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Actually many studies have been done showing a DIRECT link between the mass media, which is frequently negative, and depression.

Without bringing "third world countries" into the argument, I do know that there is proof of a link in countries where large media corporations are prevalent. I think this both newspapers/magazines/journals and TV can be causes, with TV probably being stronger because of the intense individual images.

Studies have even shown that watching the "evening news" everyday of your life can shorten your life span.

Orbital; I would have to agree with Alex on this one. My experience with watching tv news is that it is all negative.One time i was listening to a host on talk radio & the host was saying how he greatly reduced the stress in his life by simply not watching the evening news. I tried that & he was right. Besides the news being practically totally negative it is stressful to watch.

But then there is a positive side although a very small portion compared to the majority of negativity on tv. The positive experience i had was watching a show on national geographic explorer about scientists working with local fisherman in Belize studying the migration of the whale shark & the spawning of the snapper fish.They showed how the scientists & fisherman are working to protect the environment there and how the government of Belize has made that area a national sanctuary.

Here is a interesting perspective on television from the great Peter Kline from his book The Everyday Genius

How TV Confuses Children

The role of the television viewer is passive. Television programming makes no distinction between the sublime and the ridiculous. It leaves it up to the viewer to evaluate what has been seen and put it in perspective. This can be confusing to children who spend a lot of their time in front of the screen. Because they can't relate what they are seeing to their own lives, the information they acquire isn't rooted in experience, and therefore they can't interpret it properly. For example, one child who had lived through the John Kennedy assassination, as seen on TV, interpreted the Robert Kennedy assassination as a re-run.

Because television seems so much more dramatic and fast-paced than real life, it tends to make school (and the rest of life) seem boring by contrast. As a woman friend recently pointed out, "I got a very distorted view of relationships between women and their competition for men from watching soap operas with my mother" The tendency of television to dramatize an inaccurate picture of reality increases a child's difficulty in relating effectively to life in general, as well as to the classroom.

Why TV Can Make You Miserable

We are all hungry to synthesize and activate everything we learn, so the passivity of the young television viewer is stressful. Children who spend long hours in front of the TV may tend to feel a vague dissatisfaction with life, without knowing where it comes from. This is aggravated by the fact that whereas families used to sit around and talk by the fire after dinner at night, often raising questions and problems that had to be dealt with, today many of them simply watch the tube and no longer interact personally. Thus many children are missing out on the personal interactions and problem-solving opportunities their parents or grandparents took for granted.

This double deprivation may partly account for the appeal of drugs and other extreme forms of sensory stimulation to the generations influenced by television. The drug experience might be interpreted as an attempt to make up for some element missing from one's life.

Watching television all day long is a way of building relationships with pictures. So let me ask you to perform another thought experiment. What would it be like if everyone you cared about were available to you only as a photograph? You could look at the pictures as much as you wanted; but could never talk on the phone with those dearest to you, or have any other sort of live contact with them. How frustrated would you feel under such conditions? The essence of a relationship is continuous contact with another person through a changing series of circumstances. We relate by active participation, not by passive absorption. Similarly, to be an effective learner, you must participate in experiences with your teacher.

The implications are profound. Properly conducted, even without the ideal technology, classrooms can be much more exciting and fulfilling than television sets, because they can involve children in active learning with plenty of chance to synthesize and dramatize their experience.

Photoread4me

Paradoxically I think poverty may prevent depression. I think that perhaps people who live in true poverty do not have the time or energy to waste on depression.

Have you seen the National Geographic show Worlds Apart? From that and other experiences, I tend to believe those who live "simple" lives with direct cause and effect relationships (if you do not work, you are not able to eat), there is more social cohesion and less ambiguity about things. People are not rich but they can be none the less happy. Poverty does not equal sorrow and riches do not equal happiness.

As for the effects of television, you can simply notice the effects it has upon yourself to determine what is true for you.

In general, I do find that watching the news upsets me. Especially when I found out about the contents of the Patriot Act.

[This message has been edited by babayada (edited April 04, 2004).]

Actually the reason for the research into the third world countries. The researchers believed that there would be a high incident of unreported depression amongst these people and wanted statistics so that this problem could be addressed. They found an increase of depression amongst those that had daily access to television.

They were surprised to discover that depression wasn't a problem amongst those who didn't have televison and yet lived in appauling poverty. They knew exactly what was wrong in their lives and were indeed too busy trying to find solutions these problems. There was a higher incident of anger and frustration amongst these people.

Depression it seems is a result of feeling inadequate, helpless, and not knowing exactly what is wrong. Just not being happy with the status quo.

AlexK

quote:

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Originally posted by Alex K. Viefhaus:
Sorry my phrasing wasn't clear. In third world countries where there is limited access to televsion and newspapers of world events there is a lower incident of depression.

Research conducted in nursing homes found that those who are more inclined to watch the news or read newspapers are more prone to depression than those who do not.

AlexK

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This is not an attack just a criticism. Firstly, wouldn't these third world countries people be more affected by the majority of world issues, hence they would be more affected by them. Going by this logic, shouldn't people without TV's who don't normally read newspapers rarely come across depression either, even though they may be more affected by what is reporting e.g the homeless, drug addicts or even most busy people who are devote most of their time to work, a group that is prone to depression.

Secondly, this could be because they [patients] are isolated from the outside world rather than a link to the actual newspapers and TV.

Wouldn't being exposed to the majority of world events have more effect on people than simply reading / hearing about it, an analogy would be if your house burnt down as opposed to hearing that somebody elses house burnt down. I am expecting that since you photoread often, assuming you've read hundreds of books hence well read, and are now part of the company, that you would know this, and know this, that they are more exposed. Once again, this is not an attack, your posts are normally very helpful, but I disagree with your post on the basis that you have the wrong idea about third world countries and it's people and also the general arguement. However, I have noticed that a lot of people some third world countries seemed happy despite their struggles, this could be down to cultural differences though, rather than current affairs, which they have a sound understanding of.

The fact is that this is based on research trying to establish exactly what you are saying. And yes they have found that people who do not watch television on a regular basis are less likely to be depressed because in the absent of television world events are what happens within the community.

Alex

We also have to keep in mind that the "world view" television presents is one that is heavily filtered, skewed.