We should not have an escape from reality in our pockets at all times

We should not have an escape from reality in our pockets at all times. When I get depressed, I absorb my mind in a video. Socially timid?… I answer mundane texts. Dreading an assignment?…binge boxsets. Instead of facing my problems, I hide behind a screen. During my most depressed periods I have used screens to avoid my own mind. It has not felt a safe place to be - my internal monologue turned hostile. So I hide from it in a screen. When I watch youtube videos or scroll through reels - I am not consciously aware of myself, or my situation. My mind is silent. I exist behind a screen. The issue is that my problems don’t dissipate with my attention elsewhere. Unsupervised, they have grown to insurmountable sizes in my mind and I have become more apprehensive of them. This is no surprise. Cognitive behavioural psychology tells us how phobias work. We have an unpleasant experience of something, so we avoid it. The subsequent feeling of safety reinforces the belief that it is something to steer clear of. To break these phobias, we must be exposed to the anxiety-inducing stimuli and eventually learn it is not the threat we believe it to be. If there are distressing aspects in life, they must be tackled - they cannot be hidden from.We have been called the anxious generation and I see why. Screens offer a tantalising means of avoiding something frightening, right in your pocket.

I have flatmates living next to me that I do not see for weeks - like mice they only leave their nests when the house is silent. They take medication for anxiety and depression. In their rooms, I hear them watching tv shows or scrolling reels throughout the day. Quite frankly, it is unsurprising that they are anxious. If you do not leave your room, your anxieties are never challenged. It is unsurprising they are depressed, they are in a room alone living behind a screen. I am not suggesting for a second that these people be blamed - I wanted to stop many times but felt compelled to my phone. Screens are addictive - particularly for people with such circumstances. However, they will only become more addictive and something needs to be done now to prevent a more dire situation further down the line. I wonder what would happen if my flatmates did not have access to screens for a month. Without an escape from their own mind, would they learn to feel safer in it? Perhaps the way we treat depression and anxiety should put more emphasis on the way screens are being used. Instead of offering people medication, we should focus on the life more holistically.