Mental Health and the Role of New Communication Technologies

The development of digital communication technologies recently led to a progressive change in the way we perform daily activities, rapidly transforming society into a global digital eco-system. Although digitalization determined an improvement in some aspects of life, it also led to the emergence of new technology-based psychopathologies, including problematic use of digital tools and new technological addictions (i.e., Internet addiction, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, internet gaming disorder). Furthermore, new digital technologies and tools determined significant modifications of the characteristics of several existing mental disorders. For example, several social media, forums/blogs, and dedicated websites may reinforce psychological dynamics underpinning eating disorders or provide means to enact them and facilitate their expression. Some social media ‘game challenges’ recently contributed to the spread of non-suicidal self-harm behaviours, particularly among teens. The rise of Internet clearly promoted the onset and perpetration of techno-assisted sexual violence and cyberbullying. Despite the pathoplastic potential associated to new communication technologies, digital tools should not be demonised at all, given the abundant evidence concerning their efficacy in the management and treatment of several mental disorders. Nowadays, digital psychiatry has a great potential to integrate and implement several diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, to support and make more effective psychiatric clinical practice. Therefore, a more balanced approach to digital communication technologies should be taken by mental health professionals, in order to increase awareness of their risks but also to gain knowledge about the benefits of such new communication tools.