot (at least without written permission from the producer!). What we can do to ease and relax our stress ridden occupations, according to Sellers, is to slightly alter our work habits. For instance, a 10-minute break at least once an hour can do wonders for the body!!

Of course change usually occurs after it is too late. For the obdurate among us, "Zap!" includes a chapter on where to get medical help, how to choose a doctor, and how to ensure you are diagnosed and treated properly.

An OSHA ergonomist noted that by the turn of the century, half of all business medical costs will go to treat cumulative trauma disorders. That trend could be reversed if enough people adopt a safer work place. Reading "Zap!" is a positive step in that direction.

"Zap! How Your Computer Can Hurt You -
And What You Can Do About It"
by Don Sellers
is available from Peachpit Press at
800-283-9444 or 510-548-4393.

When this article was written,
David Bertman was editing theinteractive CD-ROM game 'Fox Hunt' for Capcom.

Reprinted from
The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter
Vol. 16, No. 2 - March/April 1995

Guild Home | Newsletter Home | Top of Page

Copyright © 1996, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776


	*Health Tips / Book Review* ZAP! How Your Computer Can Hurt You - And What You Can Do About It by David L. Bertman
		It is a rare editing room that's not well stocked with pain relievers. I usually carry a choice of flavors: Tylenol or Excedrin. But the real solution is not in tablet form; it comes in a variety of work style changes that could be as simple as lowering an editing chair to as complex as having wrist surgery to correct acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Before we all scramble to check-up on our union medical plans, we might be wise to read a new book called "Zap! How your computer can hurt you - And what YOU can do about it" by Don Sellers. In this book, Sellers spends considerable time explaining causes, symptoms, and solutions to real world stress-causing activities in the workplace. While the book is not geared specifically towards the entertainment community, it does offer insight into the perils of staying in one location or one position too long. Post production, perhaps more than any other part of the film and television industry, has become sedentary as computers and electronic workstations become the norm. While there may not always be bosses looking over our shoulders, excessive, immediate, and often unrealistic deadlines are frequent in our craft. These very deadlines, according to the book, can in fact be hurting our health, emotional states, and in the long term, our very lives. The book does not advocate revolt, but it does suggest certain simple cures that can save hours of pain and stress down the road. Did you ever think that lowering your armrests by a couple of inches could ease wrist soreness? Or that dimming the brightness on your monitor could cure your headache? The book goes a step further and explains how to treat cases of work related injury, eye strain, nausea, facial dermatitis, stress, wrist fatigue and a variety of other ailments. "Zap!" reiterates many things that most of us learned growing up: "an apple a day keeps the doctor a way," for instance, may seem so commonsensical that one might ask why spend $12.95 on a book? But Sellers does a nice job of integrating these truisms with real world facts and statistics. For example, between 1992 and 1993, 75% - 90% of visits to a primary care physician were due to stress-related ailments. But, while most of us would like to alter our work styles, unfortunately, we cannot (at least without written permission from the producer!). What we can do to ease and relax our stress ridden occupations, according to Sellers, is to slightly alter our work habits. For instance, a 10-minute break at least once an hour can do wonders for the body!! Of course change usually occurs after it is too late. For the obdurate among us, "Zap!" includes a chapter on where to get medical help, how to choose a doctor, and how to ensure you are diagnosed and treated properly. An OSHA ergonomist noted that by the turn of the century, half of all business medical costs will go to treat cumulative trauma disorders. That trend could be reversed if enough people adopt a safer work place. Reading "Zap!" is a positive step in that direction.
	"Zap! How Your Computer Can Hurt You - And What You Can Do About It" by Don Sellers is available from Peachpit Press at 800-283-9444 or 510-548-4393. When this article was written, David Bertman was editing theinteractive CD-ROM game 'Fox Hunt' for Capcom. Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 16, No. 2 - March/April 1995 Guild Home \| Newsletter Home \| Top of Page Copyright © 1996, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776