Technology Has Ruined Reality
In today’s society, it isn't uncommon for someone to casually talk about their anxiety or depression disorder. Considering that 18% of adults over 18 struggle with anxiety and another 6.7% struggle with depression, according to the ADAA. It has been stated that this generation of people are the most depressed and/or anxious. I find these statistics rather interesting because looking on social media, everyone is a motivational speaker of some sort and living their dream life.
It’s a confusing time for us all as the internet continues to grow and our friends, family, and random people around the world can now see almost every waking moment of our lives. The idea of closed doors is becoming a thing of the past, as we become more addicted to our cell phones and wish to share every moment with our followers.
This adds a compelling dynamic because we aren't allowing ourselves to be alone. We are forced (I use that term loosely because we have a choice) to constantly wear a mask. They never come off at this point which leads to internal damage. People are losing themselves for worthless likes and shares on the internet.
Before we were able to wake up, spend time with our families, enjoy our car ride to work, and then put on a mask as we walked through the doors of our job. When we arrived home that evening, we were allowed to take it off and relax. Think about how you spend your day now. We wake up and instead of running to our loved ones, the first thing we touch are our phones and login to our apps. We check in to see what Sarah looks like in the morning and roll out of bed to be disappointed looking in the mirror and seeing makeup smears, knotted hair, and bags under our eyes. That doesn't stop us however from snapping a picture after we are semi ready and picking up our phone maybe 50 more times before we leave the house. In the car, instead of clearing our heads or talking to our kids, we are snapping videos of us singing joyously on our way to a job that kills our soul. We arrive at work and snap a few more pictures, post a few statuses, and check in with all of our “friends.” Leaving work is no different than our way to work. Once we get home, instead of chatting it up with our families we all sit quietly on the couch with our heads in our phones.
One thing that we have to do is stop pretending. Acting like everything is okay when we feel like we are dying on the inside is not going to make the world a better place. We are subjected to seeing a lot of violence due to the videos being posted, we hear heart-wrenching stories nonstop, we are told constantly that the world is ending and no one is doing anything about it. The internet gives us access to people, events, and knowledge that we would not have otherwise ever known about. We have the choice of using it to our benefit or for our downfall.
As you are going through the day, take your head out of our smartphone. If you are in a public place instead of walking around on your phone, hold your head up and make eye contact with people. Look at the world around you instead today. Don't allow yourself to fall asleep using your phone tonight, put it away an hour before you lay to rest. When rising in the morning, don't check in to social for the first few hours. Make these things habit and watch how you view the world change. We can't complain about being depressed or anxious when we are subjecting ourselves constantly to the things that could be triggering those reactions. Consider this self-care and add it to your routine.
