Links Between Television and Depression

Depression has been the focus of many studies. We strive to learn what causes it so that we may prevent it in the future. Of course, there are some obvious traumas that can lead to depression, such as a death in the family. Can something as simple as television cause depression and if so, how?

The answer is yes, as studies such as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health have shown. In this particular study, adolescents and their various behavior patterns were studied over a period of 7 years. In the end, the study showed that the more time the teens spent watching television, the more likely they were to be depressed as adults. The problem is that the details of why this happens have yet to be determined.

One possible reason is simply the sociological approach. In other words, we learn from our society and we incorporate certain ideologies into our behavior patterns. For instance, some cultures actually celebrate death. Some cultures mourn death. If we were subjected to the culture that celebrated death, would the death of a loved one depress us? Television is just one way to learn the values of a society.

We also learn values from television. The ads encourage us to covet certain things, whether they be material items or the idea that we should all look like models. Depression can easily be instigated by not meeting our own ideas of perfection or upholding our own personal values.

Naturally, there is the context of what is being viewed. I personally don't watch the news because there is so rarely anything happy on it. Is that selfish or just my way of avoiding depression? The truth is that there are probably just as many good things happening in the world as bad things, but television news tends to focus on the negative because that's what draws the attention of the people. The more viewers, the more sponsors, the more money the stations make.

What about general health effects and depression? If proper vitamin intake and exercise contribute to overall health, then by consequence, isn't sitting in front of the television bound to contribute to a decline in overall health, no matter what the content?

In general, the facts are clear. Depression and watching television have a direct relation to each other, no matter what the details. Certainly there are outside factors that are indirectly related to television watching and depression, but limiting the time spent watching television may limit those factors as well. For instance, eating a bag of chips while watching television isn't exactly going to induce positive mental health.

Maybe it's time to find something else to entertain ourselves with rather than sitting in front of the television. In fact, the very act of finding something else to do forces us to use our imagination, creating more active responses in the brain than observing a moving picture. Why not take a positive step toward developing better mental health by at least limiting the time we spend watching television. After all, depression most likely is not the only negative consequence!

References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10484793, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/03/science/sci-tv3