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Digital Health Technology for Behavior Change
Published in James M. Rippe, Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Jeffrey Krauss, Patricia Zheng, Courtenay Stewart, Mark Berman
More data is needed to determine who will benefit most from social media and who is prone to misuse it. The AGES (Activating and Guiding the Engagement of Seniors through Social Media) 2.0 project revealed that elderly patients trained in the use of social media, as well as Skype and email, performed better cognitively and experienced improved mental health and physical well-being compared to a control group receiving usual care.148 In contrast to the elderly population, a survey of young adults aged 19–32 found increased social media use was associated with social isolation.149 Participants who used social media more than two hours a day had twice the odds for perceived social isolation than their peers who spent less than half an hour on social media each day. In another study, researchers used biomarkers to demonstrate that social media overuse may lead to increased stress and higher cortisol levels.150 However, these negative effects may be explained by an emerging maladaptive use pattern known as problematic social media use, characterized by addictive components. Shensa et al. suggest that it may be how we use social media, not how much, that poses a risk.151
Characteristics of social media ‘detoxification’ in university students
Published in Libyan Journal of Medicine, 2021
Joseph El-Khoury, Riwa Haidar, Rama Rand Kanj, Linda Bou Ali, Ghaidaa Majari
The role for mental health professionals in addressing problematic social media use seems premature in the public mind. The overwhelming majority stated they would not consider professional help for this matter. More work is needed to identify the extent to which psychiatrists and psychologists can transfer their experience from treating other behavioural addictions to problematic social media use. Periods of planned abstinence or controlled use are both established components of treatment for substance-based and behavioural addictions. As such, it is likely ‘social media detox’ will become part and parcel of treatment protocols if this condition is to be recognized officially as a clinical syndrome. Understanding its characteristics and predicting its therapeutic potential should be an essential research focus for clinicians and public health experts.
The Mental Health Impacts of Smartphone and Social Media Use
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2020
Michelle Cleary, Sancia West, Denis Visentin
Addiction is one the most widely-reported negative issues of smartphone use. Studies have assessed users' perceptions of their smartphones, with nearly half of respondents stating that they feel they are unable to live without their phone (Smith, 2015), and that separation from their device results in feelings of anxiety and withdrawal (Cheever et al., 2014; Clayton et al., 2015; Elhai et al., 2016). Addiction typically manifests as excessive phone use whilst undertaking other activities (Alhassan et al., 2018) or in place of other activities. Addiction can spiral towards other negative consequences, including sleep disturbance, mood disorders, functional impairment, and even risk-taking behaviours such as texting whilst driving (Cazzulino et al., 2014; Collier, 2016; Jiang et al., 2018). Similar negative impacts, including sleep problems, low self-esteem and anxiety, were found in those with excessive or problematic social media use (Ehrenreich & Underwood, 2016; Woods & Scott, 2016) with a fear of missing out on social interactions driving higher and more continuous social media use (Barry et al., 2017; Oberst et al., 2017). Sleep disturbance is particularly problematic, with smartphone addiction and social media use linked to delayed bedtimes and disturbed sleep patterns due to notifications, with poor sleep known to have negative mental health impacts (Kelly et al., 2013; 2018; Lemola et al., 2015). Significant, too, is the consistent link found between smartphone addiction and depression (Alhassan et al., 2018; Elhai et al., 2017).