Technology and Depression.
Technology has taken over the world at a rapid rate. Today it would be difficult to find a job that does not require computer coordinating. Internet, on the other hand, has made social life much more comfortable as people are connected through mediums like Facebook. The internet also boasts a full research pedestal with a vast array of information on offer. Internet sources have replaced the traditional prime time bulletins as people prefer to catch up on global news from the comfort of their computers. The possibilities in picture technology have created the desire for perfection as celebrities capitalize on it to wow their fans with beautiful images of themselves. The mobile phone has taken over our world and is the primary source of distraction all day long with a range of effects. According to Littlejohn (183), people have created a connection with their gadgets, which they can’t severe as they look for alternative means of entertainment.
Exploration of terminology.
Feelings of sadness reduced self-appreciation, and generally lacking interest in daily life are common in our midst every day as people grapple with a lot of life’s challenges thrown at them. However, the persistence of these symptoms could point to a possible case of Depression. Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by extreme sadness and loss of interest in life and, in some cases, persistent feelings of grief (Hammen 293). It is more severe than mild episodes of mood fluctuations. It is usually caused by enormous mood-altering occurrences such as illness and loss of a loved one. It is also characterized by loss of appetite, insomnia, constant extreme agitation, fatigue, loss of weight, difficulty in concentrating, and recurrent suicidal feelings that could make some people attempt or succeed in killing themselves. Hammen (297) posits that Depression could also be caused by a new strain of influences such as technology.
Technology, on the other end, is the application of scientific knowledge in practical means. It is characterized by gadgets and equipment such as mobile phones and computers, together with subsequent modifications for use in different fields. The ultimate goal of most devices and material is to make life easier. Computers and phones are meant to connect people through an interface that is reliable and enjoyable. However, the gadgets are doing more than their fair share of functions as they have slowly crept up to become one of the leading causes of mental health problems, especially in the millennial generation (Littlejohn 180). The connection between computers and Depression is a subject worth taking a look at as experts continuously warn about the hidden dangers of using computers. The internet has created a generation of detached people who are overly reliant on technology.
Fundamental questions on technology and Depression.
Some of the most fundamental questions for researching aiming to conduct a study into Depression as a result of technology usage include; Does the overemphasis on the social benefits of internet usage contribute to depressive tendencies? Does internet usage lead to new paradigms of emotional effectiveness? What are some of the ways of mediating depressive effects of technology in the current world? What would be the effect of education on responsible use of technology to avoid depressive tendencies? What is the reach of technology among youth who suffer from episodes of Depression? Seeking answers to these questions could give an in-depth analysis of the effect of technology on Depression.
Mobile phone anxiety
With mobile phones swinging from hand to hand, creating smiles the whole day, it would be difficult to ignore the negative effect that these computers have on our physical and mental health. Kaplan (237) has, however, proven a significant connection between technology and negative emotions such as anxiety, insomnia, stress, and subsequent Depression. The dark side of technology is unnoticeable until when someone is bogged down with a severe condition such as Depression and its resultant physical effects. The positive aspects of the digital age of technology are also its major undoing as humans outdo each other in the zombification process of technology. This study will focus on the relationship between technology and Depression by analyzing the independent aspects of the subjects and related factors.
The internet is filled with information that is always captivating and emotionally connected, stretching our imagination beyond the existing paradigms. Every day on the net is a discovery process or addiction process where someone is hooked to their habits. According to Moody (395), the information offered on the internet ranges from trivia, such as how to learn the alphabet to complicated things such as how to avoid getting a heart attack and survive an apocalypse in the event of its occurrence. By getting exposed to this variety of information, people begin having information overload, and their brains adjust by sieving and sifting the information; The ultimate end is a situation where the mind, out of its capability, reverts normal functioning to the subconscious. People begin using their phones when performing any task around their environments. By failing to analyze information actively every day, the brain is reduced to a device with which informed decisions are made, and the emotional self is connected to the shift in information patterns over the internet (Moody 397).
Novelty addiction
Novelty addiction is one of the significant problems of constant exposure to technology. This colloquial term is used to refer to the technology-induced information consumption patterns. By exposing the brain to a barrage of information ranging from several topics and subjects, Littlejohn suggests that the brain gets used to it and begins expecting an extra level of stimulation to feel gratified (179). This drives people to use their gadgets more and more. This overstimulation of the brain is worse of cellphone addicts who find themselves hooked to their devices the whole day. This comes at the cost of critical physiological functions such as sleep since the use of phones has proved to interfere with REM sleep (Littlejohn 186). People with phones are always seen interacting on social media late into the night at the expense of their rest and can stay up for long hours.
Internet addiction has thus come out as a sharp concern for experts. The level of attachment that people have with their mobile phones has created a new person that experiences a lot of anxiety and stress when not connected with their phones. Yao & Zhong state that Most people are seen going out on critical social functions but carry along with their phones that they use when taking part in the action (165). This is also connected to the level of dependency that these people have on information technology. Most people have converted the gadgets to their virtual assistants that fill up for useful friends and even experts. Exposing such a subject to a condition where they cannot access their phones would cause a lot of anxiety and stress that could prolong if the phone-less situation continues. Novelty addiction is thus a new health trend in the world of technology and could lead to severe other brain problems.
Perfection, cyberbullying, and loneliness.
Social is one of the biggest problems that the modern person grapples with. People spend a good part of their day on WhatsApp Facebook Instagram, YouTube, and many other applications. The social gratification for these users is immense as the modified interfaces connect them to a world of reality and imagination. Social media is, however, a cauldron that is slowly taking a toll on the social lives of most of these people. The perfection of social media creates a lot of pressure for individuals. This perfection ranges from skin tones, lifestyles, and fancy holidays that are splashed by people on their social media pages (Sampassa-Kanyinga et al. 27).
People develop a comparison syndrome that predisposes them to want to emulate the images they see on social media. They don’t stop to think that some of the pictures they see might be of fake lifestyles. In the process, stress kicks in and may lead to Depression as time moves. Sampassa-Kanyinga et al. (35) suggest that the increased pressure to look perfect like the people on social media drives people to do crazy things and affects their mental state if they can’t achieve them. Depression kicks in as people become less appreciative of their capabilities and feelings of worthlessness manifest. These people are extremely sad about their own lives and might even end up committing suicide when they fail to achieve their created aspirations.
Another colossal danger with social media is the type of interaction that people experience on the platforms. There is plenty of negative emotions on the internet as people use it to express their dissatisfaction in life. Since emotions are contagious, these people spread them through behavior like cyberbullying. According to Caplan (238), people are targeted with negative comments, body shaming, and insults on esteem. The result of this is self-doubt and decreased self-confidence. Most people get highly stressed up, withdraw from social media, and degrade to depressive states. Celebrities are some of the people that seriously grapple with this problem as the pressure put on them by social media is too much.
The bullying is intensified by the fact that some of these bullies hide behind keyboards to say anything they feel like. The most common one for celebrities is called trolling, where thousands of people spend a considerable amount of time on social media bashing them. In most situations, the victim has no defense avenue as the barrage of insults become too much (Caplan 239). Suicidal thoughts kick in for most victims with a sizeable number of youths ending their lives. Due to this reason, most of them prefer to hire social media managers who interact on their behalf without exposing them to the negative affective energy.
According to Hammen’s studies into Depression (311), social media bullying ranges between 11 and 48 percent for most young people depending on their perception of online bullying. The victims and perpetrators share a lot of characteristics and tend to be predisposed to a range of affective mental conditions. Most victims encounter fear, worry, embarrassment, loneliness, and eventually, Depression after the online bullying encounter. Self-inflicted injuries in an attempt to compensate and cope with the situation are also reported as the same online sources offer means to commit suicide. A combination of these emotions could lead to a severe state of depressive disorder. Youths with depressive tendencies have also proved to be avid users of social media (Hammen 317).
Another significant effect of social media on individuals the changed dynamics of interaction. Social media means people create virtual friends on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other major social platforms. However, these friendships rarely help out when one is bogged down with a severe problem that requires physical presence for support. Additionally, social media interferes with the capability of interacting physically as most users develop social anxiety and shy away from actual social situations. The conversations on social media are mostly superficial and lack a deep emotional connection. A lot of people in their strain to impress on social media tend to deflect from working on their actual selves. According to Yao & Zhong (163), such people lose their capability to create romantic relationships, amongst other things. They slowly become lonely and isolated, an unnatural thing for humans. Eventually, depressive tendencies kick in due to the lack of social support. Statistically, most teens who are the majority of very active social media users are in this bracket.
Cyberchondria.
Finally, health conditions are influenced so much by social media. Cyberchondria is a word used to refer to a situation where people are addicted to finding out about their health and self-diagnosing based on symptoms on online search results (Starcevic & Berle 206). Internet sources always depict similar symptoms for a wide range of diseases. Most people quickly believe these internet diagnoses and begin developing medical anxiety. According to Starcevic & Berle (209), a diagnosis could lead them to believe they have chronic conditions such as HIV, brain tumors, and Cancer. This symptomatic diagnosis eventually leads to stress and Depression as people recoil from actual medical findings. This is arguably an unforeseen effect of internet disadvantage as people uploading medical information on social media mean well and are out to help people through providing as much information on subjects as possible. However, most diseases have overlapping symptoms, and in-depth medical analysis can determine the illness that someone could be suffering from.
Future research into the question of affective emotions on social media opens the door to investigation on how to curb the problem. Social media site owners have to grapple with this possibility and are always forced to go back to the drawing board to find a solution. One of the most common ways is giving people a level of control on their online data. People making posts on Facebook have the freedom to delete a comment or deactivate commenting for such posts. These steps are an attempt to reduce incidences, such as social media bullying. However, their effectiveness is still limited, as data on social media never get lost and can be modified into media such as memes and edited pictures meant to bully and portray people in a bad light.
Recommendations for change.
Despite the effects of technology on our mood tendencies, there are proposed mechanisms to reduce the occurrences and lead a depression free life. One of the first solutions is reducing the amount of time one spends on social media to reduce the incidences (Littlejohn 195). By reducing information overload, interactive sessions, and concentrating more on building real relationships, more people can curb depressive tendencies emanating from the internet. Another method is discovering new hobbies. Outdoor activities act as good substitutes for online interactions and are enjoyable and stress relieving. Finally, people should be encouraged to appreciate the influence of their immediate social settings. This includes interactions with family and friends in school and neighborhood. Such steps would reduce the number of people in need of therapy and specialized assistance and pave the way for a healthy world.
Works cited.
Caplan, Scott E. “Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use.” CyberPsychology & behavior 10.2 (2006): 234-242.
Hammen, Constance. “Stress and depression.” Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 1 (2005): 293-319.
Littlejohn, W. Bradford. “Addicted to Novelty: The Vice of Curiosity in a Digital Age.” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 37.1 (2017): 179-196.
Moody, Eric J. “Internet use and its relationship to loneliness.” CyberPsychology & Behavior 4.3 (2001): 393-401.
Reed, Karen P., et al. “Cyberbullying: A literature review of its relationship to adolescent depression and current intervention strategies.” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 26.1 (2016): 37-45.
Sampasa-Kanyinga, Hugues, Paul Roumeliotis, and Hao Xu. “Associations between cyberbullying and school bullying victimization and suicidal ideation plans and attempts among Canadian schoolchildren.” PloS one 9.7 (2014).
Starcevic, Vladan, and David Berle. “Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related Internet use.” Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 13.2 (2013): 205-213.
Yao, Mike Z., and Zhi-Jin Zhong. “Loneliness, social contacts, and Internet addiction: A cross-lagged panel study.” Computers in Human Behavior 30 (2014): 164-170.