In the face of this deadly opioid epidemic, I’ve seen all sorts of alternative methods floated to help remedy patients’ pain. Be it laughing gas, yoga, sugar pills or exercise. Now researchers are looking to add another item to the list, as a means to treat the depression that comes with seniors’ pain: social media.
To that, I simply ask: Have you met my friends and family?
If you’d spent a few moments in my own worldwide web of woes, I’m sure you wouldn’t leave with a rosier outlook online, leaving behind the memories of your throbbing back pain. Heck, I’m not special. We all have that one racist-meme-loving aunt or uncle whom we’ve long since unfollowed on Facebook, or the scientific-minded friend who keeps tweeting reminders that the world is ending, like, tomorrow due to climate change. And all you really want is to look at cute gifs of cats.
I’ve deleted Facebook and Twitter off of my phone more than once to try and force myself to look away. But like that sickening picture of a pressure ulcer in the latest newspaper exposé, you can’t help but stare, and I currently am back to having both apps placed prominently on my phone’s home screen.
That’s the world that University of Michigan researchers want your residents to wade into, however, hoping that it will help them battle the depression that comes with chronic pain. Studying data from a national survey involving 3,400-plus Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older living in community settings in 2011, researchers found that “with a few finger strokes or swipes on a computer or cellphone,” seniors with pain were able to reduce their risk of depression.
Data did not actually distinguish between the type of social media that seniors used, which researchers acknowledged is an area for further exploration. It did, however, ask them about depression, pain and social participation. About 17% of those surveyed had used social media in the past month, and older adults who experienced pain were less likely to participate in social activities involving face-to-face interactions. Among the pain population, 6% of those who surfed social media reported symptoms of depression, compared with 15% of those who did not.
“Using online social media to maintain contact with family members and friends is a good way to compensate for seniors who restrict their social activities due to pain. It is not going to replace seeing people in person, but it will help supplement their reduced activities,” Shannon Ang, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Michigan, told Reuters.
Those involved believe results may be extended to other conditions — i.e., chronic illnesses, functional limitations, etc. — that can restrict physical activity outside of the nursing home or other residences.
But in the Reuters report, another expert pumps the breaks a little bit as to whether social media should be prescribed to all older adults grappling with pain and isolation.
“People respond differently to it. Some people can become more anxious hearing other peoples’ stories or about other treatments for what they’re experiencing. There’s a lot of variability of whether social media is right for you,” the expert told Reuters. He noted that phone or video conferencing are other alternatives.
To that I say, I’m with you, doc. But, before I phone a friend, I’m probably going to first look at my angry Twitter feed for a few minutes.
Follow Staff Writer Marty Stempniak @MStempniak.
