Mental health problems are most common with the people who are in their early adulthood or adolescence age. The young people who are at this stage in life when they are expected to transform into adults face various difficulties in many aspects. They find it difficult to catch up with their studies, they face problems in friendships and other relationships, and it is hard for them to communicate with other people due to their low self-esteem. This transition isn’t easy for anybody and results in anxiety, depression, and mental disorders and in some cases, even worse, suicide. The use of technology got to its peak during the last decade, and it has gotten significant popularity, especially among the youth. Electronic devices have become a part of our daily routine. We interact with a large number of electrical devices all day long, without even noticing. We have become so used to their existence that we don’t even consider what harm they can bring to our lives. Along with all the comfort and advantages that this technology has brought into our lives, it also contains various disadvantages. Most important of all of them is the health risks that it possesses and can bring into our lives. The use of electronic devices in our daily lives affects the health behaviors of young people, especially adolescents. The cell phones that we use on a daily basis omit radio frequency waves that can cause ionization of our bodies. To remain safe, these devices must be kept at a distance from our heads at least when they are powered on (Henneberg). The high usage of mobile phones and laptops among young people has been declared to have a negative effect numerous times. Various research has been done on the issue and although the result has proven to be inconsistent, most of the researchers have concluded that this screen exposure is not healthy for adolescents’ mental health. The question that arises in our minds is if this exposure to screens is one of the causes due to depression and anxiety which are getting much more common among the youth? And if so, then it needs to be properly taken into consideration.
Electronic devices are hurting or harming adolescents’ mental health very badly in the forms of, sleep disorder, depression, anxiety, mental disorder and emotional and behavior problems like social isolation, bullying, and boredom in adolescents.
In a study, it has been concluded that longer exposure to the screen will bring more serious harm to one’s health. It can bring risks to the mental growth of a person, and he would most likely be involved in anxiety and depression. Online activities and gaming have become the cause of mental stress in youth. The more they are in front of the screens playing games and doing other activities; the less they get exposed to the sun and the people. Online activities have almost finished the trend of outdoor activities. The interaction between people has also gotten lesser which is the reason for major social interaction problems. The definition of ‘being connected’ for adolescents’ these days has completely changed from before. They believe that communication is achieved by staying active on all the social media applications and keeping them updated. These applications include snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter, and the list goes on and on. The real interaction has long gone. People do not tend to meet and communicate in real life. It is not healthy. Science has proven it creates psychological problems among the youth. These online activities widely discouraged the connections outside the academic zones. The lack of interaction with the people who matter, one’s friends and family, causes feelings of distress and loneliness in oneself. The mobile phones have become the greatest cause of the unhappiness being observed in the youth of this generation. It was observed in the study that when depression was getting common among teenagers, the use of smart phones was also rising vividly. The social media applications were getting popular day by day. Thus, it was concluded that anxiety and depression do have a connection with the high usage of smart phones (Chen).
Another study has been conducted regarding the disorders that are observed in adolescents due to the high rate of internet usage. Internet addictions lead to not only depression, suicides, and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) but there are also other disorders that are being diagnosed lately. The internet addictions become the cause of excessive loneliness and additional problems in their lives. The youth suffering from these disorders is likely to get involved in many severe problems like smoking, alcoholism, sexual intercourses, and suicidal behaviors. They become antisocial. The observations show that smart phones are somehow related to these symptoms of depression that are taking root among the young generation, but the scientists are not able to prove it yet (Flora). The Internet has become the only and the most legitimate source of knowledge. Thus, books have also lost their essence. And even if one tends to read a book, they do it on the internet by finding their PDF formats, not bothering to purchase it. Outdoor activities have also lost their charm. The advent of games has made the youth so dependent and addicted that they become the cause of negative impacts on their health and even their lives. Doctors have diagnosed a new mental disorder that is called Internet Gaming Disorder. Its properties are found to be similar to that in compulsive-impulsive disorder. Research has proven many adolescents are found to have problematic behaviors due to the high rates of internet use and electronic gaming. This problematic behavior includes depression, suicidal acts, drinking alcohol, smoking, drug addiction, self-harm, and other abuses. The Asian countries seem to face more significant problems due to the technology than the West. The emotionally unstable and introverted people get more affected due to these addictions. Also, female teenagers get more addicted to such online activities as compared to their male counterparts. Hence, the ratio of problematic behavior is found to be greater in them.
Sleep deficiency is another problem that is seen to be rapidly increasing among the young generation due to the excessive use of electronic devices and technology. Research regarding this issue has also been conducted. Latest epidemiological data have concluded that characteristics like late sleep, short sleep, and longer sleep onset latency cause the sleep deficiency of almost 2 hours among youth daily. The high usage of the media contributes to later bedtimes and short sleep duration. The survey has proven that the majority of adolescents use one or more electronic media devices in the last hour just before bedtime. Late night texting, calling, gaming or even just getting one’s eyes exposed to the light of the screen in the darkness of the room can have a bad impact on one’s mental health. The usage of smart phones in late hours not only affects the quantity but also quality of the sleep (Preety, Devi and Priya). The use of these devices is positively found to be associated with sleep deficiency and sleep onset latency. People who use more than one electronic device have a higher risk of sleep onset latency. Regardless of the type of technology being used before sleep, i.e. either it is television or mobile phones, the relation between sleep and these electronic devices remains significant. Hence concluded, all our sleep problems are interlinked with our daily usage of electronic media.
In the end, it is concluded that technology has changed the way people used to react when they were bored, lonely, bullied, isolated or going through some family problems. They used to turn to their close ones or relatives to talk their problems out instead of just turning to look at a screen. It gives birth to mental stress as technology is not an effective solution to deal with boredom and loneliness. It is something that increases them. The use of social media applications has given birth to insecurity in young people. They get jealous of what other people are doing and what they have in their lives. It results in low self-esteem and lack of confidence. If not dealt with properly, on time, these problems can turn into severe depression and mental disorders. Parents should look out for their children in such situations and the content as well as the intent of their online activities must be closely watched. Adolescents must also be educated to limit their use of electronic devices. Awareness programs in schools and colleges should be held to help them cope with their addictions and problematic behaviors.
Work Cited
Flora, Carlin. “Are Smart-Phones Really Destroying the Adolescent Brain?” Scientific American, vol. 318, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 30–37. EBSCOhost, kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127266569&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Preety, R., et al. “Sleep Deprivation and Cell Phone Usage among Teenagers.” Drug Invention Today, vol. 10, no. 10, Oct. 2018, pp. 2073–2075. EBSCOhost, kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=131602202&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Chen, Angus. “Social Notworking: Is Generation Smartphone Really More Prone to Unhappiness? (Cover Story).” Scientific American Mind, vol. 29, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 18–21. EBSCOhost, kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127976607&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Henneberg, Susan. Issues in Society: Are Mobile Devices Harmful? Issues in Society: Are Mobile Devices Harmful?, 2017. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://kidd.blinn.edu:2066
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