Harry Potter and the severe case of digital depression

Warning: if you have no clue what The Order of the Phoenix is, this article probably does not apply to you*

Some call it the ugly monster from within, but I just have this one image in my mind. It feels like an animated photo of Sirius Black screaming for his life in Azkaban as pictured on The Daily Prophet – the torturous feeling of Dementors sucking the life out of you. Dr. Seuss calls this the Slump, “and un-slumping yourself is not easily done”.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a digital and social media go-getter that is always looking to do something great for humanity – all done with a naughty sense of humour and simultaneously cracking a joke. Life is just lighter that way. Last year I was diagnosed with Depression. It is not something I’m ashamed of and isn’t something to hide. I manage it quite well. It’s simpler than making a withdrawal from Gringotts, that I’ll tell you. Since I’m not afraid to talk about my well-managed condition, I have noticed that I am not the exception in the Digital Industry, but rather the norm.

The Slump: Depression for Social Media users

The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology recently revealed that social media and depression go hand-in-hand due to the fact that social media users tend to compare themselves to their friends, most of whom are bragging and boasting online. From babies to holidays, social media users are comparing themselves and putting themselves down. Mobile could also be to blame.

The Salford Business School at the University of Salford did research for Anxiety UK and found that 60% of the social media users they interviewed felt that switching off their phones was the only cure. In a twist, The Mobile Mindset Study conducted by Lookout found that 73% of people admit they would feel panicked while another 14% would feel desperate if they lost their phone or if it died. That is in a country where 86% of the country actively uses digital. Here in South Africa only 46% of our population actively uses digital, but 61% of our web traffic is mobile in comparison to the USA, which sits at 25%.

The Chinese spend only 2 hours 35 min online on their mobile phones every day. In comparison to this the average South African spends 3 h 02 min and an American spends 2 h 27 min, according to the 2015 We Are Social report. Similarly the Chinese only spend 3 h 52 min on their desktops every day, whereas Americans spend 4 h 55 min and South Africans spend 5 h 06 min every day!

Of course there are different social contexts taken into account here, but according to the 2015 World Happiness Report, Americans are the 15th happiest country in the world, with the Chinese being the 84th and South Africa came in at 113th out of 158 countries surveyed.

Compounding this, we sleep with our phones next to us and often they are the first and the last things we check before and after sleeping. The Salford Business School found that two thirds of the social media users they interviewed found it difficult to sleep after prolonged use of digital media. Perhaps for the digital and social media user, the answer is much like anything else, moderation.

The Waiting Place: Depression for Social Media Professionals

But what about the social media and digital professionals who spend anything from 8 to 15 hours online every day? Is this any different to the average social media and digital user? Well I certainly think so. These are the people that have up to five times longer exposure than the average South African, half the six hour sleep time the average South African gets nightly and, particularly for a social media manager (AKA community manager), they have to deal with abuse on a daily basis.

Some days it’s like being trapped in Dr. Seuss’ The Waiting Place: “waiting for a train to go, or a bus to come or a plane to go, or the mail to come, or the rain to go, or the phone to ring or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or a No’’. Just waiting for the next irate customer that’s pushing, pressing buttons, kicking, screaming, getting personal and even uploading rude photos.

Cybercrime.org.za defines Cyberbullying as using the Internet to harass, intimidate, embarrass, or demean others. This is real!

According to The Psychiatrist: Virtual Sticks and Cyber Stones by Aggarwal, Barraclough, Casey et al, symptoms result in lack of acceptance in their peer groups, resulting in loneliness, social isolation, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and paranoia.

It is not all doom and gloom however. By managing my own depression, I live a really happy and functional life. There is a magic phrase and its, “Expecto Patronum”. By talking about it, speaking up, by taking some time out to disconnect, and in prolonged cases, getting help to manage it, the Dementors can be avoided.

In this digital world we are expected to catch the Golden Snitch every second of every day, dodge the Bludger and score with the Quaffle, but it’s also ok to take the time out to rest on the bench. Every social media and digital Professional should know that they are not alone, they are the norm. Do the amazing things you were meant to do, but where and when you can, just know it is okay to switch off, get some distance and have fun like you did in 1995.

“And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)
Kid you will move mountains” – Dr. Seuss