If Freud Had a Cell Phone: The Usefulness of Social Media in Psychology
It’s two o’clock in the morning and the telephone rings, startling the psychologist. Groggily, she answers not knowing who is on the other end. As the doctor listens carefully to the voice on the phone, she realizes that it is one that is all too familiar. It’s one her patients. This patient has been dealing with some depression issues and is ready to do something drastic. The psychologist talks calmly with the patient for several hours to calm the young lady down, all while helping her work through the steps to feel better again. In a situation such as this one, it was very useful and important for the patient to have the psychologist’s personal cell phone number. Considering that the world has become so dependent on technology, society has become accustomed to it being a part of daily life. In some cases, or professions, that may be a good thing. As a psychologist, the use of social media can help possibly save someone’s life. There are quite a few psychology groups on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter just to name a few that focus on reaching out to people who possibly need it. There are also some psychologist who use their cell phones to do tele sessions with their patients who may be unable to come to the office setting. Social media and cell phones allow psychologists to be in contact with their patients more than ever, which enables them to be a source of constant
With this increase in technology, particularly the internet and social media, researchers have begun to question its effects on mental health, particularly anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
The use of technology has affected the way people of the generation speak, act, dress, and more. It makes an impact on many people in different ways. Although some people argue that digital trends may cause depression, the benefits are more helpful then harmful. Technology contributes to raising money and awareness for organizations, and it also seeks out opportunities to connect with others.
People tend to deny that they have an addiction, even though they do. They do not want to believe something about themselves that deep down they know are true. The constant connection to social media, rewires the brain to become conform to constantly want to be connected to something. .
Technology and the twenty first century go together like a PB&J sandwich. Everyone around us has some type of electronic devices which they can access the Internet from, whether it be a cell phone, a laptop, or a tablet. People today are not only physically attached to their devices but also emotionally. We as users must post on some type of social media based forum every minuscule detail going on. In Andrew Lam's essay he writes about Bill Bye "The Science Guy" giving a speech at USC and he collapses on stage. The audience's first reaction is to pull out their smart phones and records him collapsing. When 20 years ago the audience reaction would have been completely different. It would have consisted of someone running to a land line phone
In 1971 the first email was sent. This was the beginning of social media. Social media is a form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other contents. Social media sites are like fads where people eventually stop using them and move on to the next one. This essay will be about the effects of social media on the mental health of the main users of social media.
Technology has a huge impact on our lives. Now more than ever, we have unlimited knowledge and data at our fingertips and numerous and longer connections with people globally. With social technology, our society has adapted to a new age and is basing itself around an endlessly advancing and fast-paced scientific world. Technology has a huge impact on our social interactions and day-to-day routine, creating a culture of physical discommunication and digital conversation.
However, like genetics, it also has many negatives. Technology does improve the world’s ability to communicate quickly and easily, but it also separates people socially. Social media and smartphones for example, have dramatically reduced human interaction. Everyone would rather communicate online than in the real world. According to Pew Research Center, “Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users, and roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook on a daily basis” (Smith and Anderson 1). This a huge portion the the American population that is using Facebook alone. There are many other social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest that attract even more users. The more people use these services, the less they interact with others in person. Aldous Huxley once said, “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards” (Huxley 1). Before the technology that exists today, people were unable to communicate with others that weren’t in their area. Now, people tend to communicate with those around them less. As technology continues to improve, this situation will only become worse. Preventative action must be taken to prevent this from destroying human
The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. Many people would agree that social media leads to isolation, depression, and anxiety. Social Media impacts people in many ways; some are good, but some are very bad. Using social media to communicate is extremely convenient, unfortunately, more people are developing social anxiety because we are learning to comunicate through a screen from a young age. Also, seeing people posting about all the good in their lives can lead you to compare yourself to others. Most importantly, increased exposure of bullying through the internet contributes to high risk of depression. Generally, social media has more bad effects on our mental health than good ones.
Technology today is more relied upon than ever before. If one needs to call someone half way around the world, simply take out a cell phone and dial their number. Within thirty seconds, one can be speaking to that person just as if two people were conversing face-to-face. In the same manner, one has access to endless knowledge and resources by the pushing of a few buttons or the click of a mouse. The usage of social media today is becoming more prevalent than ever before because of the convenience it offers. This convenience includes being able to instantly know where a person is, what they are doing, and how they are feeling. All of these instances have one main commonality : technology. The interminable technological advances one has
In a growing world where technology has become an essential source of communication, special attention must be placed on the potential hazards of social media. The relationship between an individual’s social media habits and mental health is complex. In this report many concepts will be explored thoroughly such as, the effects of social media on mental health, how it is concerned with substance abuse, the advantages and disadvantages of social media and which social media site is cyberbullying occurred on the most.
Social media is described, by the Merriam-Webster dictionary (2015), as “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)”. As few as 10 years ago the term social media was yet to be coined, but within that decade the use of these blogs, websites and sharing platforms has increased exponentially with no plateau in sight. From creating Instagram accounts for household pets, to sharing Halloween themed baking ideas over Pinterest, people today have access to social media outlets for almost everything. Today about 74% of people ages 18-65 use some form of a social networking site (Pew, 2014). Facebook takes the lead in social media usage with about 71% of those adults. LinkedIn and Pinterest are tied for second at 28% of users, 26% use Instagram, and Twitter falls last in the top 5 most used social medias with 23% of users (Pew, 2014). In September of 2013 the Pew Research Center measured that 90% of adults ages 18-29 used these social media outlets on a daily basis, which is an astonishing increase from the 9% that was measured in February 2005 (Pew, 2014). Due to the fact that young adults are increasingly involving themselves in these online platforms, it is very important to understand the long term and psychological effects (such as depression, social anxiety,
Social media has drastically changed how people communicate. How many people remember how it feels to hear the phone ring in the house or receive a letter in the mail? Today’s youth know nothing other than text messages, tweets, and Facebook. Social media and the social entertaining websites of today have affected social behavior in many ways. While there are many advantages to this technological advancement, these advancements can also result in many changes in social behaviors. Some of the few prominent changes in social behavior, due to social media, are lack of communication skills, changes in self-esteem and cyber
The popularity of social media giants such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are on the rise and so is our nation's overall poor mental health status (The State of Mental Health in America). Studies have shown that there is a direct link between our social media obsession and our poor mental health (Walton). Social media can lead to feelings of comparison, jealousy and even delusional behavior. Another effect that social media has on our mental health is that it often leads to feelings of sadness and loneliness. Lastly, social media addiction is one of the many things that affects our mental health. Studies show that social media is often the cause of poor mental health, it can cause comparison, jealousy, loneliness and lastly addiction.
When you are suffering from a debilitating addiction, it 's easy to feel alone, isolated, and frightened during recovery. However, the emergence of social media has helped connect the world in a way never imagined. And you can tap into these brand new resource as a tool towards fueling our recovery and regaining a life of sobriety.
Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.