We have mentioned in our previous blogs time and again that we believe we are in between a mental epidemic. To be more accurate it is a generational mental epidemic, not meaning that it is faced by a single generation only, but that a person belonging to any generation will be able to see the issues that they are going through, reflected in many others of the same generation. This has resulted in a significant rise in mental health issues, especially among younger generations, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
The factors are in multitudes but, for this blog, we shall explore a few of them that are a direct cause of the digital age. Two of the most important factors that come out of the digital age to wreak havoc on unaware minds are Comparision Culture and Information Overload.
It is one of the ego’s tasks to compare itself to others in a search of superiority in some way or other to make itself feel special. This in itself is not wrong for it acts as a drive to push people towards their goals in many cases. However, due to the rise of social media, it has now become easy to compare oneself with many others, or more accurately, what those others really want to portray themselves as. People usually only share the most idealised and romantic versions of themselves on social media and for one to compare oneself to these ideal versions does more harm than good. Therefore, now we have people on either ends of the spectrum, ones with extremely low self-esteem, comparing themselves to an idea of a person that doesn’t really exist or people with a superiority complex thinking they are somehow very special just because a number of people clicked twice on their social media posts.
Information Overload is also one of the serious issues that came as a by-product of the digital age. Who knew too much information is also a bad thing? We do now, however! The constant onslaught of information in terms of news, updates, emails, etc leaves one desensitized to the issues of the world. One starts losing interest and considers even the greatest accomplishments as mundane and the same attitude is reflected in their daily lives.
There are many more factors like Social Isolation, Screen time, Cyberbullying, etc. This is not however to say that social media is a curse in itself. Not necessarily! Social media is a tool just like any other and just like any other tool, it can be used for any positive or negative ends. The use of social media not as a tool but an end in itself, as a pleasure-extracting device is at the root cause of the problems one faces with social media.
Conclusion – Identifying any mental problem and taking measures to allay it is the scope of counselling and psychotherapy. They can provide many tools to support the people part of this generational mental epidemic. They can provide one with a safe space and a supportive environment where one can be free of their “oughts” and “shoulds” and focus solely on their healing process. They help with developing better and healthy coping skills. Therapy also provides a space for people to derive a sense of connection from.
Since the cause of the mental epidemic is the internet, can the solution be a part of the internet as well? We asked ourselves this question and created LetsGetHappi as the solution. LetsGetHappi is the first ever mobile application that provides therapy round the clock, without having the need to schedule appointments and is full of many tips and tools to identify one’s problems and to start working on them. Download the LetsGetHappi app to start your journey of healing today!
– Nihar Laljani
– Content Writer For Veda Rehabilitation and Wellness