News of the Conneticut Shootings cleared worldwide news schedules yesterday. Before this, the UK government decided that an automatic internet block on viewing porn at the ISP level, forcing those wishing to view adult images to opt in, was impractical. The BBC has the story here along with the historical story crawl.
Hurting Too Much (HTM) is the third book by Harry Keeble and Kris Hollington following on from Baby X and Little Victim. In a slowed-down real-life version of the TV drama Southland, Detective Sergeant Keeble (shortened to DS in the UK) continues with an account of just a small selection of the child protection cases…
Well this really changes things. What if I told you that “normal” actually is dealing with a mental health problem at some point in your life? “New research, from our lab and from others around the world, however, suggests mental illnesses are so common that almost everyone will develop at least one diagnosable mental disorder…
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?
Pope Benedict XVI has issued an apology for the decades of child abuse inflicted by priests or nuns in Catholic-run institutions. The apology has naturally divided opinion among the faithful and the survivors. Altar Boy author Andrew Madden was one commentator with the view that the actions of the church when dealing with allegations and…
They made the announcement on World Mental Health Day yesterday, that they were taking aim at the increasing numbers of men in the UK dying from suicide, especially those who are not comfortable talking to someone about their issues. The hope is that by making a text service available across the UK that it will…
