Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “media”
Three studies have recently been concluded, each of which looks at the effect of television watching habits on brain health, specifically gradual reductions in the amount of gray matter found in the aging brain. All three studies found that those who watched less television on average had less loss of brain volume in tests conducted after a period of several …
Media Use and the Pandemic We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: media use is not always good for you. Now we have the pandemic-related phenomenon of “doomscrolling”, going obsessively through your feeds again and again, reading the bad news and skipping the good. Why do that? Well, 2020 has put a lot of stress on everyone. From …
Moodsurfing has often commented on the importance of limiting reading and watching sensationalist stories during a time of crisis. But a question that seems to be coming up these days is where one can turn for reliable information that is not sensationalist. I have created this blog post as a place to store some recommendations for keeping up with the …
Is there a link between teenagers’ use of electronic devises and depression? Well, it’s complicated. A new study analyzing data from high school students in Montreal has found a significant link between increased “screen time” and an increase in depressive symptoms. Interestingly, the increase in depression is linked to television and social media use, but not to video gaming. Researchers …
Are you finding yourself a part of an unhappiness epidemic? Researchers have found sharp drops in reported happiness among adults since about 2000, and in adolescents since 2012. While there are significant drops reported during economic hard times, such as the recession of 2009, there have not been associated rises in happiness as the economy has improved, making it unlikely …
Bipolar disorder can make it hard to maintain stability of moods, and deal with the stresses of life. The news and social media are one of the biggest sources of stress that can make stability challenging, and the media overload only seems to be getting worse. In a 2014 study conducted by National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation …
How to respond to the fear of catastrophe? Many people are having trouble getting to sleep these days. Fear of catastrophe has reemerged as we contemplate the craziness of nuclear war. This seems like a good time to review what we know about situations where there is the potential for something really bad to happen but the magnitude and nature of that …
Maria Bamford is Lady Dynamite in Netflix’s original comedy series which debuted in 2016. Maria Bamford is also a woman with bipolar moods whose comedic work often revolves around the experience of living with bipolar. In her work she talks frankly about being hospitalized, mania, depression and obsessive thoughts. I am indebted to the wonderful magazine (available in both print …
What to do when catastrophe seems to loom just around the corner? Many people are having trouble getting to sleep these days. They’re worried about a possible catastrophe emerging after the US Presidential Election. This seems like a good time to review what we know about situations where there is the potential for something really bad to happen but the magnitude and …
How can we build up foundational, long-lasting healthy habits while young? We know it’s important—a perennial question, if not one we face day-to-day. By building those habits early on, we can set ourselves up for healthier living long-term, and place our children on a better track for a healthier, more positive adolescence and early adulthood. In fact, the habits we …
I am so happy to see that bipolar is coming out of the closet. One dramatic example of that is the movie Touched with Fire. In it, filmmaker Paul Dalio tries to share the lived experience of bipolar with the world. He strives to share the beauty as well as the pain of bipolar, relying heavily on the imagery of Vincent …
The mother of a young man with bipolar depression sent us the link to this article in the Wall Street Journal which gives a pretty balanced update on what we know about diagnosing bipolar depression (as opposed to unipolar depression). http://www.wsj.com/articles/seeking-better-ways-to-treat-the-lows-of-bipolar-disorder-1436221964 Perhaps in keeping with the overall mission of the newspaper, the discussion is heavily focused on technology, as opposed …
A lot of attention has been focused on the question of whether exposure to media violence is linked to an increase in violent behavior. Less attention has been focused on the question of the other psychological effects of exposure to media violence. The recent study presented at the British Psychological Society’s 2015 annual meeting suggests that a significant number of …
It was a sunny October day in 1989. Game 3 of the Battle of the Bay baseball World Series between Oakland and San Francisco. Then the largest earthquake in almost a hundred years hit the bay area. I was, as it happens, in my therapist’s office, my wife was at work. I rushed home to make sure that all …
