Technology, Society and Mental Health

Reiley Simpson

men·tal health:noun: mental healtha person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being."all this pressure seems to be affecting his mental health"

According to Daily Mail, The average person spends 8 hours and 41 minutes on electronic devices

4/10 smartphone users check their phone in the night if it wakes them

More people check emails in the morning than they do eat breakfast

How does Technology Affect Us:

This leads to lack of sleep (causing stress, increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure)

Not healthy for body (blue light messes up natural rhythms in body)

Smartphones may lead to stess Acne caused by cellphones “Blackberry thumb” Radiation

Health Risk:

Everywhere you look, someone is staring at there phone (everyone has one)

Being on your phone all day (email, facebook, etc) causes the brain to be constantly functioning at a high rate which is unhealthy, it needs downtime (do you really need to spend your 15 minute break on facebook)

Cellphones and stress:

The first question I am asked now when someone is at my house is, What is the wifi password? “always on” is a term used for people who

are always on their phone. How many times have you been to a dinner where the couple is both on there phone rather than talking?

Technology is awesome, but you need to balance the two to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Turn your phone off at night, enjoy the much

needed time off from it Enjoy the outdoors, go on walks, go to coffee

with your friends, enjoy the smaller things in life!

We now consume media for more hours than we sleep.

How to Balance the two

Being “always on” not only adds stress, but anxiety as well

It makes decisions harder to pick from, with the amount of data we have at our fingertips (have you ever googled a comparison about two brands?)

Anxiety, why? Instant access to friends (to much social

activity) Media coverage, making people feel worse

about their bodySome people I know care about the amount of likes on their picture or amount of friends on Facebook more than there own health, the cellphone addiction is a serious thing.

The Main illness tied with Tech:

There is some pros to technology: There are now way easier ways to do

operations and other important things because of technology

Easy to connect with friends and family A phone is now a calculator, calendar,

reminder, visa card, passport all in one Technology based assessment on mental

health patients (PTSD, Etc.) Technology to improve treatment remidies

Pros to Technology

With Technology and Society and Mental health, I believe the conflict theory to be best fitting. More specifically; Positivism, Antipositivism, Social constructionism Interactionism.

Conflict Theories:

With media and the whole “like” system it brings down how we feel about our selves,

more likes is better looking (same with more friends) the more we have the better we feel

with ourselves

Anti/Positivism

With technology, we no longer need to see someone to know how their day was, instead we can text them and find out what's new rather than have face to face conversation with them (that brings up more topics on technology and mental health)

We can hide emotions from text, making it harder to interact with people feelings and they can hide signs of sadness etc.

Technology changes how we act in public and online.

Internationalism

Technology has it’s pros and cons, depending on how you use it. It can influence your mental health and your physical health if used improperly.The key is to use it and not abuse it, and balance real life and online life. Do not let technology change the way you think and act, instead use it as a tool

Take the time to go out and enjoy the day.

-Reiley

Conclusion

MailOnline, M. (2015, March 11). Average person now spends more time on their phone and laptop than SLEEPING, study claims. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2989952/How-technology-taking-lives-spend-time-phones-laptops-SLEEPING.html

Smartphone stress: Are you a victim of 'always on' culture? - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28686235

The 19 Worst Tech-Related Health Risks. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://greatist.com/health/19-worst-tech-related-health-risks

Why digital media can cause stress. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.danroberts.com/why-smartphones-can-crank-up-your-stress