The 'Epidemic' Analogy (Haidt's After Babel)
The term 'epidemic' may be problematic in the context of mental illnesses
The initial salvo in Haidt's After Babel series of arguments is titled The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012.
Given my investigations into the doubling of adolescent suicide, I view the current state of teen mental health as a crisis -- no disagreement with Haidt on that.
I do have concerns about Haidt's use of the term epidemic.
The problem is not merely that the term epidemic is best left to infectious diseases, or that the doubling or tripling of some mental health symptoms is far below the order of magnitude increases associated with typical epidemics.
The problem is also that the term epidemic invokes the framework of a single disease when in reality the mental health declines involve distinct disorders.
Furthermore, an infectious disease has a single cause -- a pathogen, often a virus -- that, when eliminated, results in the eradication of the disease (see smallpox).
Mental health disorders, on the other hand, have multiple causes -- and not only at the population level, but typically also at the individual level, at least per current views within psychiatry (see Causal models).
Haidt himself ascribes the recent increases in adolescent mental disorders to at least three distinct causes:
1) Psychological indoctrination ('what hurts my feelings is evil and harmful')
2) Excessive protection from natural dangers and difficulties
3) Insufficient protection from certain artificial dangers
Here by natural I mean aspects present throughout human evolution (including inherent risks of adolescence) while by artificial I mean novel aspects created by technologies.
Think of parents who keep their children constantly home out of the fear of minor playtime injuries, peer conflicts, and vulgar language -- and yet at home the kids are subjected to second-hand cigarette smoke, carbon monoxide leakages from faulty appliances, and inadequate education. On top of that the kids are indoctrinated to believe it is a sin to cure illnesses by anything but a prayer.
All the three types of causes need to be eliminated to remove deleterious consequences for the children.
In Haidt's view, the artificial dangers spring primarily from corporate social media and the indoctrination is 'victimhood' ideology, but the logic remains: all three causes need to be eliminated before -- per Haidt -- we can return to mental disorder rates as low as they were 10 to 15 years ago.
Conclusion
Haidt should consider at least warning his readers that the term ‘epidemic’ may invoke analogies with the spread of infectious diseases that can be misleading.
Notes:
Displacement
Haidt surprisingly omitted a fourth potential cause -- one that is, in my view, more plausible than direct harm from social media: the possibility that essential adolescent activities are being displaced by smartphone and online activities so that the harm is in the displacement itself rather than due to tech activities being intrinsically harmful.
For example, if academic pressures cause teens to sleep less due to time spent studying, one need not view studying as harmful in order to agree that the displacement of sleep by studying is harmful.
Be it because digital media are addictive, or be it merely because their use is convenient, displacement of essential activities such as in-person socialization, outdoor recreation, physical exercise, and of course sleep, could lead to mental health problems.
I will revisit this issue later.