Is TV Bad For Depressives?
Bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil claims that for overall health, you shouldn’t watch the news on TV except for local news, because it’s too depressing. According to a Pittsburgh University study on teens, they back up Dr. Weil’s claims, but add that watching any TV may contribute to developing depression.
Study Specs
The study followed 4,140 teenagers and looked at how long they watched TV, played computer games, listened to the radio and if they were eventually diagnosed with depression. The study started with interviews in 1995 and again in 2002, when the teens were in their 30’s. All of the teens participlating in 1995 were not diagnosed with depression. Years later, 7.8% were.
The study highlighted that it was the TV watching group that were later diagnosed with depression, not the radio-listening group or the computer-games playing group. The other groups still watched TV, but about a half hour less each day than the TV watching group, who watched TV an average of 2.3 hours per day.
The Practical Upshot
The study acknowledges that there could be many other factors why 7.8% of the teens became depressed. One of those could be that the kids did not get enough sleep because they were watching TV instead. Not getting enough sleep can get anyone depressed. That’s why sleep deprivation is considered torture in some countries.
But you can stop TV watching a couple of hours before bed or watch rather goofy, fluffy entertainment like late-night talk shows instead of action movies. Sometimes, watching a really boring documentary can help you drift right off.
You can’t isolate yourself from what’s going on in the world. Also, when you have depression, ANYTHING can set you off. It doesn’t have to be TV. Watch TV, even if you are depressed.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:06 am
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