Health Highlights: Digital Mirrors + Ennui
Four of the new emotions in the upcoming movie Inside Out 2 are sure to ring a ball.
But what is ennui? (Pronounced awn-WEE).
Kyle Boerke, PsyD, is a child psychologist with OSF HealthCare. He says ennui is a type of boredom first seen in the pre-teen or teen years.
“The biggest thing we can do with children from a young age is understanding and naming emotions," Dr. Boerke says. "If I can get a two, three or four-year-old naming emotions, I have succeeded. And the first Inside Out movie did a fantastic job with that.”
Dr. Boerke says parents can use the Inside Out movies as a teaching tool.
For example, kids should know that there are no “bad” emotions, only bad ways to express emotions.
Up to 95% of kids aged 13-17, and nearly 40% of children aged 8-12 use a social media platform, according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
It's no secret a major part of posting that “picture perfect” moment happens after the picture is taken.
Through editing with filters, body positioning and even artificial intelligence, the photos you see of those you follow may not be an accurate representation of their life.
Dr. Boerke says what we go through as social media users when looking at the influencers we follow is called “upward social comparison.”
“You, as a teenager, take your worst day and you are comparing it to this video of somebody’s best day. Or I would say, artificial day, because it’s not real due to the filters and editing," Dr. Boerke says. "We have a lot of research that talks a lot about the direct correlation between time spent on social media and an increase in anxiety and depression. We’re talking about a one-to-one correspondence where every hour spent on social media increases your likelihood of anxiety and depression.”
To help, Dr. Boerke says to limit your exposure to social media as a whole and avoid people who are negative and body shaming.