Abstract

Insufficient sleep and mistimed sleep are prominent, yet under-appreciated and understudied, contributors to poor mental health and to mental disorders. The evidence that improving sleep and circadian functioning is an important pathway to mental health continues to mount. The goal of this paper is to highlight three major challenges ahead. Challenge 1 points to the possibility that comorbidity is the norm not the exception for the sleep and circadian disorders that are associated with mental disorders. Hence, the sleep and circadian problems experienced by people diagnosed with a mental disorder may not fit into the neat diagnostic categories of existing nosologies nor be adequately treated with single disorder approaches. The Sleep Health Framework and the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C) are discussed as alternative approaches. Challenge 2 points to the large time lag between the development of a treatment and the availability of that treatment in routine clinical practice. This is a key reason for the emergence of implementation science, which is a flourishing, well-developed, and quickly moving field. There is an urgent need for more applications of implementation science within sleep and circadian science. Challenge 3 describes one of the greatest puzzles of our time—the need to unlock the fundamental elements of behavior change. There is potential to harness the science of behavior change to encourage widespread engagement in sleep health behavior and thereby reduce the staggering burden of sleep and circadian problems and the associated mental health problems.

The post Treating sleep and circadian problems to promote mental health: perspectives on comorbidity, implementation science and behavior change appeared first on EMFSA.

Videos on Facebook, TikTok, Gettr and Telegram claim that heads are exploding after 5G was “turned up in Israel”.  However, the original video has been deliberately falsified and stems from Iraq, not Israel and has nothing to do with 5G or vaccines.

Sources:

No, 5G is not causing vaccinated people to explode https://mashable.com/article/5g-combust-conspiracy-theory

Does Video Show Vaxxed Heads Exploding Due to 5G in Israel? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/5g-israel-heads-explode/

Comment by EMFSA:

-This type of conspiracy theory is extremely dangerous as it can affect individuals who are mentally unstable and push them over the edge, to resort to violence or  suicide.

-The creators of this particular example should be held accountable.

In our line of work we are unfortunately very much aware of the effect of this kind of misinformation on a vulnerable and stressed out population. It is simply immoral.

The post Mental Health, 5G and “Exploding Heads” appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Activities may be modifiable factors that moderate the risk and resilience in the development of mental health and illness. Youth who spend more time using screens are more likely to have poor mental health. Conversely, time spent engaged in active behaviors (i.e., physical activity, socializing and reading) is associated with better mental health. The choice of activities may be important in offspring of parents with mental illness, who are at increased risk for developing mental disorders. Among 357 youth of the FORBOW (Families Overcoming Risks and Building Opportunities for Well-being) cohort aged 6-21, we examined whether parental diagnosis of mental illness (i.e., major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and current levels of depression influenced the amount of time their offspring spent using screens and engaging in active behaviors. Parental history of mental illness and higher levels of current depression in mothers were associated with less time spent engaged in active behaviors and more time spent using screens. Creating opportunities and incentives for active behaviors may redress the balance between youth with and without a familial history of mental illness.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31813597/

The post Active behaviors and screen time in offspring of parents with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia appeared first on EMFSA.

Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-conspiracy-theorist-5g-mast-21731739

David Patterson, of Felling, was suffering a psychotic episode when he set fire to the BT mast above a garage in Gateshead.

Excerpt:

Newcastle Crown Court heard Patterson, who has schizophrenia, was suffering a mental disorder at the time and had been adversely influenced by material he had read online.

He had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication intended to kill himself but was persuaded not to by a police officer, the court heard.

After reading mental health reports on him, Judge Sarah Mallett imposed a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 200 hours unpaid work and rehabilitation.

The judge told him: “You thought it was necessary to destroy it to protect others. Obviously that was a product of your mental ill-health at the time. You were experiencing a psychotic episode at the time.”

Read the complete article at: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-conspiracy-theorist-5g-mast-21731739

The post Gateshead conspiracy theorist who caused more than £100,000 of damage by torching 5G mast walks free appeared first on EMFSA.

July 31, 2021

By Jonathan Haidt and Jean M. Twenge

The authors are psychologists who have spent years studying the effect of smartphones and social media on our daily lives and mental health.

As students return to school in the coming weeks, there will be close attention to their mental health. Many problems will be attributed to the Covid pandemic, but in fact we need to look back further, to 2012.

That’s when rates of teenage depression, loneliness, self-harm and suicide began to rise sharply. By 2019, just before the pandemic, rates of depression among adolescents had nearly doubled.

When we first started to see these trends in our work as psychologists studying Gen Z (those born after 1996), we were puzzled. The U.S. economy was steadily improving over these years, so economic problems stemming from the 2008 Great Recession were not to blame. It was difficult to think of any other national event from the early 2010s that reverberated through the decade.

Read the article at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/opinion/smartphone-iphone-social-media-isolation.html

The post NYT OPINION -This Is Our Chance to Pull Teenagers Out of the Smartphone Trap appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Introduction

Several studies have documented increases in adolescent loneliness and depression in the U.S., UK, and Canada after 2012, but it is unknown whether these trends appear worldwide or whether they are linked to factors such as economic conditions, technology use, or changes in family size.

Methods

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey of 15- and 16-year-old students around the world included a 6-item measure of school loneliness in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015, and 2018 (n = 1,049,784, 51% female) across 37 countries.

Results

School loneliness increased 2012–2018 in 36 out of 37 countries. Worldwide, nearly twice as many adolescents in 2018 (vs. 2012) had elevated levels of school loneliness. Increases in loneliness were larger among girls than among boys and in countries with full measurement invariance. In multi-level modeling analyses, school loneliness was high when smartphone access and internet use were high. In contrast, higher unemployment rates predicted lower school loneliness. Income inequality, GDP, and total fertility rate (family size) were not significantly related to school loneliness when matched by year. School loneliness was positively correlated with negative affect and negatively correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction, suggesting the measure has broad implications for adolescent well-being.

Conclusions

The psychological well-being of adolescents around the world began to decline after 2012, in conjunction with the rise of smartphone access and increased internet use, though causation cannot be proven and more years of data will provide a more complete picture.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197121000853

The post Worldwide increases in adolescent loneliness appeared first on EMFSA.

Dr Manuel Spitschan

In addition to seeing the colourful and detailed world around us, light profoundly impacts our brains and bodies – exposure to light in the evening and at night suppresses the production of melatonin and disrupts our circadian rhythm, which can have negative consequences on physical and mental health. To offset these adverse effects of mistimed light, daylight exposure may be beneficial.

PDF https://www.emfsa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/BSN-Neuroendocrine-Briefing-58.pdf

The post Seeing the light: beneficial impacts on neuroendocrine physiology? appeared first on EMFSA.

•Russia

Oleg A. Grigoriev DrSc., PhD. (radiobiology & hygiene of non-ionizing radiation); Chairman, Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (RusCNIRP)

3rd of February 2021

•China:

The BBC reports: China bans children from using mobile phones at school

By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter

Children in China are to be banned from using their phones in school, the Ministry of Education has ruled.

Pupils will not be allowed to bring mobiles to school without written parental consent.

The authorities say they want to protect young people’s eyesight, improve their concentration and prevent internet addiction.

Schools are being encouraged to find other ways for parents to communicate with children during the school day.

According to one of the country’s newspapers, China Daily, there has been heated debate among parents over the whether the ruling is practical.

The vast majority of children and teenagers in China access the internet via their own smartphones – 74% of under-18s, according to the government-affiliated China Internet Network Information Centre.

But the authorities are concerned about how internet use is affecting the health of the nation’s youth.

There have been rising levels of nearsightedness among children in China and in 2018, the authorities announced plans to regulate the gaming industry which was partially blamed for the problem. They also cited concerns that gaming addiction was damaging mental health.

The following year a curfew was imposed on under-18s, who were restricted to 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays and three hours on weekends and holidays.

Read more at: tinyurl.com/2zjlj89f

China bans mobile phones in schools and tightens social media

Didi Tang, Beijing Monday February 01 2021, 5.00pm GMT, The Times

China has banned pupils from bringing mobile phones to school to ensure that they concentrate on their studies.

The measure, which the education ministry said was to promote “healthy upbringing”, follows bans already introduced by some schools and local education authorities.

Beijing has also moved to further tighten control over social media, with internet companies launching a publicity drive to remind the public not to report or comment on political, economic, military and diplomatic news or big breaking stories.

(Subscription required) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-bans-mobile-phones-in-schools-and-tightens-social-media-87p59qvzd

•France:

In September 2018, the French government banned the use of mobile phones in schools. 

Phone use is banned inside school grounds

The law, according to Le Figaro, stipulates that children cannot use their telephones inside school grounds (or at school based activities outside of school such as sporting events or day trips) nor can they connect via any device to the internet. There are possible pedagogical exceptions for children with special needs.

It’s up to each school to determine how to police the ban, which applies to children in école maternelle (pre-school), école élémentaire (equivalent to junior high school, up to age 10) and collège, up to age 15 (ninth grade). At Lycée, which a teenager attends for the last 3 years of high school, individual establishments make their own rules regarding phone use.

https://tinyurl.com/y2ya3js5

Research continually shows how distracting cell phones are—so some schools want to ban them

In July of 2018, the French government passed a law banning cell phones in schools. According to CNN, the law passed 62 votes to one. The policy came into effect during the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year and impacts students in kindergarten through the 9th grade.

Some schools across the U.S. are enacting similar policies as a way to decrease distractions for students.

“It was a constant distraction for kids and what it became is a constant discipline issue,” Robin Kvalo, Principal of Portage High School, tells Wisconsin Public Radio. Kvalo says the school confiscated over 200 phones during the last school year, and that students and teachers are seeing results.

“They are not distracted anymore,” she says. “The phones are not their preoccupation. They know they can’t have the phones in the classroom. If that had been the case years ago, we wouldn’t have needed the policy.”

It doesn’t take a scientist to tell you that cell phones can be distracting, but if you do want confirmation from a scientist, it’s not hard to find. Study after study shows that the powerful computers we keep in our pockets can be distracting for even the most disciplined of adults — not to mention students.

https://tinyurl.com/y4eg3d3f

Images credit: Unsplash.com

The post Mobile Phone Usage in Schools: Russia, China and France appeared first on EMFSA.

SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

Analyze how the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and its social restriction measures affect sleep quality and the immunological system.

METHODS

An integrative bibliographical review was carried out using scientific articles from the last five years, from the PUBMED databases, with the descriptors: Sleep; Quarantine; COVID-19; Immunity; Mental Health. Besides the books “Oxford textbook of sleep disorders”, “Cellular and molecular immunology”, and “Treaty of Infectology”.

RESULTS

Sleep affects immunity. This happens through the regulation of immunological markers and their cells. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic can promote sleep disturbances and harm the immune system function.

CONCLUSION

Sleep exercises a direct influence on immunity maintenance and immunological response. Circadian rhythm alterations, associated with the psychological problems imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic compromise the quality of sleep and, for that reason, the immune system.

https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-42302020001400143&tlng=en

The post Sleep and immunity in times of COVID-19 appeared first on EMFSA.

Contributing authors include Christine Sleeter, Alison Dover, Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, Roxana Marachi, Kyle Beckham, Carol Batker, and Kevin Kumashiro.

http://www.care-ed.org

In this research brief, the California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education (CARE-ED), a statewide collaborative of educational researchers, analyzes the empirical research on the effectiveness of online K-12 education nationwide, turning to issues of inequities and injustices in online education, particularly here in California, as well as the push for and risks of technologizing education. Although raising a number of concerns about online education, CARE-ED does not recommend rushing to reopen schools. The study concludes with recommendations for policies and practices for engaging in online education in ways that place priority on remedying the inequities and injustices that are being worsened during the pandemic.

​Download the complete research brief on the shift to online education here.

Snippet

Some schools and homes have mechanisms and resources—while some schools and homes do not— to protect students from the negative impact of extensive screen time on literacy development, mental health
problems—like ADHD, screen addiction, aggression, depression, anxiety, and psychosis10—and physical health problems, like motor skill development, eye strain, muscle strain, and lethargy. So, too, with varying levels of protections from online bullying, sexual exploitation, and violations or intrusions of data and personal privacy.

About CARE-ED

CARE-ED, the California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education, is a statewide collaborative of university-based education researchers that aims to speak collectively and publicly and in solidarity with organizations and communities to reframe the debate on education.

The post California Researchers Sound the Alarm about Online Education during Pandemic, and Call for Big Changes in Policy and Practice appeared first on EMFSA.