Short form video might impact impulse control and decision making

Ever find yourself endlessly scrolling through short videos, only to realize you’ve lost track of time?

Do you find it hard to stop scrolling—even when you know you should?

The vast majority of college students view short form video content, for several hours per day, primarily YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc (1).

A new study published in NeuroImage suggests that this behavior might be related to brain changes from viewing short form videos(2).

What Was the Study? (2)

Researchers combined behavioral modeling and brain imaging, they explored how people with higher short form video addiction (SVA) symptoms respond to risky decisions (2).

What were the results? (2)

  • Less sensitivity to loss: People with more SVA symptoms were less deterred by potential losses in a gambling task.
  • Faster decision-making, suggesting more impulsive choices.
  • Brain activation shifts: SVA symptoms were linked to reduced activity in the precuneus (a region tied to self-reflection and value evaluation) during gain processing, and increased activity in motor and sensory regions during loss processing.

What Does This Mean? (3)

  • This study suggests that excessive short-video use may alter how the brain weighs risks and rewards (2).
  • You might be more likely to chase instant gratification and less likely to pause and consider long-term consequences (2).

There are many strategies to use technology in healthy ways (4) some of them include:

  • Set limits: Limit technology for entertainment to 1 hour per day (5)
  • Disconnect, pause, breathe and collect yourself: Instead of grabbing your phone during spare time, disconnect from electronics to reflect, recharge, relax; and collect yourself (3).
  • Schedule screen free time for nutritious meals and atleast 8 hours of sleep as this can benefit many aspects of physical and mental health
  • Physical activity: Movement, exercise, playing sports can also help address the negative mental health effects of excessive sedentary behavior and screen time.
  • Mindful technology use: Instead of mindless “infinite” scrolling, consider your goal before starting a device or program (4).
  • Schedule time to connect with others

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA
OSU-CCS Psychiatrist
Contact: patel.2350@osu.edu

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. https://info.mssmedia.com/blog/social-media-habits-of-college-students
  2. Chang Liu, Jinlian Wang, Hanbing Li, Qianyi Shangguan, Weipeng Jin, Wenwei Zhu, Pinchun Wang, Xuyi Chen, Qiang Wang,
    Loss aversion and evidence accumulation in short-video addiction: A behavioral and neuroimaging investigation,
    NeuroImage,Volume 313, 2025,121250, ISSN 1053-8119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121250.
  3. Ballard D. Connected and content: Managing healthy technology use. American Psychological Association.  https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-technology-use
  4. Patel R. Mental Health For College Students Chapter 8. Technology, media, and mental health.
  5. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/?p=855

A new strategy for falling sleep

Sleep can impact many aspects of mental health (1).  You are not alone in struggling to fall asleep because your mind won’t stop racing. About 75% of college students report getting less than 8 hours of sleep on average on weeknights over the last 2 weeks according to the Fall 2024 ACHA-NCHA IIIb Reference Group survey of 33,763 college students across 48 institutions (2).

A fascinating study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology looked at the impact of writing a to do list on sleep (3).

What was the study? (3)

A randomized controlled trial with 57 healthy young adults aged 18–30. (3).

Participants were assigned to one of two groups: one wrote a to-do list of tasks they needed to complete in the next few days, while the other wrote a completed activity list of tasks they had already finished (3).

Each person wrote for five minutes before going to bed in a sleep lab, where their sleep was monitored using polysomnography (a fancy term for detailed sleep tracking) (3).

What were the results? (3)

  • The group that wrote to-do lists fell asleep significantly faster than those who wrote about completed tasks.
  • Interestingly, the more detailed the to-do list, the faster participants fell asleep.
  • In contrast, writing about completed activities didn’t offer the same benefit—and in some cases, it was linked to longer time to fall asleep.

What are some caveats?

  • This study was small and focused on healthy young adults, so we can’t say for sure that the same results would apply to everyone.
  • While the findings are promising, they don’t mean that writing a to-do list is a cure for chronic insomnia.
  • For people who struggle with bedtime worry, it might be a helpful tool to try.

What does this mean for you?

  • If unfinished tasks keep you from falling asleep at night, writing a quick to-do list before bed might be beneficial.
  • It might help you offload those thoughts and ease into sleep more quickly.
  • Just a few minutes of jotting down tomorrow’s tasks could make a noticeable difference.

Want more strategies to support your mental health?
Check out these tips for managing stress or ways to improve sleep.

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA
OSU-CCS Psychiatrist
Contact: patel.2350@osu.edu

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. Patel R. Mental Health For College Students Chapter 7. Sleep strategies to improve mental health.
  2. American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2024. Silver Spring, MD: American College Health Association; 2025.
  3. Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):139-146. doi: 10.1037/xge0000374. Epub 2017 Oct 23. PMID: 29058942; PMCID: PMC5758411.

Can omega 3’s improve sleep?

College students can take many steps in their everyday lives to improve their mental health, one of the main factors is sleep (1). A previous post looked at poor sleep and worsening stress levels (2).

Poor sleep in college students can also impact tension, irritability, depression, confusion, reduced life satisfaction, or poor academic performance (3).

Yet more than 75% of students report getting less than 8 hours of sleep on average on weeknights over the last 2 weeks according to the Fall 2024 ACHA-NCHA IIIb Reference Group survey of 33,763 college students across 48 institutions (4).

A recent study looked at of impact of omega 3s on sleep.

What was the study? (5)

  • This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, parallel-grouped study (5)
  • 66 healthy males and females, mean age 52.8 years (5)
  • Participants received 576 mg DHA and 284 mg EPA per day (n = 33), or corn oil (placebo group, n = 33), for 12 weeks (5)
  • Sleep was measured using a self reported scores (OSA-MA and POMS-2 tests) and objective sleep monitoring via a device (monitor that evaluates the sleep state by collecting breath, pulse, and body movement data) (5)
  • Blood omega 3 levels and dietary survey was also done.

What were the results? (5)

  • The study showed that 576 mg DHA and 284 mg EPA per day improved sleep quality (5)
  • Frequent dreaming also improved (5).
  • They theorized that the mechanism might be related to impact on serotonin and melatonin levels (5)

What are some caveats?

  • This is one of the first studies to show that low dose omega 3s can improve sleep quality (5).
  • This was a well designed randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel grouped study with objective and subjective measures (5).
  • There are many other studies showing benefit from omega 3’s and sleep quality. (6)
  • While this study involved healthy participants, individuals with health conditions may need a higher dose of omega 3’s to find benefit (5).
  • Check with your health professional to ensure that Omega 3’s are appropriate for you as they may not be suitable for everyone.
  • Plant based omega 3’s may be an option for those who do not or cannot eat fish.
  • While this study was in middle aged adults (5) and a separate study found benefits in young adults (7) findings may not be generalizable to other populations with health conditions.
  • Further study in specific populations  with specific health conditions is needed.

 

Strategies to manage stress can be found here: https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2014/08/15/stress-and-what-to-do-about-it/

Strategies for sleep can be found here: https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2017/12/31/poor-sleep-and-poor-grades-might-go-together/

Please enter your email above if you want to be notified of future posts.

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA OSU-CCS Psychiatrist

Contact: patel.2350@osu.edu

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. Patel R. Mental Health For College Students Chapter 7. Sleep strategies to improve mental health.
  2. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/?p=846
  3. Buboltz WC Jr, Brown F, Soper B. Sleep habits and patterns of college students: a preliminary study. J Am Coll Health. 2001 Nov;50(3):131-5. doi: 10.1080/07448480109596017. PMID: 11765249.
  4. American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2024. Silver Spring, MD: American College Health Association; 2025.
  5. Yokoi-Shimizu, K., Yanagimoto, K., & Hayamizu, K. (2022). Effect of Docosahexaenoic Acid and Eicosapentaenoic Acid Supplementation on Sleep Quality in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients, 14(19), 4136. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14194136
  6. Dai Y., Liu J. Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid and sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies. Nutr. Rev. 2021;79:847–868. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuaa103.
  7. Watanabe, N., Matsuoka, Y., Kumachi, M., Hamazaki, K., Horikoshi, M., & Furukawa, T. A. (2018). Omega-3 fatty acids for a better mental state in working populations – Happy Nurse Project: A 52-week randomized controlled trial. Journal of psychiatric research, 102, 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.03.015