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Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

westernsydney.edu.au

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Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#21

Post by blisterpeanuts »

sneak wrote: post #10
dpeck wrote: post #5

Not all screen time is the same and it’s far beyond time for us to stop equivocating Facebook/Instagram and other social media nastiness with all the positive things that can be done on a screen. It confuses people, and as we stare down another quarantine and a long cold winter telling people to spend less time with what could be their only contact to the outside world can be actively harmful.

I think a lot of people perhaps underestimate the value of an iPad that's not signed in to anything , and is just loaded chock full of epubs (and perhaps offline maps). You don't even need to turn on the Wi-Fi. Computers can be simple tools for reading and study, if you want them to be, and make deliberate choices to that end. The last few months I've spent a lot of time consciously re-engineering my screen time into…

>>> I'm doing much better now that I'm not exposed to strangers screaming about nonsense for a few hours each day.

When you put it that way... :)

I agree and I've mostly switched to a bedside Kindle after hours.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#22

Post by throwaway3178 »

sradman wrote: post #15

The paper Multiple lifestyle factors and depressed mood: a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the UK Biobank (N = 84,860) [1]. The study compares questionnaire results of healthy controls (HC) to people with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD): > Cross-sectional analysis of 84,860 participants showed that in both MDD and HCs, physical activity, healthy diet, and optimal sleep duration were associat…

I've been suicidally depressed my whole life. I currently self medicate with reddit, youtube, etc. If I let my mind wander for just a minute the thoughts come flooding in.

I also find it very difficult to go to sleep because it involves turning off my distractions and being alone with my own mind. I think the title should be changed.

I felt this way long before tech entered my life; as a child I used books for this purpose.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#23

Post by the_only_law »

bserge wrote: post #9
deepstack wrote: post #3

More sleep time is critical for preventing depression period. It is not rocket science. Everyone can tell from their own person experience. Now it could be sometime when one is depressed one can't sleep. However, sleep pretty much helps every many things.

But not too much. I used to sleep 10-12 hours during depressive episodes when I had nothing important to do, it just makes things worse. Over 7-8 hours of sleep just makes me tired and sleepy the whole day (paradoxical, yeah). Forcing a limit helps a lot more.

Yeah I either sleep 0-5 hours or 12+, rarely in between. Interestingly I usually feel better with the former (for a few hours before the microsleeps hit, at least). When i sleep late, I normally wake up with a bad headache, sore, really bad brain fog, etc.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#24

Post by mmaunder »

I think sleep is critical for mental health and simply glancing at your bright cellphone screen during the night is an act of self sabotage. Even on the low setting with blue light filter on. It is still spectacularly bright compared to what our bodies have gotten used to over the past several millennia.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#25

Post by offtop5 »

sudo_rm wrote: post #14

Lately I have been doing my best to limit my "optional" screen time (optional meaning anything that is not for work and school). I fingered though Cal Newport's "Digital minimalism" [1] about a month and a half ago and decided to try out the 30 days tech fast in the book. The idea is to use this time to reset your relationship with tech and to really figure out what you value and what you are trying to accomplish wit…

Thanks.

Just ordered this book. I had to recently delete my Reddit account as I found myself getting drawn into needless arguments.

Don't get me wrong, occasionally I would have fun learning new things, but like all other social media it turns into angry people yelling.

Aside from Reddit I have been Social Media / Online Dating free for just under 2 years.

It's amazing how much mental energy I would waste on this stuff. No judgement to people who enjoy social media, but it cutting it boosted my emotional health by leaps and bounds.

More time for making music !

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#26

Post by wpietri »

baron_harkonnen wrote: post #20

It's not entirely clear to me from reading the points in this article and skimming the paper that they are able to control the direction of causality for this. That is the question as to whether or not "healthy" activity prevents depression or if depression causes us to reduce our healthy activity (and increase our unhealthy ones). The pandemic has been a great experiment in this and has me starting to think that man…

Yeah, in my personal experience causality is not easily discernable. I definitely believe that for me a very regular sleep schedule helps my mood. But as you say, it's not a straightforward relationship. Bad sleep triggers bad mood when triggers bad coping behaviors that can disrupt my sleep, making it worse. Same thing for what I'm eating, exercise levels, amount of time invested in rewarding activities, how clean the house is, and I'm sure other things. It's a big causal snarl.

That said, I do think focusing on good sleep is one of the most effective things I can do to manage my mood, so if people are going to have a too-simple understanding of things, "more sleep critical for preventing depression" is probably a pretty good one.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#27

Post by mmaunder »

throwaway3178 wrote: post #22
sradman wrote: post #15

The paper Multiple lifestyle factors and depressed mood: a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the UK Biobank (N = 84,860) [1]. The study compares questionnaire results of healthy controls (HC) to people with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD): > Cross-sectional analysis of 84,860 participants showed that in both MDD and HCs, physical activity, healthy diet, and optimal sleep duration were associat…

I've been suicidally depressed my whole life. I currently self medicate with reddit, youtube, etc. If I let my mind wander for just a minute the thoughts come flooding in. I also find it very difficult to go to sleep because it involves turning off my distractions and being alone with my own mind. I think the title should be changed. I felt this way long before tech entered my life; as a child I used books for this p…

Try yoga. The three week yoga retreat that the Beachbody app has is great to learn it without going to a class. I simply repeat the final week’s flow. It may teach you how to still your mind by using the distraction of body movement to achieve a meditative state. This may allow you to ultimately meditate without the need for yoga. In other words, this may be a path for you to be alone with your mind without needing distraction. Best of luck.

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#28

Post by softwaredoug »

My iPhone X died recently, and I put my SIM card into an old iPhone 5. It's been great for limiting screentime. It has limited storage, so I can only put the most essential things on it. I can get spotify for podcasts, tethering, google auth for 2FA, and basic texting/phone/facetime functionality. It does basic web browsing, but rather slowly. Haven't needed much more than this.

The main thing I miss is the ability to take lots of photos/videos of the kids....

Re: Less screen time and more sleep critical for preventing depression

#30

Post by sangli »

Anectodal of course, but I can tell from my own experience that sleep cures so many things for me. Also lack of sleep causes many ailments in me.

I am definitely sad and angry when I don't get enough sleep, on top of not having enough energy. If I have a headache, taking a nap or sleeping longer always fixes it for me. If I have aches in my thighs and calves, taking a nap or going to bed early and catching 8+ hours of sleep fixes it right up.

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