Dr. Greg Cason chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about the impact that technology is having on mental health and the evolution of the mental health profession.
Dr. Cason was on the Bravo series LA Shrinks. He’s appeared regularly as a psychology expert on The Nancy Grace Show and has also been on a variety of other TV news programs.
He writes a column for Frontiers magazine and has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Advocate, and People. Dr. Cason currently teaches at UCLA and has been a licensed psychologist in Los Angeles specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and LGBT issues for the past 23 years.
Whether it’s due to the Internet, social media, or a 24-hour news cycle, today’s world is noisier and scarier than ever. Some experts believe we’re overly plugged into the constant barrage of negativity happening around the planet.
COVID-19 and the lockdowns have only intensified our fears. There’s conflicting information coming at you from all different directions, and so much fighting over who is right or who’s misinformed.
Combine all of this with an intense election year and you have the perfect storm for a surge in mental health challenges both individually and collectively.
Luckily, we have experts like LA-based psychologist Dr. Greg Cason, who are here to be a voice of reason in a time where everyone seems so unreasonable. This journalist spoke with Dr. Cason about trends he’s seeing in the mental health arena.
Would you say that the world is facing a mental health epidemic?
The pandemic, lock-downs, political strife, division, and inequity have led to a further mental health crisis in this country and around the world. But mental health refers to a variety of mental conditions including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, various other conditions. The outside stress and isolation we are all experiencing are bringing what was already there to a boiling point.
Was there a particular time in recent years when you noticed a big increase in clients?
It was mid-way through the pandemic. At first, business dropped off dramatically, but once people realized that things weren’t going back to normal, then they started calling again. Most wanted to receive services virtually, but a few came in (observing all COVID precautions, of course).
Would you say that technology is having an impact on mental health? If so, in what ways?
Before the pandemic, I would say that technology was the biggest modern factor affecting the mental health of the world. That’s because many forms of modern technology have created more divisions than forged connections – a necessary element in leading a mentally healthy life.
The Facebook Papers illustrate something we all already knew – that these social networking apps are creating warring tribes, not connected communities. It’s not just the algorithms, the devices also create divisions. It’s so common now to walk past a group of people where every person is looking down at their phone and seeming to ignore one another.
Increasingly people are desperate for likes and attention, but ignore the people right in front of them that could most meaningfully provide it.
What are some of the top mental health problems people seem to be facing?
Anxiety and depression are always the clear winners. But those two issues can take many forms such as OCD, Generalized Anxiety, PTSD, Panic Disorder, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and so on.
The pandemic and the lockdowns did increase rates of Depression, PTSD, and Substance Abuse. But there are some cultural wrinkles. Here in the United States, we tend to have an individualistic society (e.x., “Every man for himself”) as well as rampant misinformation, which worked again us and extended and broadened the problems.
Collectivist societies which emphasize the needs of the group over the desires of any one individual (such as New Zealand or South Korea) have fared better.
How is the mental health profession evolving?
The biggest leap forward was the proliferation of online psychological service offerings which were all but prohibited by insurance companies before the pandemic, were first necessary, and now have become commonplace. I’d say, at this time, more counseling services are done online than in-person.
What is also advancing is the proliferation of evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy. When I was in school, it was the rare clinician who embraced these approaches, and now most settings utilize these approaches and most payers require them.
What do most people not understand about the work you do as a psychologist?
Most people think it’s the stress or “listening to problems all day,” but nothing could be further from the truth. What most people don’t understand is the 10 minutes between patients. Many clients don’t realize that those 10 minutes are quite rushed for most therapists.
Though the therapist is focused solely on you for 45 to 50 minutes, during that 10-minute interval, the therapist must write the session note, review the upcoming session file, return in texts or emails that may be urgent, clean up from the previous session and prepare for the upcoming one, grab something to eat or drink, and use the restroom.
People are often surprised when I cannot return their email or phone call until the next day and that a 10-minute period may be shortened when clients linger past the session ending time of the session.
How often do you recommend that patients unplug from the internet for better mental health?
Because our lives are so connected to the Internet, it is more important than ever to “unplug.” First, a general rule: anytime you are with another person, keep the screen off. The human in front of you should always have priority, not your device. I would also recommend that people reserve the first 30 minutes after they wake up and the last 30 minutes before they go to bed to remain screen-free.
This can be tough for a lot of people, but it will help clear your mind before bed and get you grounded in the real world before the start the day. And it is most ideal if you can take one day a week, or at least a day a month, to unplug completely.
Maximizer that time by spending it in nature such as going to a park, desert, mountains, or beach. Think of it this way, when we are plugged into the Internet or phone, we have our energy drained. When we unplug, we conserve that energy. When we spend time with people in real life and/or in nature, we build back up our internal battery.
What’s the most challenging aspect of the work you do?
I think it’s not being able to give every person exactly what they want rather than helping them embrace what they need. For example, people who wish to give up alcohol and other drugs often express a desire for a medication or a “quick-fix” rather than the hard work and sacrifice that comes along with changing one’s life for the better. I wish that I could just wave a magic wand and ease everyone’s suffering.
That’s not how human beings (or human bodies) work. We are not meant to endure suffering or affect change alone. That’s where a good therapy relationship can shine – in being there and helping to guide someone toward a better life.
To learn more about Dr. Greg Cason, visit his official website and follow him on Instagram.
