Morgan Richardson

MWF 11:30

Professor Diana Watkins

9 November 2018

The Impact Technology is Making on Our Mental Health

“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master” (Christian Lous Lange). We

have access to technology in a matter of seconds, it is right at our fingertips. Is technology good

for our mental health? There are both positive and negative aspects of techmology. Mental health

is vital to your everyday life. Internet use can induce anxiety, stress, and depression, technology

can also affect our social life and how we act on social media, and technology effects our

sleeping schedules.

How can social media induce anxiety, stress, and depression in our lives? Social media

induces anxiety, stress, and depression into our lives because the human society has a fear of

missing out (FOMO). People all over the world experience FOMO because they fear that they

are not connected to people and important events going on in the world. Social media can cause

anxiety, stress and depression to the people who check their phones constantly, rather than

people who don’t check their phones as often. Millennials have the highest level of stress and

anxiety due to social media. Constant phone checkers feel disconnected from their family even if

they are with them in person. Too much time on the internet has proven to cause illnesses like

high anxiety levels, stress, depression, ADHD, impulsive disorders, paranoia, loneliness, and

how we mentally function in everyday life. The reason this happens is because there is pressure

of sharing personal matters with other people and how people are comparing their lives to other
people on social media, and this is ultimately what gives people anxiety, stress, and depression.

Technology usage is linked to anxiety, stress, and depression. All social media like Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat have all increased the levels of depression, stress, and anxiety

in the younger age generation. Social media causes anxiety, stress, and depression because it has

dramatically changed over the years as it has gotten more advanced. People start to compare their

own lives to the lives of other people around them and that is what ultimately gives them anxiety,

stress, low self-esteem, and depression. Social media causes people to get lost in a world that

deals with unrealistic comparisons, cyberbullying, and harsh judgements being made about

another person. “There was a major increase of depression from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2014,

and most of them are from the ages 12-20 years old” (Hurley). Also, children are beginning to

have a lack of motivation to go do physical activities due to the overuse of technology. “Thirty

percent of 1500 youth that use the internet for three hours a day or more were diagnosed with

depression” (Hurley). Internet addiction ranges from 1% - 36.7%, internet addiction is a

psychological disorder and it causes difficulties in a person’s life like anxiety, stress, and

depression.

Technology is affecting our social life in a negative way because we no longer know how

to communicate with people face to face. People are constantly reliant on their smartphones and

because we are so dependent on our smartphones it is taking away from our social skills, so it is

becoming harder for people to communicate with others face to face. Advancement of the

smartphones have made people become more impatient and entitled as if everyone owes

something to them. It is easier to make statements on a screen that would otherwise be difficult

to verbally say to someone’s face. Face to face communication is crucial when teaching younger

children, because you are teaching them social interaction and what is around them. Children
learn from cues like face expressions, tone, and body language. Whenever technology is

introduced to children at a young age they struggle to have face to face encounters, and it is

causing deficit of social skills in children. When people do not learn social skills, they tend to

have a fear of speaking to other people or in public which is called glossophobia. “Seventy five

percent of the population have a fear of public speaking, so there are still 238 million people that

feel nervous while talking to other people” (Fritscher). A few examples of in person social skills

that are being lost due to technology are eye contact with other people while in a face to face

conversation, the ability to speak on the phone with others, and the awareness of what is going

on around you. Teenagers are more confident talking to someone behind a phone screen rather

than in person, and they would prefer to talk through a phone instead of face to face.

In addition, using a device close to your bedtime can lead to sleep disturbances, low

energy, and being drowsy while driving. Healthy sleep is essential to you for proper brain and

body functionality, but sleep is now being interrupted because of the use of technology.

“According to the recent study data from the National Sleep Foundation, 95% of people

surveyed reported using electronic devices immediately prior to sleep and 39% of American’s

use their cell phone on a nightly basis” (Rasmussen College). The artificial light from

smartphones can decrease the sleep hormone melatonin, which can cause lack of sleep for those

people who use their phone within an hour of going to sleep. Shutting down whatever form of

technology that’s used within an hour of going to bed can ensure your quality of sleep. “As a

result, many college aged adults have negative sleep experiences. 51% rarely or never get a good

night’s sleep, 60% wake up without feeling refreshed daily, and 66% drive drowsily on the daily

(Rasmussen College). Technology has caused sleep deprivation among young adults which also

affects people’s moods, risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
 Mobile phones have become the new trend across the United States, and they are

continuing to become more accessible. “Only 59% of students agree their institution uses it

technology effectively” (Daly). Technology is used in classrooms to improve how students are

learning and it also makes the teachers jobs easier. Technology also plays a big role in health

care facilities. Technology is used in every aspect of our own personal lives. I believe that

technology has been good, and it is going to become more effective as time goes on.

Mental health is being affected by technology because it is inducing anxiety, stress, and

depression, technology also affects our social lives and how we are portraying ourselves on

social media, and technology is affecting how our sleep schedule is going. Technology has its

perks because it is quick and easy to use, but the negatives outweigh the positives. Technology is

a dangerous master because society is consistently putting all they have into social media instead

of other important aspects of our lives.