Depression and Mobile Phones

The reinforcement of passivity as a theory of depression-like behavior

• One theory of depression is when bad things happen, people lose significant reinforcers in their lives.

• As a result, their behavior dwindles, and they become more passive.

• Social media may play a role by reinforcing passivity and increasing depression regardless of external events.

As I look from my office window, I can see over the roofs of the campus buildings, the labs, the offices, and student accommodation, to the roads below that connect them. On the roofs sit small, huddled, ugly-looking balls of grey feathers—waiting, pathetic. When an adult gull arrives, the small, ugly feather balls erupt into a frenzy of begging behaviour, until the adult delivers the food. Once the adult departs, they return to their huddled, passive state.

Below, on the campus roads, stand students, illuminated mobile in hand, waiting, pathetic. Once the pizza delivery person arrives, they—I don’t exactly say erupt into activity—but grab the food and slope off to wherever it is they go to eat. I have wondered why the adolescents of two species, subject to very different environments and contingencies of reinforcement, show such similar behaviors. Is it possible that, in the one case, it is because they do not have technology, and, in the other, because they do? If we focus on the humans, for the present, it may be that we are seeing the reinforcement of passivity through mobile devices, creating a depression-like state.

It is almost a truism to say that depression is associated with higher levels of social media usage. When people discuss this relationship, they usually focus on feelings and emotions, such as a low mood. They sometimes analyze alterations in thinking style, such as negative orientations towards self, the world, and the future. However, they rarely mention the behavioral issues associated with depression, such as the reduction in the speed of responses and the range of activities with which the individual engages.

This is unfortunate, as one of the best methods to overcome depression is through behavioral activation. This involves getting the depressed person to identify something they used to enjoy, which they think they could still manage to do, and then getting them to commit to doing that soon. The resulting reinforcement can re-engage them with the world, especially with a bit of support. It is this lack of action that is reflected in the students standing and waiting, and not just that, but also in their reaching out for somebody to help them at the first hurdle.

A very much neglected, wrongly so, theory of depression was outlined by the great behavioral thinker, C.B. Ferster. Ferster is perhaps best known for his work with B.F. Skinner on schedules of reinforcement, and his work developing some of the first behavioral interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, after these contributions, in 1973, Ferster wrote an article called “Functional Analysis of Depression,” outlining what he thought the roots of depression may be. His main thesis is that when bad things happen to people, they lose significant reinforcers in their life—their spouse, their job, their friends. This reduces their sources of reinforcement, and, when the reinforcement stops, the behavior dwindles.

Individuals who experience this reduced behavioral repertoire cannot overcome future challenges thrown at them by life. They become angry and resort to passive forms of coping, such as requesting help from others. Of course, like the chicks on the roof, this requesting behavior has limited opportunities for usefulness, as even the most devoted parent or friend can only take so much and will eventually withdraw. This causes even greater reductions in reinforcement, and the social and behavioral withdrawal becomes complete—the depression is severe.

One part of Ferster’s theory fits the students-with-phones waiting, somewhat pathetically, to be fed. They appear to have no active food-searching strategies beyond ringing for food to be delivered. That is, their behavioral repertoire seems diminished. However, in another regard, the theory does not fit. This passivity does not seem to have resulted from the experience of a series of bad things happening to all of them—at least, I hope it hasn’t, for if it has, then the world is a much nastier place than even the most jaded of us can imagine. The lack of active behavior must result from some other reinforcement contingency than a lack of positive reinforcement.

Here is where social media may play a role, and, as usual, it’s not a positive one. It may well be that what is being observed is not the result of the removal of reinforcement, but the application of a powerful reinforcer, dwarfing any others that could have been experienced, that teaches (conditions) passivity. When being passive and just calling for food is so effective—and so easy—then that is what is going to be reinforced. This is what leads to learned passivity (zookeepers have long known this and don’t just throw food into the enclosures but encourage foraging to keep animals healthy and interested).

There is little in the way of cost associated with this passive calling response—certainly, it takes less effort than walking to the local shop (which, if located across the nearby park after dark, is fraught with other dangers). It also brings fairly immediate positive consequences—the pizza arrives quite quickly, or your money back! It is then little wonder that such passivity is learned through social media use.

The problem is, once passivity has been conditioned, it tends to generalize to other situations. In fact, it becomes a go-to response, and passive requesting of help becomes the norm, rather than active seeking. However, unlike the adolescent chicks, whose parents finally get tired and drive them from the nest and roof, social media platforms never turn off the supply—so long as the person keeps paying (in money, or time, or both). Unlike the gulls, social media users never get the chance to learn to fend for themselves, and they remain passive, becoming increasingly demanding as frustration takes hold, when asking for help doesn’t always bring positive responses from other people (who, unlike the pizza delivery person, do not necessarily get paid for offering their help).

If any of the above turns out to be more than mere hypothesis—a flight of fancy, if you will—then it seems to have identified a new way in which depression can emerge. Not from failing to be able to make anything happen, as in Seligman’s theory of Learned Helplessness, nor from the absence of reinforcement, as in Ferster’s functional theory of depression. Rather, it may also arise from direct reinforcement of passive behaviors. In the case of many young people, this reinforcement of passivity arises from their use of social media to solve their pressing problems.

Phil Reed, Ph.D., - Website - Blog -