{"id":819,"date":"2019-11-08T22:51:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T03:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21?p=819"},"modified":"2020-10-24T23:08:19","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T03:08:19","slug":"instagram-therapy-therapy-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/instagram-therapy-therapy-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Instagram Therapy \u2013 \u201ctherapy\u201d or not?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Instagram Therapy \u2013 \u201ctherapy\u201d or not?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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November 8, 2019<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hao Zheng<\/h3>

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Whenever the words \u201cInstagram\u201d and \u201cmental health\u201d are seen together, a negative correlation is usually assumed. Most social media, including Instagram, have been proven to be \u201cexcellent\u201d platforms for mental health problems to arise.<\/p>

According to a report in 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) in the U.K., Instagram alone caused problems like anxiety, depression, loneliness, and issues with sleep, body image, and bullying.<\/p>

A recent trend, however, \u201cInstagram therapy\u201d has changed this stereotype \u2013 online support groups are formed between individuals suffering from mental health problems, where they share their experiences in group chats, post inspiring quotes, and spread educational information related to self-love. These interactions between peers can be extremely helpful for the healing process of individuals.<\/p>

\u201cWe support each other through comments and sometimes via [direct message],\u201d stated Caroline, a 50-year-old victim of an abusive relationship that lasted 27 years. She further explained that posting daily and seeing posts from others has created a warm, comfortable, and healthy online environment for her.<\/p>

But is it actually equal to real therapy?<\/p>

\u201cTherapy doesn\u2019t happen over social media, and it shouldn\u2019t,\u201d said Miriam Kirmayer, a Montreal based therapist. Kirmayer thinks it is necessary to draw a distinct line between the online therapy and the actual therapy. \u201cTherapy is much more than meaningful quotes\u2026We work together to figure out what [a patient\u2019s] individual or unique experience has been as opposed to this kind of collective struggle we\u2019re talking about online.\u201d<\/p>

For example, many young people entering the workforce face many challenges such as coping with the working lifestyle, paying bills, meeting family expectations, and handling relationships. All of these struggles, as well as the level of anxiety and depression caused by them, are very different in nature.<\/p>

Furthermore, according to Shana MacDonald, social media expert and assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, this type of \u201ctherapy\u201d also lacks authenticity of what would actually happen in real life. Due to the nature of this platform, and of any social media, people can\u2019t be completely \u201creal\u201d online. This means that many would set up their expectations too high based on their experiences with the online groups and start assuming everyone is as nice as they seem online. This will make them unprepared and become even more vulnerable when they receive negative reactions from others in real life.<\/p>

Another harmful effect of Instagram therapy is that it can spread untrue or misleading information regarding certain serious mental health disorders. Kirmayer reveals how terms like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, and depression are used in casual ways to mean something that is much lighter than what they actually mean.<\/p>

Therapists like Kirmayer are establishing online profiles to educate people on the importance of understanding the real meanings of the terms.<\/p>

Joshua Peters, a registered psychotherapist, is concerned that the users of the social media are unable to differentiate between licensed mental healthcare professionals and individuals who are just posting their stories online.<\/p>

By following the psycho-educational and non-therapeutic tips provided online, users might think that they are getting professional treatment, while actually they are not. These tips could result in a minimized feeling of loneliness in users, but it is only temporary, and therefore ineffective and meaningless.<\/p>

Moreover, the term \u201cInstagram therapy\u201d itself is controversial and ironic, as most teens\u2019 mental health issues are rooted in Instagram itself. It makes people question the feasibility and effectiveness of this type of therapy, which seems to be contradictory with the commonly accepted understanding of Instagram, and social media as a whole.<\/p>

With that being said, \u201cInstagram therapy\u201d can provide an alternative for people who have difficult access to face-to-face mental health services. According to Kirmayer, although it\u2019s not the same as the real therapy, \u201chearing [that] other people are going through a similar struggle can be very validating, normalizing and reduce feelings of shame,\u201d and therefore, can be beneficial to the healing journey of patients with mental health issues.<\/p>

\u201cIt is not uncommon for someone, or even a youth, who wants to get help, and told that they [have] to wait 12 to 18 months,\u201d says Louise Bradley, the President and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, \u201cthat simply isn\u2019t acceptable, and it leads us to have our mental health system very, very fragmented.\u201d In this case, Instagram therapy could come into place and help mitigate the feelings of loneliness and helplessness that many people, especially teenagers, have to face.<\/p>

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But again, can Instagram therapy be proven to remain reliable and effective in the long run, despite its accessibility and convenience? Are therapists feeling pressured to enter the online space to gain wider exposure to its potential clients so they could get more profits? These are some of the questions yet to be answered.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Instagram Therapy \u2013 \u201ctherapy\u201d or not? Business and Technology November 8, 2019 Illustration by Yuchen (Lauren) Zhang Hao Zheng Editor Whenever the words \u201cInstagram\u201d and \u201cmental health\u201d are seen together, a negative correlation is usually assumed. Most social media, including Instagram, have been proven to be \u201cexcellent\u201d platforms for mental health problems to arise. According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"enabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graffiti.ntci.on.ca\/2020-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}