Phones hit mental health
YOUNG people have spent 20,000 fewer hours interacting with friends and family in person before their 18th birthday thanks to their addiction to smartphones, a new study has found.
The tally by brain research group Sapien Labs has been linked to a rapid decline in youth mental health, leaving teens unable to read body language.
Before the age of the internet, young people spent up to 25,000 hours interacting with peers and family in person by their 18th birthday, Sapien chief scientist Tara Thiagarajan said.
However, the rise of the internet has reduced this to less than 5000 hours.
As a result of spending more time online, young people are experiencing negative effects such as: OBSESSIVE, strange or unwanted thoughts.
DROP in self-image, selfworth and confidence.
FEELINGS of being detached from reality.
STRAINED relationships with others.
SUICIDAL thoughts.
FEAR and anxiety.
FEELINGS of sadness, distress or hopelessness.
Sapien Labs surveyed more than 48,800 people in eight English-speaking countries, including 3694 participants in Australia, for its Mental State of the World Report 2021.
The lab used a Mental Health Quotient — a free and anonymous online assessment tool to score the mental wellbeing of study subjects according to capabilities and symptoms across 10 major mental health disorders.
Ms Thiagarajan said that before 2010, when smartphones were introduced, studies showed that young adults had the highest levels of psychological wellbeing.
Since then mental wellbeing has been declining with each younger generation, the study found.
“Data shows that people now spend 7-10 hours online,” Ms Thiagarajan said.
“This leaves little time for in-person social engagement.”
She said social interaction teaches people how to read facial expressions, body language, physical touch, appropriate emotional responses, and conflict resolution — all life skills that are crucial for a person’s socio-emotional development.
When they don’t learn these skills through social interaction, young people can feel detached from society and possibly harbour suicidal thoughts.
Ms Thiagarajan said these symptoms being experienced by young people today pointed to a decline of the “social self’’.
This is essentially how humans view themselves and understand how to form and maintain relationships and integrate themselves into society.
“This highlights the magnitude and nature of the challenges of social isolation and digital interaction at the expense of in-person social interaction,” Ms Thiagarajan aid.
Australian research has echoed the findings.
In 2020, the Black Dog Institute and University of NSW research found levels of anxiety, depression and concern for mental health in Australia significantly worsened during the pandemic, with young people experiencing the greatest impact.