You know how I’ve written about how social media and phones can cause depression? Well, it turns out, your phone can also tell if you are depressed. The study, from the University of Stanford, shows that face and speech software on your phone can detect depression based on your facial expressions and speech patterns: The … Continue reading Your smartphone can tell if you’re depressed
As part of my legislative work, I just finished reading a technical package from the Centers for Disease Control. The topic was suicide. It was some pretty heavy reading. At the same time, it was informative for many reasons, as it included a wide array of programs that people in government and the non-profit world … Continue reading The next time there’s a high profile suicide, don’t just tweet a phone number. Do this instead.
Frequently readers of this blog will note that I have repeatedly discussed the extremely damaging effects that technology, social media and overuse on your smartphone can have on your mental health. Last week, in a blog entry entitled “Put Down The Damn Phone,” I suggested that you…well, put down the damn phone. That entry was … Continue reading Author Interview: Catherine Price, How To Break Up With Your Phone
The above picture was taken the other day. My wife and I were lucky enough to go see Haim (my favorite group!) at Radio City Music Hall. I’ve been reading this fascinating book lately: How To Break Up With Your Phone, by Catherine Price. It is, as the name says, all about learning to live your life … Continue reading Put down the damn phone
As I’ve written before, social media can be really, really, really bad for your mental health. This is for a variety of reasons, including: It inspires unrealistic comparisons between yourself and others. It creates unrealistic and unhealthy expectations of how someone should be living their life. It can lead to increased feelings of isolation. It can inspire … Continue reading How to look at social media and not want to throw your phone out a window
I remember catching this story ages ago: A study found that the more time you spend on your iPhone, the more likely you are to be depressed. Then, yesterday, a friend was kind enough to send me this article about how the University of Berkeley was offering students “counseling” in response to a conservative speaker … Continue reading Your smartphone may be making you depressed
When it comes to mental illness, one of the things I have struggles to come to terms with is that it is always there, always lurking, even when it isn’t “active”…sort of like an app on your iPhone. Alright, some background. In my last blog entry, I discussed how mental illness/depression/anxiety can make it very … Continue reading Depression is like Facebook on your iPhone
I think it was at the height of the George Floyd riots (not protests, riots, and I do mean those two differently) that it really hit me. Dozens of cities were burning across the nation, the fire started by the murder of George Floyd. The kids were in bed, and I could not stop looking … Continue reading Doom Scrolling: What It Is and Why It’s So Dangerous
Alright, you’ve read this blog before, right? So, what do I hate more than almost anything else, despite the fact that I just can’t stop checking it? Yes, social media. I’ve written over and over and over about how evil it is and how much harm it can cause and blah, blah, blah… (Okay, yes, … Continue reading The Availability Heuristic and You
As some of you may have seen in the news or on my Facebook page, we had quite the day this past Friday. Governor Wolf was in town, holding the first of what will be many mental health roundtables. He announced the kick-off of Reach Out PA: Your Mental Health Matters on Thursday. It’s … Continue reading Why Words Matter – Even If It’s Not You
