the brain. However, the increased arousal leads to all the negative effects on the body as chronic stress does, and we are not doing enough to counterbalance them. All of this virtual connectedness then leads to more stress, and while we are browsing social media, playing games online, or watching television, we are not spending time with our partners or playing with our kids. We are avoiding, perhaps unconsciously, physical human contact. Virtual human contact that we participate in online is rapidly replacing real human contact and social engagement, and at what cost? Besides the overstimulation of the brain, the body suffers from lack of touch, which is fundamentally important for primates like us. Humans, like the other primates, communicate with each other through touch in subtle ways that we cannot communicate through language alone. Physical touch triggers the release of oxytocin, the “feel-good” hormone, and it increases levels of dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that affect mood and anxiety levels. This is what creates the excitement we experience in new romantic relationships, when we find ourselves craving the physical presence of our new romantic partner. Physical touch has also been proven to boost the immune system and lower blood pressure. “Warm, friendly patterns of touch also calm down the recipient's neurophysiology of stress. In one study, simply holding the hand of a loved one deactivated stress-related regions of the brain when anticipating going through a stressful experience” (Keltner, 2017). As clinicians, we already knew this, but it is important to remember the natural, positive biochemical effects that we can create, especially as we compare them to pharmaceutical tools for reducing stress and anxiety. Reflection Question #3: Know Your Numbers! Does your smartphone provide information on your screen time? How much screen time are you logging, and what are you doing with it? substance use disorders has grown. Six in 10 practitioners reported that they no longer have openings for new patients, nearly half (46%) said they have been unable to meet the demand for treatment and nearly three-quarters (72%) have longer waitlists than before the pandemic. On average, psychologists reported being contacted by more than 15 potential new patients seeking care a month” (American Psychological Association, 2022). What happens to those who cannot get treatment? Where do they seek relief from their stress? Whether we are looking at the symptom or the disease with these statistics, what we, as clinicians, need to be promoting therapeutic massage as a component of the solution. This starts with educating ourselves, the medical community, and the general public. The opioid crisis that is happening right now in the U.S. is another medication problem to face, especially when you consider that most opioids are prescribed as a treatment for pain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: “Millions of Americans suffer from pain and are often prescribed opioids to treat their conditions. However, the dangers of prescription misuse, opioid use disorder, and overdose have been a growing problem throughout the United States. Since the 1990s, when the amount of opioids prescribed to patients began to grow, the number of overdoses and deaths from prescription opioids has also increased. Even as the amount of opioids prescribed and sold for pain has increased, the
an article titled “We Can’t Look Away from Our Screens” in the New York Times in 2017. “The definition I go with is that it has to be something you enjoy doing in the short term, that undermines your well-being in the long term—but that you do compulsively anyway. We’re biologically prone to getting hooked on these sorts of experiences. If you put someone in front of a slot machine, their brain will look qualitatively the same as when they take heroin. If you’re someone who compulsively plays video games—not everyone, but people who are addicted to a particular game—the minute you load up your computer, your brain will look like that of a substance abuser. We are engineered in such a way that as long as an experience hits the right buttons, our brains will release the neurotransmitter dopamine. We’ll get a flood of dopamine that makes us feel wonderful in the short term, though in the long term you build a tolerance and want more.” (Dreifus, 2017) The content of our screen time also matters. As indicated in the American Psychological Association study discussed above, many Americans are stressed about our current political and social climate. Tuning into the news on television or engaging in debate on social media when everything is already at a fever pitch can be an anxiety- inducing experience. However, it is like the proverbial train wreck, and we just can’t seem to look away. If the events we witness while watching the news, for example, are serious enough, our brains process the information by triggering the fight-or-flight response, as if we were actually there . We can switch into survival mode even when our own personal, immediate survival is not being threatened. Because we get that rush of adrenaline, we keep going back for more. How many of us are glued to the television when a tragedy of epic proportions happens in the U.S.? The same can be said during a public or national scandal. Scientists believe that we, as humans, react more strongly to negative situations than positive ones because they create more arousal in Overmedication When the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a screeching halt in early 2020, our stress level rose to an alarming height. According to data released by Express Scripts in March 2020, the use of anti-anxiety medication rose by a shocking 34.1% in just one month. These data were part of a five-year study conducted by the company to analyze prescriptions that went through their system. The study also showed that the use of mental health medications decreased in the years leading up to the pandemic. To compound the problem, many anti-anxiety drugs are believed to be addictive. “Anxiety is the most common type of mental illnesses in the country, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, with over 40 million adults suffering from some form of disorder. Although medication can be an effective treatment, some of the drugs used can come with serious side effects and a potential for abuse and addiction” (Slisco, 2020). These numbers then raise an important question: Are we really that stressed, and if so, why? Or are these medications being overprescribed? During the height of the pandemic and in the years since, more people have been seeking out treatment for mental health issues, so much so that the mental health profession is having a difficult time keeping up with the demand. As the American Psychological Association reported, “The 2022 COVID-19 Practitioner Impact Survey found that demand for anxiety and depression treatment remained high for the third consecutive year while demand for treatment for trauma- and stressor-related disorders and
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