NPR segment on the rising mental health crisis in college students (and their parents)

@jym626 apparently this is key; “These results suggest a need for more research to understand how digital communication versus face-to-face social interaction influences mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes and to develop specialized interventions for younger age groups,” she said.”

Just want to clarity that when I wrote that I don’t fully understand the effects of social media here, I meant that this is a deep and complex problem that has not been studied sufficiently as yet. I feel there are things we don’t yet fully understand about the neurobiological effects of interacting on computers and phones and not in person. It’s interesting to watch people using their hands and changing facial expressions while talking on the phone. Our bodies still react to interaction as if it is in person, even when it’s not. Then again, does interaction on computers or phones alleviate loneliness, or cause it? This would be an interesting area for psychologists to study and that research is badly needed.

Aside from the “medium,” for teens, the “message” is also relevant. In other words, beyond the social effects of so much screen time, young people also have to deal with the content. It is truly scary to deal with anger online, and for teens, interpersonal difficulties can spread to others on Facebook or Instagram etc. so that a kid can be stigmatized or marginalized in a way that really feels impossible to reverse. Online bullying is so much more dangerous than the old-fashioned kind.

Even apparently benign posts- about college, for instance, can cause unhealthy competition, feelings of inadequacy and so on.

There is so much to plumb here. My kids are late 20’s, early 30’s and we missed a lot of this, just barely. I actually liked FB for awhile because it helped my daughter (with ADHD) learn to write:) So not a neo-Luddite. And here I am on an online forum at 7:30am, with no discernable ill effects!

Anyway, as I wrote before, everyone who works in our school tells me that social media is behind the uptick in mental health issues. They said, in a school committee meeting, that they call ambulances and that DCF is on speed dial. Seriously, that is a quote.

I do think that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder tend to be genetic, more physiological than a reaction to social factors, and other mental health issues can be too, like depression and anxiety. Clearly some disorders would be more vulnerable to social media. And also, it would seem more than possible that young people with NO actual mental health disorder could become depressed (unhappy) and even suicidal in reaction to something that happened on social media.

What I found interesting in the NPR piece was the discussion of the reaction of the two parents to their son’s crisis. They really struggled with the decision of what to do next. And one of them is a mental health professional!

Parents contribute mightily to this stress in many ways, none of them ill-intended. We praise our kids for their success, we advise them on strategies that will improve their odds of success, and yet, until there is a major meltdown, success rarely includes mere good mental health and strong self-care skills. I am not saying we drive our kids to crises, but we often suggest that if they are successful (good students, good athletes, etc.), that accomplishment alone will bolster them to a place where they needn’t feel sad or anxious. And our kids hear the inverse or fear that coming off the hamster wheel will relegate them to the life they’ve been working so hard to avoid.