This is obvious to me.  All animals require sleep and kids nowadays are staying up later and skipping out on sleep for other things.  The instant gratification of the internet is also destroying patience and mental well-being.

What do you folks think?


http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/06/272441146/less-sleep-more-time-online-amp-up-teen-depression-risk?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook

I'm fine with depression since I'm such pessimist but my problem is that I sleep too long at morning and can't sleep at night. If I wake up at 3 A.M. I can't continue sleeping.

Well yes, and I think it's just as much of a problem for adults as well who spend too much time on the internet. If you're constantly experiencing instant gratification, your brain is being rewired to expect instant gratification, so when you're no longer experiencing it, you become depressed.

It's also recommended that you stop online activity at least 1-2 hours before you go to bed, which a lot of people, especially children don't do. It messes up your natural sleep cycles(during sleep), making the person less rested, more irritable, and more depressed.

The internet is just as addictive as some drugs are(same with video games), and people who stop using the internet cold-turkey actually show physical symptoms of withdrawal.

In regards to the title, personally I don't find this to be a case. If anything, being on the PC and having lack of sleep means you spend a lot of time online. It all depends.

Depression depends on the individual. Having the lack of sleep generally just makes you tired. Your mentality might not be at the best of shape, but to be depressed there has to be more depth to that- or it won't be depression.

Generally, depression contributes to more Internet usage thus less sleep (all day on PC) but I don't think it happens the other way around. People healthily use the Internet for long hours, and lack sleep but aren't depressed.

The article you linked doesn't say it causes teen depression, like your title suggests- but increases the risks of it occurring. Which is a fair assertion.

The article itself says "A lot of adolescents just aren't getting as much sleep at they should. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends nine to 10 hours, but 70 percent of high schoolers don't meet that requirement." Clearly high schoolers aren't going to sleep well. I don't know about you, but I've got homework and I'm a night owl. I wake at 5 in the morning, generally sleeping at 1. Is it healthy? Obviously not. I do not speak for everyone, but a lot of people lack sleep and aren't depressed. Symptoms of depression are more or less evident on people, but this article is discussing more about how important sleep is. It's not a definitive cause or reason for depression. It's just a common factor that contributes to it.

But seriously, move high school starting times back more. I remember waking up at 8:30 in middle school...