High speed internet, the cause of the rise in mental health problems?

I think the biggest culprit is social network like Facebook,Instagram and of course porn sites.
If you remove that I’m sure internet would be a better place because we wouldn’t be stuck on it 24/7.

 

Agreed. Children should be restricted to text only phones until age 18. Even make it a law. I know sadly there are parents who will never agree to punishing their precious babies like that. They are accomplices to the mental health decay in this country.

But even that won't limit the usage of other computers they have access to, but it would be a positive step. If only.

 

Yes after all it's not just the existence of high speed internet, but the kind of programming (not just content) that exists on it. Even if there wasn't a huge ton of porn sites and SM wasn't as popular as it is, once people know of its existence they can easily silo themselves on those platforms.

And I have to point out the way people gravitate towards the most popular platforms is a pattern that also exists in face to face recovery fellowships, we might call it social materialism. But really, just because there's more people in a group doing something does that mean that's the best or makes the most sense?

There are two possibilities: 1. Cut it out and accept that you won't have all the advantages that come with it, including your choice of profession. 2. Learn about it and how to work with it.

People do that with the second possibility on the level of blocking software and setting up their router and home network etc., but I think that's only half the story. You need to learn about BOTH the digital system and the biological system, namely yourself, and your psychology - that fluid, iffy software. And when we talk about mental health that is of course the level we're talking about, but it's really a matter of learning about how all of it works together.

 

What's your source?

 

My niece got her own smartphone at 11... I tried to warn the parents but they don’t care.
And nephew was on YouTube with his parent’s phone at 5.

 

Like anything, high speed internet is a double edged sword. We have to deal with the good and the bad. The wide spread adoption of internet communication, I believe, has helped bring closer to the front existing mental health issues which never were addressed in the past. More people have a voice, or at least the illusion if a voice.

 

People with a graduate degree in media studies will do the same. You guys think many will care about your addiction or even listen long enough to see it exists? Forget paying for rehab.

 

Even not taking addiction into account, there are a lot of sick peoples and sick content out there.

 

Even with slow internet, the problem would still be there

 

I disagree. I nevet had high-speed internet, I live in a country with one of the worst internet connections in the world, but that doesn't stop the population from being stupid and insane. Besides, I went from a low-speed internet to a no-internet 3 years ago, and I'm sure my mental condition has gotten worse since then.

 

why not ban electricity?

 

I'd imagine the way this thread is titled is because of Wilsons observation of high speed internet enabling the supernormal stimulus of easy porn access. In general there is more going on, I don't recall YBOP addressing anything like the algorithms that's being used these days, including Vegas slot machine algorithms in social media platforms - Addiction by Design by Natasha Dow-Schull probably has some very interesting info on that. That is not a function of the speed even if it amplifies the effect since higher speed increases the volume and/or scope of information accessed, but there's also way too much information from many different experts about how the various types of platforms are engineered for addiction now, and addiction of course is a mental health issue itself and complicates any dual diagnosis situations. More specifically, it isn't even about the content but how the content is customized and designed to interact with (or drives) your online choice making - it's the software rather than hardware level.

So the levels are hardware, software then content. Here I would point to what good 'ol Marshall McLuhan says about content in Understanding Media:

"Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the 'content' of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind. . .The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance."

After all, what use is it to argue over user content if the software shapes and distorts the perception of those posting in the first place? Not only may the information presented be off in the first place, but those reading it may be seeing it through a lens that has been similarly colored, and the interaction not only may not have agreement but may give birth to further distortion - all the while people don't question how the information is channeled by the platform may have any influence on them. I remember hearing one person who admittedly has mental health issues confidently stating they are immune to such influences, who obviously doesn't know anything about how the technology works. And they are into meditation and mindfulness - but clearly are not aware of this.