Study: Mental Health Deteriorates With Increased Television

[Shin]

Study: Mental Health Deteriorates With Increased Television
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

LONDON, UK, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews) – A new study has found that watching more than 4 hours of TV a day has an adverse effect on mental well-being.

The study was conducted by Mark Hamer, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, and research associates Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, and Gita D. Mishra, PhD. It analyzed the association of leisure-time sedentary behavior in adults, measured by television and screen-based entertainment (TVSE) time, and mental health.

The researchers looked at mental health survey data of 3920 men and women between the ages of 35 and 65 years, from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the mental health component of the 12-Item Short-Form Survey Instrument (MCS-12) were administered to obtain information on current mental health. Self-reported TVSE time, physical activity, and general health were also measured.

Approximately a quarter of the participants in the study engaged in at least four hours a day of watching screen-based entertainment.

After adjustment for age, gender, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake, the researchers found that participants with the highest TVSE level had the highest instances of mental health problems compared with participants in the group with the lowest TVSE level of less than 2 hours per day.

The report concludes that, while sedentary behavior is known to be an independent risk factor for physical health, mental well-being also deteriorates with more time spent in front of the TV.

"Sedentary behavior in leisure time is independently associated with poorer mental health scores in a representative population sample," Dr. Hamer wrote.

[Shin]

Of course we have discussed the spiritual issues considered that make television a problem here to a degree in the past.. the immoral content..

But simply generically.. regardless of the content..

It's obvious there's a problem! How many children grow up in front of the TV?

[martin]

I've read about this before... Too much TV was also linked to a phenomenal growth in cases of depression. The study reported that advertising and lifestyle portrayal in programs left the viewer feeling inadequate and deprived of what was deemed essential for happiness.

This all figures!

[Bailey2]

The study reported that advertising and lifestyle portrayal in programs left the viewer feeling inadequate and deprived of what was deemed essential for happiness.

Martin, do you know where that study is?

[martin]

Baily the study I read was a British one but it was in a newspaper and reported on the evening news also over a year ago.
Trying to find it on line I came across many articles on the subject. The following is just one example from many.



"Teens who spend long hours watching television are at higher risk for depression as adults, a new study finds."  - Health News (Feb 2009) - More on this study - Los Angeles Times (Feb 2009)

"The team found that the people most satisfied with their lives were those who watched TV the least." - The Sydney Morning Herald (June 2005)

"For instance, compulsive viewers turn to television for solace when they feel distressed, rather than only watching favorite programs for pleasure. And though they get temporary emotional relief while watching, they end up feeling worse afterward." - The New York Times (Oct 1990)

8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV

Tv Viewing Tied To Violence, Depression In Kids

"Youngsters are being turned into nothing more than "mini-adults" and are increasingly susceptible to depression and developmental problems as a result, they claim."

"There has been a "dramatically high" connection between the rise of television and a rise in depression among America's youth, says a Penn State University researcher."

"In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, 110 teachers, psychologists, children's authors and other experts call on the Government to act to prevent the death of childhood." They write: "We are deeply concerned at the escalating incidence of childhood depression and children's behavioural and developmental conditions."

"What most surprised me were the results I got from my study, which found that the more kids are exposed to consumer culture, they likelier they are to become depressed, suffer from anxiety, or experience low self-esteem. I would have thought it was the other way around — that consumer culture was the symptom, not the cause."

TV is a combination of beautiful people, dressed by fashion experts, put into chic locations, surrounded by expensive toys, and given plotlines and dialogue by extremely bright, talented and funny writers.  No one can compare with that.
But compare we do, and in comparison our lives can seem pretty drab and pathetic.

"Desperate Housewives and other TV soap operas may help make adolescent girls desperate for a thinness few can healthily achieve, new Australian research suggests." - HealthDay News (June 2005)

"We found men who were exposed to images of the so-called "ideal" male became more depressed and significantly more dissatisfied with the size and shape of their own muscular build once they were exposed to those commercials." - Ivanhoe Broadcast News (May 2005)

[Shin]

"The team found that the people most satisfied with their lives were those who watched TV the least." - The Sydney Morning Herald (June 2005)

"For instance, compulsive viewers turn to television for solace when they feel distressed, rather than only watching favorite programs for pleasure. And though they get temporary emotional relief while watching, they end up feeling worse afterward." - The New York Times (Oct 1990)

I think these are really key and telling statements!

Thanks Martin! And thanks Bailey2 for asking!

[Shin]

I'm currently working on putting together a 'Modesty' section for Saints' Works, of various pamphlets and sermons and quotes..

It's hard because modesty 'died' (well a near death) in many ways before the advent of the Internet so one has to look for Marylike Crusade articles that are quoted from old Catholic magazines not yet available online.

But I truly think I need to also make a priority on a 'Abstinence from TV' section, with quotes and articles like these.. I think it goes in one ear and out the other for many when heard in passing.. but enough material in one place, with an emphasis on the moral, spiritual and psychological health should be helpful in encouraging people to take steps in this regard and tell other people about it..

Continence.. Temperance.. Abstinence.. how key these all our towards our mental and spiritual health and happiness! Rather than full of negative connotations their connotation is health and peace and joy!

[martin]

But I truly think I need to also make a priority on a 'Abstinence from TV' section, with quotes and articles like these.. I think it goes in one ear and out the other for many when heard in passing.. but enough material in one place, with an emphasis on the moral, spiritual and psychological health should be helpful in encouraging people to take steps in this regard and tell other people about it..

Continence.. Temperance.. Abstinence.. how key these all our towards our mental and spiritual health and happiness! Rather than full of negative connotations their connotation is health and peace and joy!

Because TV is so much part of our culture it's almost impossible to convince people of it's serious effects.
Something you said Shin when I first encountered you on CAF was that Tv can stop any advancement in spiritual growth (or words to that effect) and nearly a year down the line now without TV I am convinced that what you said there is the truth.
I believe it is the most serious of all maladies afflicting our lives today and while it is so prominent there can be no change in the moral stalemate that exists everywhere. Even the the most upright Catholics are infected with it without even suspecting it as are our priests and religious.

Yes.. this topic needs more air time for sure.

[Shin]

We are, I have heard from one priest an overstimulated society.. that is the spirit of evil of this generation.. overstimulation.. 

Over entertained..

[Brigid]

I wonder if that's true for religious programs (those like EWTN)?

[martin]

I wonder if that's true for religious programs (those like EWTN)?

I would say Yes Brigid.. I see this with many Catholic promotional organisations when they get big enough that money becomes more and more important and the danger of compromising ever present while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership.
It's certainly happening on the CA Forums where some topics have been banned. The Latest being posts concerning Michael Voris the founder of Real Catholic TV.. I've watched many of his short presentations on You Tube and longer ones on his own site. The best there is at present in my estimation but I hope he doesn't succumb to the same temptions as mentioned... His venture is only over a year old so I wait and hope. 

[Brigid]

I wonder if that's true for religious programs (those like EWTN)?

I would say Yes Brigid.. I see this with many Catholic promotional organisations when they get big enough that money becomes more and more important and the danger of compromising ever present while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership.
It's certainly happening on the CA Forums where some topics have been banned. The Latest being posts concerning Michael Voris the founder of Real Catholic TV.. I've watched many of his short presentations on You Tube and longer ones on his own site. The best there is at present in my estimation but I hope he doesn't succumb to the same temptions as mentioned... His venture is only over a year old so I wait and hope. 

[martin]

Re EWTN and CAF.. To borrow a phrase from Baily, I wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bath water and was just giving my general opinion rather than stating an infallible truth. 
There are many long running programs on EWTN that are worth the watching. I haven't seen it in quite a while having no TV but in general in these days I feel one must procede with caution concerning  almost everything.

The remnant mentality coming through I guess. 

Coincidentally, today's presentation on Real Catholic TV is on this very subject. Very interesting. 
 

[Bailey2]

while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership.

'Blessed the one who has become a good spiritual net and caught many for the good Lord, such a one will greatly praised by the Lord.'
St. Ephrem of Syria

 

[Brigid]

while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership.

'Blessed the one who has become a good spiritual net and caught many for the good Lord, such a one will greatly praised by the Lord.'
St. Ephrem of Syria

 

My guess is that St. Ephram wouldn't want the Truth compromised though. There is no true unity in compromise of the Truth.

[martin]

while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership.

I should have said, "while trying to balance orthodoxy against the temptation to liberalize to encompass a wider viewership so as to bring in more money.
This is the real danger always present from those three adversaries the World, the Flesh and the Devil.