Question: How has technological change had such an impact on a teenager’s mental health?

Hypothesis: Being covered up by screens or constantly talking through them instead of face-face interaction can seem comfortable and nice at the time but in the long run it is causing unhappiness. By always using your technology you are limiting interaction or relationships with others and instead, your only relationship is with your phone. Over time this is realized which is causing extreme anxiety and depression in teens as they grow older.

 

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. Treatments are available, but nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help from a health professional.

Although so many are affected, researchers haven’t developed any breakthrough mental health drugs in nearly three decades.

This is where social media and technology come in, to help or to worsen. Technological innovations are helping some patients connect with a therapist, get diagnosed, track moods, manage or mitigate symptoms, and stick to treatments which is amazing, because it is usually free and at such easy access.

Furthermore, social media is also worsening some mental disorders. One study out of the University of Pittsburgh found a correlation between time spent scrolling through social media apps and negative body image feedback. Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of reporting eating and body image concerns, compared to their peers who spent less time on social media.

Results from a separate study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that the more time young adults spent on social media, the more likely they were to have problems sleeping and report symptoms of depression.

Young people who spend seven hours or more a day on screens are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens for an hour a day, finds a new study published in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.

Overall, technology and social media affect most of the world, and a lot of us have access to it so we need to be careful with how much time we spend on technology and how we use it.

 

Technosis is a term that Weil and Rosen use to describe an overblown dependancy or attachment to technology. People demonstrate technosis when they feel “out of touch” if they don’t check their email messages, or when they have their cell phone or pager on at all times.  

“People allow themselves to be sucked into this technological abyss, and in doing so they become more machine-oriented and less sensitive to their own needs and the needs of others. Some people become so immersed in technology that they risk losing their own identity.” – Will and Rosen (1998)

This is an up and coming term which is becoming more well known and is now a peer-reviewed clinical condition which is more common then you’d think. These with the condition develop an attachment to technology which grows slowly, but before they know it, they have lost sight of where they end and technology begins.

Symptoms of Technosis include overdoing work and never feeling finished, believing faster is better, and not knowing how to function successfully without technology.

It doesn’t sound dangerous but it can be, mentally and physically. You’re always working so hard or never taking breaks from the screens that you feel so lost or depressed without it which can turn into major depression and anxiety. Being on these screens so often can cause headaches, nausea, sleep loss, weight gain, eye strain and more. Without sometimes realizing you are too focused on your technology to take care of yourself.

Prevent technosis by:

• Limiting social media time
• Taking breaks often (set alarms to do so)
• Turn off notifications
• Unplug before bed
• Get outdoors time often

Technology does have a lot of bad side effects on our health and brains but also a large number of good side effects that I could not leave them out.

Teens are hardwired for socialization, and social media makes socializing easy and immediate. Teens who struggle with social skills, social anxiety, or who don’t have easy access to face-to-face socializing with other teens might benefit from connecting with other teens through social media. As well as Teens in marginalized groups—including LGBTQ teens and teens struggling with mental health issues—can find support and friendship through the use of social media. When teens connect with small groups of supportive teens via social media, those connections can be a great way to find support.

Social media can also be used as a motivational tool to achieve healthy lifestyle goals such as quitting smoking or attending the gym on a regular basis. Announcing a goal via social media and regularly posting about it promotes accountability to others. Research has shown that sharing a goal publicly not only promotes accountability but helps one stay focused, and dramatically increases one’s chance of success, whether it be weight loss or sobriety for recovering addict/alcoholics.

The use of technology can benefit therapists and psychiatrists by extending their reach. Mental health professionals are increasingly using social networking tools such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest to collect data that can be used in research, and to connect with other professionals in the online community. It also helps them contact their patients 24/7 if needed and can provide support at any time.

There is also Twenty-four hour suicide prevention hotlines via the internet or your cellphone aren’t the only sources of intervention. An increasing number of websites are now offering support through social media channels. These sites often provide anonymous forums for people to connect, share personal experiences, and may even allow them to sign up for an SMS service to receive daily advice, motivational messages, and information useful for seeking or promoting recovery.

 

Technological Determinism: the idea that technology has much more of an impact on us then humans are willing to admit or agree with. Marshall McLuhan said, “We shape our tools, and our tools shape us.” 

The Speed of Change: Modern technology is ever changing and it is hard to keep up or even keep track. Most of the interactions you have had in the last five years have likely been through the internet or technology and little of them have been in person. It was thought that improving technology would allow us to work less, when in fact we are working harder than ever before. You probably can’t remember the last time you spent a weekend or went on vacation without checking a work or school-related email? Because our brains are locked in a fixed biological structure, we have a hard time adapting to our new reality every day. Our species is not used to life changing so much, so fast. We are in the midst of the technological revolution and it’s causing stress and chaos for many of us.

Isolation: Although it seems like we are more connected and interacting with each other through technology more then ever, we are in fact more isolated than ever. With technology being such a big thing, and everyone having access to social media we are never interacting face-face anymore. We text, Facetime, Snapchat and Call each other through our technology instead of going out and meeting someone for coffee to talk. The Mental Health Foundation Reported that: “Our cities and public spaces are more crowded, but more of us are living alone.” The percentage of households occupied by one person more than doubled from 6% in 1972 to 12% in 2008. More of us live alone since our population is ageing and we’re having fewer children, we are not out there making relationships since we are so occupied by our technology and work that happens through it.

Internet Addiction: Being addicted to the Internet and your technology is a real thing and can have a very negative impact on your mental health. Social media addictions and gaming additions have swept across society at distressing rates. It is found that 18% of social media users can’t go a few hours without checking Facebook or other websites and that it’s estimated that the average American spends nearly one-quarter of their workday browsing social media for non-work related activities.

Social Change Theory: “social change looks at the factors contributing to change within the structure of society. Such as changes in the way people think, feel and act.:” This applies to technology strongly since it is a huge part of our society right now. Changes through social media and changes in technology change how a lot of us act and think. For example: before Instagram, we didn’t feel the need to post our outfits or worry about how good we look. Now a lot of us feel the need to have a ‘perfect Instagram feed’ or people won’t like us as much.

The theory is known as: ‘Presentation of Self’ introduced by Erving Goffman which is a popular thinking within the symbolic-interaction perspective called the dramaturgical approach (sometimes referred to as dramaturgical analysis). The dramaturgical analysis is defined as the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance.

Presentation of Self: Interaction creates us to take on the role of an actor performing on stage. We perform differently based on the situation and desired impression of self to others. We have “backstage” and “frontstage” lives.

• Identity: ”Backstage” is how we behave knowing there is no one watching us. We can be ourselves and don’t have to act. “Frontstage” is how we behave for our audience and will vary depending on which situation we are in. i.e: in the classroom, work, etc.
• Impression Management: According to Goffman – we have a desire to present ourselves to others in certain ways by manipulating situations and impressions of us while on the front stage. (Clothes, bragging, etc).
• Creating Identities: During Goffman’s time these messages were all sent via person-person interactions, however now we have the ability to perform different plays to different audiences at the same time with social media.
• How does this apply via social media? With social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram intensifying the desire to maintain a self-image and display that image to other people. We may think of social media as separate stages with different audiences, it is common for these performances we stage to be viewed by multiple. For example, Facebook allows us to manage self-presentation, and maybe more effectively than with in-person communication as we get to choose what information people see.

In conclusion, I think overall I have answered my research question in a variety of accurate ways.

Research Question: How has technological change had such an impact on teenager’s anxiety levels?

Being right in the centre of the technological revolution and being around all up and coming technology has really put a stress on our lives, especially on teenagers being so young and trying to adapt so quickly. They might not feel like they are experiencing any harm but some are.

Technology has had an impact on teen’s anxiety and overall mental health by being extremely isolating, addictive and new. Teens are doing nothing but texting, tweeting and snapchatting that it is really upsetting their brains, health and personal relationships.

On the other hand, it is helping a lot as well. Teens with social-anxiety can use their phones and technology to connect to friends as speaking in person may be hard. As well as doing school online as it doesn’t require any face-face interaction and this relaxes them. Technology has also helped many other mental disorders such as depression as you can now get help through your phone by downloading therapeutic apps to relax, talk to someone and get 24/7 suicide prevention access.

Although technology seems like it is scary for our mental state at the rate it is developing it is also equally good for us.

Ultimately technological change is having a bad effect on teens but also helping teens cope so it hasn’t got bad enough yet.