As we come to the end of another year, many people will find themselves taking stock of the year that’s leaving and envisioning the year to come. The difference in our evaluations of 2020 is that most of us lived years that were more out of our control than previous years. Pick your tragedy and it likely had a feature role in 2020 despite our deepest desires that we’d bring in the new decade with positive momentum. One thing we might all have shared in this year that went by quicker than we realized but also not quick enough was how we felt.
Many with mental health disorders may have experienced exacerbated symptoms that debilitated them (looking at you, person with OCD). A few may have actually seen relief from debilitating symptoms for the first time (looking at you, person with social anxiety disorder). Regardless of where you may or may not fall on that spectrum, the physical distancing in 2020 has had some negative impact on our moods at some point. Many described grief over things we looked forward to, reckoning of traumatic systemic issues, our political landscape, and lost lives. Lots of people have also experienced depressed mood–even those who don’t have a depressive disorder.
While January 2021 may not look like the kind of new year we’d like, there is hope at the end of this. We just have to make sure we make it to the end of this…well. With physical distancing measures still in place and many workplaces opting out of returning to in-person interactions, we have to find ways to manage our moods and mental health so that when the end of this comes, we can engage with other people again and find healing in community. So, how do we do that?
I’ll offer ONE strategy that can drastically change the trajectory of your overall health and mood. JUST ONE?! Yep, just one. You might not like it immediately, it may seem crazy, and your whole body might reject the very notion of what I’m about to tell you:
PUT THE PHONE DOWN.
Now, I mention the phone only, but this could be any screen: TV, computer, handheld gaming console, etc. A recent study published in BMC Medicine showed a link between more sedentary screen time and diagnoses of major depressive disorder(MDD). This doesn’t mean that more screen time causes depression (although some may make the case for it), but it does give us a picture of the lives lived by many who may have MDD. “But I don’t have MDD, Lorena.” Sure, you may not have a diagnosis, but this study also showed that engaging in healthy lifestyle factors (adequate sleep, healthier eating, physical activity, abstaining from tobacco use) can be protective factors keeping us from developing MDD.
Some of you may need to know WHY screentime gets such a bad rap, here are a few reasons.
- When you come in contact with light (especially blue light), your circadian rhythm gets ALL jacked up affecting your sleep, mood, digestion, energy levels, etc.
- In fact, even those of you who take melatonin supplements and immediately return to your screen are canceling one with the other. Our bodies naturally produce melatonin when our world gets darker (read: sunset), but blue light can trick our bodies into believing it’s daytime and we are supposed to be awake. So in a sense, it kicks that melatonin out of the party. This makes our sleep quality HORRIBLE even if you fall asleep right away after scrolling until your eyes shut.
- It can mess with your eye health. There’s something about staring at a screen that actually keeps us from blinking and drying out our eyes. If we let this happen enough, we could actually damage the ducts responsible for keeping our eyes moist. For those with a strong stomach, ask your eye doc how this might need to be treated.
- Let’s be honest, most of us sit with HORRIBLE posture when looking at screens. Many of us might even appear to be trying to jump into the screen itself! Bad posture has implications on breathing, digestion, spinal structure, muscle tension, etc.
- One of the biggest issues with screentime is that it keeps us from other living, breathing beings who are likely right in front of us. We have fewer face-to-face conversations, our dogs are confused, our children feel less attuned to, we have less sex, and so on and so on. Our bodies respond in healthy ways when we interact with the world around us. It responds in not-so-healthy ways when we stare at screens for hours on end.
In 2021, don’t worry about ALL the ways you want to improve your life. Focus on small steps that with have exponential benefits! This one strategy will likely surprise you.