Are you feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from the world around you? You may be suffering from depression, and technology could be to blame. In today's digital age, it's easy to get lost in the constant stream of notifications, emails, and social media updates. But is all this technology really causing depression? In this article, we'll explore the relationship between technology and depression, and offer tips for finding a healthy balance in the digital age.
Mental health is a topic of conversation that is particularly hard to tackle due to a variety of stigmas associated with it, all of which vary depending on culture, age (sometimes it may not be “just a phase”) and gender. Opinions are however quickly changing, allowing blogs such as this one to explore some issues without fearing a wave of unsubscriptions (fingers crossed).
Many renowned newspapers have covered the loneliness epidemic (epidemic arguably being a bit of an hyperbole) affecting teenagers and young adults, and often make it sound like technology is partly (or entirely) to blame. That is of course not entirely the case, as a lot of other factors appear to be main contributors.
Case and point: friendship in adulthood is a challenge for a lot of people, and a lack of it contributes hugely to loneliness. On average, we start to lose friends around age 25 (damn it), and continue to lose them steadily for the rest of our lives. As adults, we tend to work more, commit to more serious romantic relationships, and start families, all of which end up taking priority over “drinking-with-friends-at-the-bar” time.
Furthermore, young adults today move around more than any other demographic ever has, which severs support networks (friends, family, mentors…). People are also changing jobs more than ever, which interrupts connections that in previous eras would had become decades long. Furthermore, gig work, which is quickly becoming the new normal, deprives workers of not only job security, but social stability (it's hard to have a drink after work with colleagues when those colleagues are also your competition).
And no, more tech in not the answer :
“Online social contacts with friends and family,” as one study put it, “were not an effective alternative for offline social interactions in reducing feelings of loneliness” (looking at you, New York Times).
Tech is only a symptom of the disease that is social media: thanks to Instagram and Facebook, people are suffering and dying under the torture of the fantasy self they’re failing to become.
Social media may however be a decent outlet to share one’s feeling when anonymity is granted: take, for example, the subreddit r/2meirl4meirl, a place to exchange depression-themed memes. You either get it or you don’t, but those images show the head-space many young adults are in right now, and sharing in an anonymous way is highly cathartic.
The Health Issue
As if feeling lonely wasn’t bad enough, loneliness and isolation are shockingly bad for your health and wellbeing. Rigorous epidemiological studies have linked loneliness and social isolation to:
A weakened immune system
A higher blood pressure
A messed up sleep cycle
An increased risk of heart disease
Cancer
Depression
Diabetes
Arthritis
Type 2 diabetes
Dementia
A higher suicide rate
For the sake of intellectual honesty, do note that any study looking at all the above is very likely to run into multicollinearity issues (I never thought I’d ever get to use that word outside of my master thesis…).
According to the former United States surgeon general, who authored a widely cited meta-analysis, loneliness and social isolation are “associated with a reduction in life span similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.”
These health issues have gotten worrying enough to warrant the appointment of a Minister of Loneliness in the U.K. Yet, the country’s decision to leave the European Union has already had consequences that, it’s fair to hazard, will increase the anguish of lonely Britons. Hey Britain, wanna feel less lonely? Come back to Europe. We’re your friends.
The Gender Issue
Loneliness and social isolation affects men far more than women, for what appears to be obvious reason, which I here over-simplify: we share our feelings less, with less people, because emotional sharing is not in accordance with a gender identity created centuries ago. And though I cannot stress enough the fact that women still face an abundance of obstacles, they go into the world increasingly well equipped to emotionally take them on: to be a woman today is to be the beneficiary of decades of conversation about the complexities of womanhood, its many forms and expressions.
No commensurate movement has emerged to help men navigate toward a full expression of their gender (the closest thing I could find was the ManKind project, which involves dancing and crying, naked, in a British forest…). In a world where the historical staples of masculinity (strength, aggression and competitiveness) are no longer relevant, many find themselves trapped, and don’t even have the language to talk about how they feel about it, because the language that exists to discuss the full range of human emotion is still viewed as sensitive and feminine. We don’t know how to be, and we’re terrified. And so the man who feels lost but wishes to preserve his fully masculine self has only two choices: withdrawal or rage, too often with deadly effect.
Outmoded, incorrect and misplaced male self-beliefs are proving lethal and the traditional strong, silent response to adversity is increasingly failing to protect men from themselves. As usual, I offer no solutions, but a thought instead: fathers should hug their sons more and speak more openly about their feelings. Once again, tech clearly has very little to do with this.
Disclaimer
In a society where mental disturbance is endlessly pathologised, it’s too easy to conclude that the pinnacle of mental health is the absence of illness.
This idea leads us to envy those who steer clear of the ‘disease’ label. But a broader, more Jungian conception of mental health — one that encompasses the entire human meaning-making process — includes emotional setbacks, even profound ones, viewing them as invitations to engage in the ongoing project of destroying and rebuilding the self. If any of the issues described above do not describe you, remember that if you sail over the same waves that fell others, by all means, celebrate your good fortune. But it’s no guarantee that the race will be yours.
Feeling lonely? Drop me a line. We’ll chat. It’ll be nice.
