Sleep, Mood and TV
In a couple of studies that recently were published,
researchers examined the effects of additional sleep and TV watching.
Teenagers habitually stay up late and have trouble getting
up in the morning. By allowing just 25 minutes of extra sleep, researchers
found that bedtime did not change, and students averaged 29 minutes of extra
sleep. Daytime sleepiness, depressive symptoms, and caffeine use were
significantly reduced. Chronic sleep deficit in adolescents has been associated
with crashes related to drowsy driving; obesity; cardiovascular disease; and
impaired mood, attention, memory, and executive function. Inadequate sleep has
also been associated with worse academic performance and decreased motivation
to learn.
Perhaps this will translate into changes in our school
systems to allow teens to get more sleep.
Our circadian (sleep/wake) rhythms are affected by light and
darkness; the photosensitive receptors are much more sensitive to blue and
white light than other colors. In a study on hamsters, researchers found that
nighttime exposure to blue and white light, in levels similar to TV and
computer monitors, caused increased “depressive” symptoms in these animals. Can
this affect humans? Perhaps; and patients with a history of depression should
probably avoid excessive nighttime TV and computer exposure.
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