Anna North soaks up a new study:
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studied 106 teens, 46 of whom were clinically depressed, over five weekends, and surveyed them repeatedly on their media use. The kids who listened to the most music were the most likely to be depressed; kids who read the most were the least likely. …
I don't think art's highest goal is to make us happy — my music library is so dripping with misery that it sounds like a party mix for a funeral. But I do think that for people who feel confused by and isolated from humanity — that is, teenagers — there's something to be said for reading. David Foster Wallace famously said that writing should make people "become less alone inside." And while sometimes you want to revel in your alienation, sometimes a little literary companionship is exactly what you need.
The Dish 