These days talk about the link between screen time and mental health is everywhere, and spending large chunks of time on social media sites has been linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression. In a study conducted in 2013, scientists found that the more participants used Facebook over a two-week period, the higher the levels of dissatisfaction they reported in their lives. The same was not true of their face-to-face interactions (Kross et al., 2013). Reports have also come out saying that higher amounts of screen time in children under the age of two can lead to attention deficit disorders and delayed cognitive skills (Tamana et al., 2019). However, in recent years, these and many of the other studies surrounding the topic have been found to be flawed. When virtually every American adult has a smart phone that provides constant access to Tinder, YouTube, and Instagram, what do you use as your control group? Not to mention that each person’s online experience is different, because of how they choose to use technology and how sites like Facebook uniquely tailor each user’s feed (Carey, 2019).
So what is the truth? Is technology ruining our minds? In a world where it’s use is constantly on the rise, I’m not sure that it matters. Rather than focusing on the negatives of something that can’t be escaped, perhaps we should be asking an entirely different question- how can we use technology to boost our mental health?
More and more often, technology is becoming a tool to improve our health. More people than ever are using their Apple Watches and FitBits to track their step counts, heart rates, and asleep patterns. There’s an app for pretty much any diet or exercise plan you want to start, and there are even apps for tracking your blood sugars if you have diabetes. Recently, University of Chicago Medical Centers have installed scanners in their soap and hand sanitizer dispensers to help track how often doctors and nurses are washing their hands between patients, in the hopes of decrease the number of hospital-acquired infections (Schencker, 2019). And, perhaps most importantly, telemedicine is on the rise.
At the University of California this year, the number of students seeking mental health services almost doubled, overwhelming the college’s clinics and increasing wait times to see a counselor to six weeks. Because of this, UC and other universities are considering incorporating virtual therapy appointments into their programming (Wyer, 2019). They aren’t alone. Earlier this year, Massachusetts joined the 32 other states offering some sort of coverage for telehealth services for Medicaid members, many of which include mental health services (Lagasse, 2019). Video-based psychiatric appointments help break down barriers to care for those with busy schedules or those living in rural areas who may not have other options. They are a more cost effective treatment option and allow people in crisis to get help immediately without going to the emergency room, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s website (American Psychiatric Association, 2016). They also allow for greater privacy for patients. And, most importantly, according to a study done by the Canadian Medical Association, they work. Patients being treated for anxiety reported effectiveness at the same levels as face-to-face counseling, and patients being treated for depression reported a significant improvement over non-treatment, though not as high as those in the face-to-face group (Gratzer & Khalid-Khan, 2015).
Certainly there are still barriers to telemedicine. Not all states currently offer coverage, those that do have varied laws surrounding it, and it isn’t a good option for those who struggle to use the technology. The Canadian Medical Association also cautions providers to not rely solely on online testing to make a diagnosis. But any option that opens up care to more people in a way they may be more comfortable using seems like a good thing. As an information professional it is important for me to be aware of and understand how to use these resources (including both the benefits and limitations of them) so that I can help my patrons or students who might need telemedicine to know their options and to gain access. So for anyone who is worried that technology is creating a world with higher levels of mental health issues, it may also be creating a way to help fix it. And your local librarian might be able to show you how.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2016). What is telepsychiatry? Psychiatry.Org. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-telepsychiatry
Carey, B. (2019, May 31). ‘Screen time’ is over. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/health/screen-time-mental-health-screenome.html
Gratzer, D., & Khalid-Khan, F. (2015). Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of psychiatric illness. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 188(4), 263–272. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.150007
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., Shablack, H., Jonides, J., & Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e69841. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069841
Lagasse, J. (2019, October 31). Telehealth laws, especially for behavioral health, are increasing access despite remaining legislative barriers. Healthcare Finance News. https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/telehealth-laws-especially-behavioral-health-are-increasing-access-despite-remaining
Schencker, L. (2019, December 26). Doctors and nurses clean their hands only half as much as they should. Now some Chicago-area hospitals are having them wear tracking technology to keep tabs. Chicagotribune.Com; Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-hospital-hand-washing-infections-sensors-20191226-kkeb2rmihre2fag3uiggckt2l4-story.html
Tamana, S. K., Ezeugwu, V., Chikuma, J., Lefebvre, D. L., Azad, M. B., Moraes, T. J., Subbarao, P., Becker, A. B., Turvey, S. E., Sears, M. R., Dick, B. D., Carson, V., Rasmussen, C., Pei, J., & Mandhane, P. J. (2019). Screen-time is associated with inattention problems in preschoolers: Results from the CHILD birth cohort study. PLOS ONE, 14(4), e0213995. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213995
Wyer, S. (2019, August 25). Telemedicine will jump-start overloaded and underfunded UC mental health services. Dailybruin.Com. https://dailybruin.com/2019/08/25/telemedicine-will-jump-start-overloaded-and-underfunded-uc-mental-health-services/
