Do you specialize in working with college students? List your practice on The Shrink Space. This month we are focusing on highlighting articles that focus on student mental health and technology.
Therapists on Social Media
For many young adults (18-25 years old) today, mental health care continues to remain prohibitively expensive and moderately stigmatized. In 2017, only 38.4% of young adults who experienced mental illness received care, making them the least likely age group to access treatment. In response to this we are seeing more mental health care professionals turn to social media in an attempt to address these barriers and improve access to care. This NYTimes article features several therapists who are offering succinct and professional information on instagram and details how their audience is benefiting from it. This article also highlights the complications and considerations providers should take into account when posting on social media.
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Can Technology support Student Mental Health?
Vassar President, Elizabeth Bradley shares how technology can help support college campuses in addressing the devastating and costly effects of mental health issues among young adults. Technology is frequently blamed as the primary reason for the increase in young adult mental health concerns, however research on this conclusion remains mixed. In this Forbes article Bradley suggests how meeting students in their desire for technology, in adjunct with traditional therapies, may help colleges better meet the rising mental health needs on campus.
Virtual Reality and Mental Health
A trend in psychological research is looking into how Virtual Reality can support our field in diagnosing and treating mental health issues including social anxiety, eating disorders and teenage depression, among others. This article in Scientific American summarizes the numbers of ways researchers and practitioners are considering VR technology and it’s role in supplementing mental health care.
Technology & College Student Mental Health
The authors of this article from Northwestern University, Boston University and University of Michigan describe how it may be in the best interest of college counseling centers to incorporate technology-enable mental health programs as an adjunct to their existing services. Authors Emily Lattie, Sarah Ketchen Lipson & Daniel Eisenberg, discuss important ethical and practical considerations when incorporating technology with more traditional therapeutic services. The authors discuss duty of care and accountability of the provider, privacy concerns and integration of campus services with other tech-focused services.
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Technology & FOMO
This article describes how “FOMO” or fear of missing out is often promoted by technology and social media overuse. FOMO can disrupt the development of strong social connections and contribute to symptoms of depression and anxiety. The author describes how our relationship with technology is still in its nascent stages- we are still figuring out how to develop healthy, mindful, and meaningful interactions with it. This New York Times article adds more color to the connection between FOMO and social media in particular.
