You’re really agreeing with me here. Your statement is depressed people get something out of the internet and therefore spend more time on it. So being depressed heightened their risk for spending too much time on the internet. Things like drinking or excessive internet use are generally coping mechanism, we develop coping mechanism for problems we already have. The article tries to make it seem like spending too much time on the internet is the original problem which is the difference I meant to highlight in my post. It’s like a what came first scenario, “watch your kids internet usage, if they’re on too much it could depress them!” Or they’re already depressed and giving them shit for being on the internet because you’re afraid they might get depressed is a really great way to ignore the fact they’re already depressed. I’ve literally lived with multiple people who use internet/games/alcohol to escape from their problems that existed well before the substance abuse kicked in and you would be surprised how many people think the problem started with the coping mechanism.
Yes, unhealthy coping mechanisms making the depression/anxiety a person already has worse is already common knowledge to anybody with a basic understanding of mental health. That isn’t the point and if somebody isn’t aware that alcoholism makes the problem worse than they really aren’t the type of person I want to discuss mental health with honestly. The discussion I am bringing up is that it is relevant to discuss what came first. A parent telling their kid to get off their phone so they feel more connected with the world and then thinking their work is done is stupid. If the phone was a coping mechanism for feelings of disassociation that scared the young person who doesn’t know how to describe them and is afraid to talk about them them due to anxiety than what exactly did the parent solve ? I have literally helped people navigate their way to therapy to get the proper help when other people (read: old people) think getting off the phone fixes the entire problem because no way no how it’s not their kid that’s fucked up. No no, my kid doesn’t have social anxiety, he’s normal we just have to get him outside and do more no no he doesn’t need therapy. He needed and still needs therapy and he’s not getting it because parents think they’re kid is just perfect and it’s those damn video games that are the problem not their absolute garbage attempt at raising a child. This article just confirms for those people that it’s the substances fault and everything was hunky dory before it came along. My opinion is that acting like the substance caused the onset of the problem only serves to have more parents act the way I’ve described. You’re allowed to disagree with that but if you’re only addition to make to this discussion is that unhealthy coping mechanisms make a problem worse than I’m going to have to ask you to stop insulting my intelligence. That is some really basic knowledge that doesn’t actually refute what I wrote at all. Replying that chickens make more eggs to the discussions of what came first, the chicken or the egg, doesn’t add to that conversation either.