Image courtesy of Dr. Jeff Cain
For the past several years I’ve been asking my students about stress in their lives and the numbers of people consistently feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious are growing.
Earlier this year I attended a pharmacy learning conference where some of these topics where discussed. One of the surprising areas of discussion was mental health and the use of smartphones. My today’s guest is someone I wanted to talk about this in greater depth with.
His name is Dr. Jeff Cain, EdD, MS. and he is a Pharmacy Professor and the Director of Education Technology at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.
He teaches pharmacy management and an innovative thinking elective course and directs the school’s Teaching & Learning Program for pharmacy residents.
Dr. Cain has worked in the fields of higher education and technology since 1999 and has numerous publications and presentations in the area of his interest – which is social media in health sciences, teaching and learning, instructional technology and contemporary higher education issues.
By the end of this episode, I hope you will be inspired to take action and change your relationship with your phone and social media. I know my relationship has changed even in the past few weeks since recording this interview.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1. How Jeff began exploring the areas of wellness and resilience
2. What common mental health concerns have been surfacing among college students recently and how are they possibly connected to smartphone use
3. Why most of our devices are ‘designed for addiction’ and how a concept of ‘variable random rewards’ is incorporated into design
4. Why negative mental health symptoms related to smartphone use are not noticed/recognized quickly enough
5. What are Jeff’s thoughts on current trends like the fear of missing out (FOMO), nomophobia, snapchat dysmorphia and other
6. What are Jeff’s main rules for prudent use of social media/smartphones to eliminate dependence and addiction
CONTACTING OUR GUEST:
- Jeff’s bio website, his Twitter account
- Jeff’s research:
- Jaclyn Stoffel and Jeff Cain – Review of Grit and Resilience Literature within Health Professions Education
- Jeff Cain – It’s Time to Confront Student Mental Health Issues Associated with Smartphones and Social Media
- Jeff Cain and Daniel Malcolm – An Assessment of Students’ Psychological Attachment to Smartphones at Two Colleges of Pharmacy
“There are numerous benefits to smartphones but also negative aspects affecting our mental health and lives in general. We can say this is how the life is now, or we can remove our dependence and addiction.”
“Digital relationships are good to keep people connected, but they do not provide emotional nourishment the same way as physically spending your time with someone.”
“The apps and the phones are designed so you keep coming back for that dopamine rush you get .”
Dr. Jeff Cain
WEB RESOURCES:
- Angella Duckworth – Grit
- Jean Twenge
- Tristan Harris – Center for Humane Technology
- The ‘Goldilocks Hypothesis’ and ‘just-right’ screen time
- Nomophobia
- Snapchat dysmorphia – JAMA – Selfies – Living in the Era of Filtered Photographs
- A few articles on changing settings on your phone
- Better Humans – Coach Tony – How to Configure Your iPhone to Work for You, Not Against You
- LifeHacker – Melissa Kirsch – Change Your Screen to Grayscale to Combat Phone Addiction
BOOKS:
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked
“If it isn’t something you have to interact with on the smartphone, turn off buzzing and beeping notifications. Move all your non-productivity apps off your home screen. Don’t carry your phone with you all the time.”
“In the past few years it has been really bothering me to see people in social interactions paying more attention to their device than to the person in front of them.”
“Smartphones are not a concept of the universal progress – there are good things to this technology and there are negatives.”
Dr. Jeff Cain
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
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