In these days of omnipresent technology and communication, it has become very challenging to untether and turn off all the noise. It is quite amazing the amount of time we spend daily looking at screens, including constantly keeping up with text messages, creating and replying to social media posts (multiple platforms!), and cruising webpages. In fact, a lot of people keep their heads buried in their devices, so much so that they miss significant chunks of real-world experiences happening right around them. But aside from where our direct attention goes, it is important to look more closely at the overall impact all of these distractions have on our mental health. Are we better for dedicating our lives to virtual screens over real-world interactions, or does our virtual life negatively impact our overall mental health?
You can’t do two things at once
When we direct our attention to our device instead of the world around us, something has to give. We can’t give our full attention to our kids while responding to a text, nor can we do our best at school or our jobs if we are constantly focused on social media posts. To the degree and extent each of us engages in screens over real life varies by person, but in each case a decision is made to briefly check-out from what’s around us in exchange for a virtual experience.
Carrying this out further, when we direct our attention toward technology and miss out on real-world experiences as a result, we experience a host of emotions when processing what we just missed. These feelings often include frustration and sadness, and over time these emotions can develop into bigger issues around our self-esteem, confidence, and ways in which we interact with others. Often these changes are slow and happen over time, but they are also important changes to note — regardless of how long it takes to experience.
The cumulative effect
When we step back and look at the effect of always being plugged in, in many ways we are re-programming how we interact with the world. And over the long-run we must ask if we are better and healthier because of all the noise, or fundamentally changed in important ways. For example, are we more jaded and pessimistic for reading click-bait, bad news stories day after day? Are we losing social skills since we interact with people virtually more often than we do in person? Do we have a world view that doesn’t match reality, due largely from what silo we receive our daily news? And are we spending too much time “liking” and posting stories, when we should be focused on work/school and enjoying our family when at home? There is definitely a cost to always being plugged in, and the cost varies by person……but there most definitely is a cost of some kind.
Final thoughts
While turning off the noise might not be easy, it is at least worth a few minutes of your time to self-audit and see the ways in which constant virtual communication has impacted your life and mental health. Social media isn’t “good or bad,” but it can be used for both good and bad purposes — the key is to find the ways in which social media enhances your life, while minimizing the social media experiences that negatively impact your well-being.
