We recently shared an infographic about the positive impacts that technology has on mental health.
This might have seemed contradictory to what you usually hear about technology. But it’s true - online tools are making it easier than ever to access health services. This is relevant to the mental health sector which is experiencing a decline in professionals and access to care.
Although, you’re not wrong in the assumption that technology can be bad for our mental health. Only 5% of adults think that it’s only positive. While the benefits exist, so do the negative impacts. We need to look at each side to understand how it has both pros and cons.
Here’s an infographic to also show the negative effects of technology on mental health.
Conclusion
While technology is improving access to mental health services, it also contributes to more mental illness in general. Because people spend so much time using devices, they’re less likely to have meaningful social interactions.
This also contributes to feelings of isolation.
Interactions online also tend to be negative. Social comparison, feelings of missing out, and cyberbullying all stem from the content we see online.
These negative impacts lead to more depression and anxiety.
Our bodies experience the negative effects of technology, too. More screen time can disrupt sleep, especially if this screen time is before bed. And the longer people spend using devices, the less inactive they become. But both disrupted sleep and inactivity worsen mental health.
The addictive patterns just continue the cycle.
It’s hard to put technology down because of dopamine’s motivational properties. Since this causes feelings of addiction to devices, it’s hard to stop using them even if we know they’re bad for our mental health.
Like everything, using technology in moderation can help with managing negative impacts.
For instance, avoiding screen time at least 30 minutes before bed can reduce the poor effects it has on sleep. And reducing social media use to 30 minutes a day significantly reduces the most common mental health difficulties.
Negative Effects Resources
Higher use of social media makes people three times more likely to have perceived social isolation - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
73% of heavy social media users report feeling lonely compared to 52% of light social media users - Cigna
Decreasing time on social media can reduce feelings of loneliness for adults ages 18 to 22 - American Psychological Association
56% of people say that technology at work reduces their in-person interaction - Cigna
Only 53% of Americans have meaningful in-person social interactions daily - Cigna
Those who perceived more negative interactions online and were prone to social comparison had higher levels of anxiety and depression - Medical News Today
59% of teens have experienced some type of cyberbullying - Pew Research Center
For every 10% rise in negative social media interactions that someone experiences, the risk of depression increases by 20% - Wiley Online Library
90% of Americans used electronics several nights per week within 1 hour before bedtime - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The repetitive use of a bright screen for 5 days can delay circadian rhythms by 1.5 hours. - Sleep Health Foundation
These poor sleep patterns contribute to depression - The Sleep Foundation
Smartphones cause sleep problems in teens which leads to depression, anxiety, and acting out - Providence
Technology use results in decreased physical activity because of its interruption in daily activities. Around 3.2 million deaths per year are due to physical inactivity - MDPI
The prevalence of Internet Addiction Disorder rates was 1.5% to 8.2% in 2012 - NCBI
Since social media has increased, the rate of social media addiction is now 5% to 10% - Addiction Center
70% of study participants expected to feel depressed, panicked, and helpless if their phone went missing. And 94% did report feeling troubled without their phone - Lemonade
51% of study participants reported logging on to social media more often now than they did two years ago. This contributes to the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) - Social Media Today
The average US adult spends 3 hours and 43 minutes on their mobile phone each day - Elite Content Marketer
Overall screen time for Americans is far higher: 10 hours and 39 minutes per day, as of 2018. This was a one-hour increase from the previous year - Sites at Penn State
Those who spend over 6 hours per day watching TV or using the computer are more likely to have moderate or severe depression levels - NCBI
