From http://www.healthyplace.com/depression/children/what-causes-depression-in-children/menu-id-68/

Children who are watching a lot of TV are more likely to have a host of different psychiatric symptoms. Recent studies have shown kids who are watching over 6 hours a day have more problems with depression, anxiety, and aggression.

 

Article by Owen http://owen.curezone.com/healing/tvcauses.html

TV causes ADD & Depression

Yes, there's a definite connection between attention deficit disorders and television. Both the TV programmers and advertisers want you to be constantly attentive to their messages. To do this, they cut ultra-rapidly from scene to scene. The TV image rarely remains stable for more than 1 second. That wasn't true 50 years ago, when television was in its childhood. Cameras stayed focused on the same scene for 10 to 15 seconds. It's not a coincidence that there was no ADD back in the 1950s and 1960s.

Those quick cuts are terrible for your mind, and they are HIDEOUS for your eyes. Two hours worth of TV forces your eyes to refocus every second. That'a a staggering amount of wear and tear on your eye muscles. Some kids watch 5 or 6 hours of TV every day. It's no wonder they can't adapt to a classroom which stays in focus indefinitely.

TV is also a leading cause of depression. To my mind, it's the #1 cause. Why? The programs and news shows are full of negative energy. Good news is NOT news! TV fills your mind with profoundly negative energy: hatred, violence, guilt, rage, fear, envy, jealousy, and ongoing anxiety. Only a fool would say he can watch TV and not be affected by the tsunami of negative energy that pours out of that tube.

The commercials all intend for you to feel bad about some part of yourself. Why? So that you will buy the product they offer, which, according to them, is the only thing that will make your feel better about yourself.

So listen to your intuition, and turn off your TV. Trust me. You won't miss it. I watch no television. I will never watch television. It's the greatest scam of the last 100 years; a medium which only exists to bring viewers into the presence of advertisers; a cold and heartless medium that has done infinite damage to the World.

That's the end of my rant. You get the idea.

Blessings,

Owen

 

Depression and TV: Cause or Effect?

by Hal Landen http://www.videouniversity.com/articles/depression-and-tv-cause-or-effect

In a new study, University of Maryland sociologists John P. Robinson and Steven Martin sought to discover what activities contribute most to a happy life. The study appeared in the December, 2008 issue of the journal Social Indicators Research. Their study of nearly 30,000 adults was conducted between 1975 and 2006.

It found that unhappy people watch television 30% more than happy people. Happy people watch an average of 19 hours a week, but unhappy people watch 25 hours a week. These findings were adjusted to account for differences in age, education, income, and marital status.

In addition to watching less television, happy people were found to:

* be more socially active * attend more religious services * vote more often * read a newspaper more often

But television clearly has some positives. Previous studies have shown that people like watching. On a scale of 0 – 10, the average was almost an 8.

The big question is is television a cause or an effect of unhappiness? According to researcher John Robinson, “These conflicting data suggest that TV may provide viewers with short-run pleasure, but at the expense of long-term malaise.” It seems that over time, television viewing can take away from other activities that seem to have more benefits. Some of those activities include exercise, parties and other forms of socializing as well as sex.

Perhaps television attracts those who are unhappy. People who are already depressed or have fewer options may watch more television simply because it requires no effort whatsoever. Could TV be both a cause and an effect of depression?

While the scientific data cannot yet clearly state whether TV is a cause or effect of unhappiness, it seems clear to me that all of us would benefit from less television. So turn the TV off, go the library or a social group, call a friend, take a walk, do some exercise. Find something fun to do. Just thinking about what would be fun or satisifying in itslef is a step in the right direction. Change your life for the better.

I love television and have worked in the television business most of my adult life. BUT. It has gone far too far. How many restaurants and pizza parlours, doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms, hair salons, and other public places have televisions running all the time? Tell ‘em (in a nice way) to turn it off. Print out this article and give them a copy.