The Guardian is running a blog series on American prisons. The most recent entry tackled prison rape in private facilities and discussed one ex-con’s fight for full disclosure on sexual assault statistics using his minority shareholding. That article is here and the link for the whole series to date is here.
I think that second quote is really the key. We’ve seen studies that are reported as showing that kids who use social media get more depression and anxiety, but those studies do not address the question of whether there’s any proof that the causality is in that direction and not the other. In other words, do teens who use social media a lot develop depression, or do depressed teens use social media more. This study seems to indicate it’s the latter. As we continue with a lot of social distancing, and activities being canceled and in person gatherings are very limited, we know everyone will be relying more on social media to stay connected, so this is an important question, and I think what this study, and others, really shows us is that there are ways to use social media as a positive influence on our mental health, and a way to use it that will not be a positive influence on our mental health.
In the physical world, we have these same choices. Do we interact with people who are toxic? Do we spend all of our time comparing ourselves to others? Do we isolate? Or do we find out tribe, our group of supportive friends/family that can interact socially in ways that help our mental health?
We all make those same choices on social media, but the key difference here is that if we simply don’t choose, and make no effort to make conscious decisions about who we follow and interact with, social network algorithms will make the decision for us. Anyone already struggling with mental health is maybe more likely to not spent much time thinking about these things, and just let the app show them what it wants to show them, and that is not necessarily going to be good for our anxiety. Especially right now.
So, if you find yourself feeling more anxious, angry, irritated, etc. every time you hop on Twitter or Instagram, maybe instead of just being that way, spend some time thinking about who you follow, and what they are bringing in to your life?
For any of my social media using readers, can you share some of your favorite positive accounts that you interact with to HELP your mental health?
According to a blog post by Darkness to Light that’s the more current estimate for the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse. They put together a study using newer research and reporting numbers than the previous studies that put the number at one in four girls and one in 6 boys who are sexually abused by…
Five Enlightened Ways to Think About Mental Health The New Look of Survivor Day Powerful display shows pair of shoes for every child lost to suicide Opinion: We Need to Be Trained in Responding to Mental Illness Understanding the Loneliness Epidemic Not Crazy: How I Overcame My Double Standard About Taking Psychiatric Medication True progress…
The bad news, however, might be that almost everyone does this. So instead of connecting with each other, we are each stressing over all the things we may have done wrong when we interacted. Which isn’t great. That makes it harder to connect with other people, which has a ton of negative effects on our mental health.
“This week, mental health professionals are marking National Suicide Prevention Week, offering advice on how to respond to someone who may be on the verge of killing himself or herself.“You can make a difference, especially if you can get somebody to talk about it,” said Elsa Ronningstam, a psychoanalyst, McLean Hospital psychologist, and board member…
