Written by Caterina Mao 2022 Cohort
The use of digital media has become quite common and plays a vital role in our lives. It is an essential source of social interaction, information seeking and entertainment for people. However, whether the widespread use has an impact on mental health has just recently come to our attention. Roughly, there are three views:
The use of digital media is negatively associated with mental health.
Low self-control can lead to addiction to cell phones, the Internet, social media and games. For example, some people compensate for the satisfaction they don’t get in real life by taking on virtual online roles. They tend to be self-centred because they can be widely noticed in the virtual world. However, they are usually prone to negative emotions and even extremes in real life. Therefore, they seek brief psychological comfort through digital media.
Data shows that excessive phone use can increase loneliness among American college students after 2.5 months. I think this state of being immersed in the virtual world will cause users to lose time to communicate with friends offline, making it difficult to adapt to the real world and to lack self-confidence.
The use of digital media is positively associated with mental health.
Fewer theoretical and empirical studies on the web hold this view in general. Still, it can be broadly understood that using digital media is beneficial to improving and enhancing mental health. The use of digital media, especially new media, increases the amount of time an individual spends with significant others, enhances the quality of friendships, and increases the sense of well-being, which in turn effectively improves mental health. In my opinion, people can improve their psychological problems by enriching their lives through digital media, thanks to the entertainment function of digital media.
No direct relationship between digital media and mental health
Some scientists believe that mental health is influenced by various factors, not just digital media, and is, therefore, not statistically significant overall. The “Matthew effect” suggests that socially resourceful individuals reap more benefits from digital media use than those who are deprived and are more conducive to mental health. Online self-expression has been found to moderate the relationship between excessive phone use and loneliness and psychological stress, i.e., people with a stronger desire for self-expression use cell phones to achieve reduced loneliness and psychological stress.
There is considerable debate about the relationship between the use of digital media and mental health. Therefore, I believe that the positive and negative effects are judged as users see fit. The reasonable use of digital media can effectively relieve psychological stress and vice versa, which can be counterproductive to psychological health.