Most people know that Vincent van Gogh was a painter famous for creating post-impressionist works such as “Starry Night” and “The Potato Eaters”, among various other masterpieces, including self-portraits. Some people know that Van Gogh’s artwork encompasses a variety of subjects and color schemes, from muted, mundane still life paintings to vibrant landscapes. What many people do not know, however, is that Van Gogh likely suffered from clinical depression and bipolar disorder. Van Gogh’s mental illnesses had a continual impact on his life and work. He died at the age of 37 after shooting himself in the chest with a revolver. According to his brother Theo, Van Gogh’s last words were, “This sadness will last forever.”
The emotional experience of depression is far more complex than just sadness, but perhaps it is this single definitive statement that explains Van Gogh’s despair that led to his suicide. In recent decades, Van Gogh has been subject to hundreds of posthumous psychological evaluations to determine any possible sources or catalysts of his mental illness. Psychologists and historians note that Van Gogh’s depression may have been influenced by his family situation, stress from his career or his excessive alcohol consumption.
Van Gogh’s situation raises an important question about the sources of mental illness in individuals today and in the past. His case study is particularly relevant in today’s mental illness epidemic. While clinical psychologists and anthropologists agree that humans have suffered from mental illness since the beginning of civilizations, illnesses like depression are a whole new ball game thanks to the pressures of social media.
If you've ever felt worthless, unloved or alone while scrolling through your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram newsfeed, then it's time to take a step back and examine how social media may be affecting your mental health.
According to a Pew study on technology usage, 64 percent of people in the United States currently have a smartphone. This number has nearly doubled since the year 2011. Although smartphone ownership is more common among younger, wealthier populations, devices like the iPhone have infiltrated nearly every income bracket and demographic group. From smartphones to tablets to laptop computers, every day millions of Americans have the internet right at their fingertips. The Pew study surveyed smartphone users about ways in which they connected to with the world around them using their devices. Sixty-two percent of smartphone users reported using their device to “look up information about a health condition,” 67 percent used a device to “share pictures, videos, or commentary about events happening in their community”, and 18 percent used a phone to “submit a job application.” This way of living is drastically different from the way it was just a few decades ago.
Daily tasks that once required interaction with other humans can now be completed with just the click of a button. While accessing the internet via devices is often very convenient, it can make regular social interactions more stressful and strained. This is particularly true for young people, who are still forming their identity and learning how to effectively communicate with others. 93 percent of users aged 18 to 29 cited smartphones as a means of “avoiding boredom”, and 47 percent said their smartphones were a way to “avoid others around [them].” Today it is commonplace, and often socially acceptable, to check or use one’s phone during a social gathering. While some may argue that technology allows people to connect even more with others than they could before, social media is not always beneficial to the mental health of young people.
Depression, like most other mental illness, carries with it a huge interpersonal component. A person with depression can be negatively influenced not only by their own self -perceptions but also how they perceive themselves compared to those around them. Negative social referencing takes place in both passive and active ways. Young people who use social media applications like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat often seek to improve their self-image through carefully composed profiles. There is so much value placed on having lots of online followers, attractive images, and just the right caption for every post. The pictures we chose to post on social media more often than not reflect idealized versions of reality. We choose not to portray our vulnerable, flawed selves, and as a result imperfection is virtually absent from social media.
It's hard not to feel bad about yourself when it seems as though everyone else is pretty and popular and has their life together. The fact that this is true for almost no one does not reduce the constant envy of other people’s lives. The last thing a depressed person needs is to be constantly faced with images that tell them they are not popular, beautiful or successful enough or that their life is hopeless because they cannot live up to societal expectations of a fulfilled human existence.
Psychologists have tapped in to a truth that Van Gogh, and countless others like him, were sadly unable to see: depression is not permanent. It stems from a chemical imbalance in the brain and does not determine someone’s worth or ability to lead a fulfilled life. Treatment for depression can restore your energy and allow you to become fully present in your own life again. Self-care becomes a daunting task in an age where it is normal to scroll through your newsfeed before falling asleep each night and to wake up doing the exact same thing.
At every moment people, especially teens, are bombarded with images that influence their perceptions of themselves and of those around them. In the today's culture, we rely too much on smartphones for comfort and social referencing when it is critical to seek meaningful connections in the real world. Many young people realize too late that having thousands of followers online does not matter if they have no one to talk to when feeling down. It is amazing that nowadays we can use technology to connect with others, but it is even more beautiful that these same human connections could have existed all along.
Real-world, face-to-face interactions are the ones that fortify relationships and communities and allow people us be our authentic selves, no matter what challenges we may face.
