A presentation l gave to the Woman's Group at BirkBeck, University of London. Looking at the differences between mental health and wellbeing in digital and non digital settings.

1. The Future of life &
Work
CULTIVATING
RADICAL SELF CARE
IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Salema Veliu
SOUL SAVVY COACHING
Self-Esteem Coach & Holistic Psychologist
Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Consultant for
Organisational & Academic Development and Leadership
Coaching Psychology Dip HE
Experimental Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience BS CertHE
University of Cambridge
www.salemaveliu.org
www.evolutionaryflow.com

2. Session Topics
• Our current reality with Technology
• Effects of Technology on Life & Work.
• Defining Well-Being & Mental Health.
• Awareness to new Mental Health Disorders arising out of Technology and how it
manifest in Clients.
• Digital Distraction, Dependency & Resilience.
• Finding balance between Humanity, Connectivity and Technology.

3. So what is Radical Self-Care? -
Maintenance of one’s personal Mental and Physical
Well-Being.
Maintenance and belief around one’s own value/s and
dignity including Self-Esteem.
OPEN & AWARE: The ability to recognize and honor
when you need to set boundaries within yourself and
with others to maintain healthy Well-Being.
ACTIVE: the relative steps that are needed to restore
inner balance.
Frameworks that help:
ACT MODEL - Open, Aware & Active
Positive Psychology

4. Radical Self-Care to be
Soul Savvy
• Self-care is learned, purposeful and continuous.
• In philosophy, self-care refers to the care and
cultivation of self in a comprehensive sense,
focusing in particular on the soul and the
knowledge of self.
The positive effects:
Richer connections, creativity, willingness,
empathy, worthiness, acceptance, understanding
Where your thoughts are not reality (Fused-ACT)

5. So why is more
important now
than ever
before?
• The new challenges that we are facing from Technology and
the state of the world are effecting:
• The way we communicate and interact in every domain of our
lives is changing due to the constantly evolving technology.
• Our social intelligence and skills in how we interact human to
human.
• Considerations:
• Will the rise of technology gradually change our values and in
the process change our own feelings of self-worth?
• Therefore practicing RSC can provide healing not only to
ourselves, others but also to our planet we all share

6. Mental Health +
Well-Being
non-digital
• Are these the same thing?
• How would you define each of
these?
• Do you feel that you have a good
awareness of your mental health +
well-being and if so how do you
manage both?

7. DEFINING WELL-BEING AND
MENTAL HEALTH the differences
(Non-Digital)
• Are related but should be considered as 2
different concepts.
• Mental Well-Being:
• Having a sense of self and the ability to be
adaptable to live our lives as closely as
possible to the way we want to.
• To have positive relationships, promote
healthy living and feel life satisfaction.
• Our sense of wellbeing is affected by how we
might feel about something we do or the
relationships we have.
• Frameworks in Positive Psychology are known
to reflect the various elements of wellbeing.
• Mental Health:
• Persistent and specific markers for certain
symptoms, such as depression, anxiety,
psychosis, eating disorders. That cause mental
and emotional distress and anxiety that stop
us from living the life we want.

8. What is Digital
Well-Being ?
• Is often defined as the capabilities and skills that an
individual requires to successfully make use of digital
technologies.
• Some of the elements mentioned in the JISC Elements of
Digital Well-being are:
• “The capacity to look after personal health, safety,
relationships and work-life balance in digital settings”.
• To use digital tools to pursue personal goals for health
and fitness.
• To use digital tools to participate in social and community
activities.
• To act safely and responsibly in digital environments.
• To manage digital workload, overload and distraction.
• Act with concern for the human and natural environment
when using digital tools. Awareness to your digital
footprint.

9. How digitally
distracted
are WE and
the possible
implications
• The intensive use of computer and smartphones is
training us to be ever more restless with our eyes
creating a restless and distracted mind.
• Distractions in the mind translate to micro movements
in the eyes or eyelids, and vice- versa.
• Stillness of eyes brings stillness of mind, and vice-versa.
• DD + DP are some of the reasons why our attention
span keeps getting shorter.
• Mini exercise

10. Cultivating Digital
Self-Care
Digital Resilience,
Distraction &
Regulation
• Digital resilience is part of your
personality that develops from spending
time online and facing the challenges out
there. It means you recognize when you're
at risk online and what to do.
• Digital distraction & regulation is how you
monitor and manage your time effectively
online.

11. Digital +
General
Distractibility
the impact on
Mental Health
• An inability to sustain one's attention or
attentiveness, which is rapidly diverted
from one topic to another.
• Can become of a variety of mental
disorders, as manic disorder, schizophrenia,
or anxiety states.

12. The 4D’s of Distraction & the Wandering mind
Distractibility,
Disengagement,
Disconnection,
Dissociation
All cause deficits
in our ability to
narrow focus,
broaden focus,
sustain focus,
and shift focus.

13. What are the key possible indicators of being chronically
distracted?
•?
• The implications:
• Being in fight and flight response constantly and being over stimulated.
• Non–awareness of your environment.
• Resulting in unbalanced sleep patterns.
• An increase in addictive behaviour; drugs, drink, sex, food.
• Possible isolation and difficulty in communicating your needs and
communication in general to others.

14. Digital
Distraction +
Behaviour
• Is our fear of missing out (FOMO)
changing our behaviour in other ways?
• Has the culture of instant access
undermined our capacity for patience and
our ability to concentrate?
• Whilst multitasking can be a desirable skill,
the switching between activities, and the
potential interruption of repeated
checking of devices, may be eroding our
ability to focus on a single activity.

15. The possible dangers of Digital
Distraction
Our connection with social
media throws up some very
important questions:
Why do we feel the need to
increase our frequency of
looking at social media?
Is this reflecting a lack of
connection we’re feeling in
real life? By constantly adding
images for example of
instagram? (Unless it’s
educational in some way)
Are we searching for meaning
to lead a more fulfilling life?
Are we getting lost in the
virtual reality which makes
our human connections more
difficult?
Are we losing who we are in
the process?

16. The Pro’s and
Con’s of
Instagram &
Facebook
How it might effect you and your clients:
Positives:
Can ignite inspiration, creativity towards the life we want to live.
Can be used to inform and educate.
Negatives:
Can damage self-esteem and self-worth by constant comparison
to others.
Can give a false sense of reality.

17. Data +
Behaviour
• Has the culture of instant access undermined our
capacity for patience and our ability to concentrate?
• Whilst multitasking can be a desirable skill, the switching
between activities, and the potential interruption of
repeated checking of devices, may be eroding our ability
to focus on a single activity.
• This is where the act of noticing practices in the ACT
model along with educational neuroscience can help
provide deeper insights into the areas of the brain
responsible for motivation, performance, reward,
concentration and wellbeing.

18. Some of the
new mental
health
disorders that
are arising out
of technology
• FOMO (fear of missing out) a ‘technoference
syndrome’ both feeds, and is fed by, a speeding
up of life that is being driven by digital technology
(Digital distraction).
• Waiting and fearing not seeing an email or news
story (or not seeing it promptly enough), and
missing out (even briefly) on some bit of latest
information.
• Compels an increased tendency of checking of
digital devices in the process triggering low self-
esteem, addiction, obsession, anxiety, obsessive
comparison disorder.

20. A new set of
technology
related disorders/
behaviors that we
are facing in the
Millennials’
Generation (18-
34yr olds)
Video Game addiction +
Depression
https://www.psychguides
.com/guides/video-game-
addiction-symptoms-
causes-and-effects/
Millennials’ Biggest
Problem: Obsessive
Comparison Disorder
https://relevantmagazine.
com/life/millennials-
biggest-problem-
obsessive-comparison-
disorder
Social Media and Suicide:
A Public Health
Perspective
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih
.gov/pmc/articles/PMC34
77910/

21. Some Key findings of the impact of Digital on the ‘always on culture’
• Almost half of 18-34 year olds said their social media
feeds made them feel unattractive.
• A study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
found that heavy social media users were twice as likely to
report experiencing social isolation.
• A link has been found between excessive social media use
and poor academic performance.
• The act of just receiving a notification, even if you don’t
reply to it, is enough to severely distract you.

22. Addressing
changing
needs: AI,
Mental Health
and the new
set of
challenges
A recent study by Baylor University (Social Science Computer Review,
22nd March 2017) revealed the following:
• "Technophobes" - people who fear robots, artificial intelligence and
new technology that they don't understand - are much more likely to
be afraid of losing their jobs to technology and to suffer anxiety-
related mental health issues.
• In it, 1,541 respondents were asked about their fears and worries
about politics, crime, natural and man-made disasters, technology,
mental health and unemployment.
• Revealing Technophobes have 95 percent greater odds of not being
able to stop or control worrying when compared to others, and 76
percent greater odds of feeling as if something awful might happen.

23. A new set of technology
related behaviors
McClure's study also found that:
Those in historically marginalized
groups -- women, non-whites and
the less educated -- report being
most fearful of technology.
Technophobes are three times
more likely to be fearful of
unemployment when compared
to others, and nearly three times
more likely to fear not having
enough money in the future.
Technophobes have 95 percent
greater odds of not being able to
stop or control worrying when
compared to others, and 76
percent greater odds of feeling as
if something awful might happen.

24. Other
FINDINGS
Regardless of whether technology might lead to certain people's jobs
becoming obsolete, the fear itself is real.
Anticipating the individual and social outcomes is a matter worth pursuing,"
he said. "If these fears are misplaced, more research needs to be done to
dispel technophobia as a legitimate social concern.
* Could this lead to more antisocial behaviour?
While a transformation would most likely be gradual, it could trigger a major social unrest
among those who are displaced from their jobs, McClure said.
People in certain occupations may legitimately fear losing their jobs to robots and
software that can work for cheaper and for longer hours than any human.

25. Some statistics +
facts on Digital
dependency,
addiction and
WHY WE NEED TO
LOG OFF TO
PARTICIPATE IN
LIFE!
• On a daily basis what’s the average amount of hours
that UK adults spend on screens?
• What’s the % of people checking facebook every 10
minutes?
• What % of UK children say that their parents spend too
much time on their mobile devices?
• How many hours do UK children spend a day on
screens?
• What’s the % of UK adults admitting their spend too
much time online?
• Who are more likely to create a smartphone addiction
men or women?

26. Impact of distraction on focus + concentration at
work
As our tech habits deny our brains important downtime, our ability for deep-
thinking and maintained focus is reducing.
Skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined as our use of technology
has increased.
Many argue that a decrease in attention span is made up by our increased
ability to multi-task. However, Research from (MIT) and others proved that
multitasking doesn’t work – because the brain doesn’t work that way.

27. Other potential dangers
Digital eye strain + FF
• Have you noticed any changes in your sight?
• Blurred vision, dry or sore red eyes maybe even
getting more headaches?
• If so you could be affected by ”digital
eyestrain”.
• Caused by focusing on harsh/bright light from
screens for too long and not blinking frequently
enough (can be worse if you wear contact
lenses).
• Mini Exercise for “Focusing fatigue”.

28. SCREENS in
bed
• 47% of adults miss out on sleep due to internet
usage.
• 95% of adults in a US study admitted to using
some type of screen in the hour leading up to
bed*. (*Artificial blue light emitting from
screens increase alertness and suppresses the
hormone melatonin by up to 22% which
negatively impacts sleep).
• 32% of adults who have binge-watched a series
at least once in the last month have missed out
on sleep as a result.

29. Digital
Dependency +
damage to the
brain
• Neuroimaging research has shown that excessive
screen time can actually damage some areas of the
brain.
• Brain Regions: Amygdala, Insula, Hippocampus,
Dorsal Prefrontal Cortex, Superior Temporal Cortex
but to name a few
• Functions/Mechanisms : Emotional processes,
impulse control, executive attention, decision making
and cognitive control.
• According to research by University College London,
media-multitasking and rapidly switching from task to
task can weaken your brain’s anterior cingulate
cortex, which is involved in high-level information and
emotion processing.

30. Finding harmony between Humanity & Connectivity Technology
Digital Distraction and
regulation
New Coping
Mechanisms for
Psychological Flexibility
& Emotional Agility
• Steven Hayes and Russ Harris describe psychological
flexibility as “The ability to contact the present moment
fully as a conscious human being, and based on what the
situation affords, changing or persisting in behaviour in the
service of chosen values.”
• ACT provides the structural model for balancing between
eastern and western paradigms.
• Noticing skills – to help with Digital Distraction and
regulation.
• Value based exercises – to re-evaluate and regulate thought
processes Fusion vs Defusion.
• Fusion= Seeing the world through your thoughts, rather
than seeing the thoughts as part of your world.
• When you see the thoughts as realities, which can create
frustration, stuckness.
• Defusion= Treating thoughts as thoughts and not realities
which creates more mobility in emotions and cognition
(thinking).

31. Digital Wellbeing &
Regulation?
Some Possible solutions
• One possible solution is already
available On apple smart phones
where you can monitor your
online screen time.
• Cultivate and re-learn time
management strategies using
effective time management tables
which can also been seen as a
behavioral analysis (ACT).
• YOGA,MINDFULLNESS,
MEDITATION
Dahl, J (2008) The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy: Helping Clients Discover, Explore, and Commit to Valued Action Using Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy
Why do I do what I do?
Day / Time Activity
Function
Avoidance of
something negative
Short-term fix with
something positive
Pliance (Self-Governing
rule of judgement)
Genuine Positive
Reinforcement
(Values-based)
E.g. Wed 8pm
Look at Facebook
Feeling restless and
irritable from the day
Feel excited about
seeing what others are
up to
If I sit down to relax, I’ll
only feel worse. Better
to do something
Provides a way to
connect with my friends

32. Enter your prediction for the number of hours you anticipate spending using digital technology this week.
Then complete the table below each day, entering the amount of hours spent with each kind of digital technology. Our definition of
"digital technology" is a bit loose, so even playing a record counts if you're playing it through a modern hi-fi rather than a
gramophone or something with valves in it!
Prediction: hrs
Actual: 0 hrs
Time spent Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
...online for work / school / education (e.g. this
MOOC, email, research etc.)
...online for entertainment / leisure (including social
media, and mobile apps that connect to the internet)
...using desktop (non-internet) applications for work
/ school / education (e.g. Microsoft Word)
...using desktop (non-internet) applications for
entertainment / leisure
...gaming
...streaming video / music
...listening to the radio or non-streamed music
(mp3s, CDs etc.)
...watching television, film, DVDs etc.
...reading e-books
...doing any other activities involving digital
technology
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

33. How engaged and how distracted are you?
Small discussion groups of 4 and then key
person to feed back key findings.
Revert back to the Screen sheets that were
completed, what were the findings.

34. Tips to manage Digital dependency and
distraction at home + work?
So how you could implement your own Digital Detox daily
or at the weekends?
What’s your commitment? How can you be accountable and
supported in your commitment, who’s in your group?
Decide on one thing each person could do as a committed ACTION
and a key person within your group or department that could help
you be accountable by reporting back to you.

35. Summary and
creating your
own digital
detox
intentions
Our current reality with technology.
To explore and clarify our understanding of Mental Health +
Well-Being from a non-digital and digital perspective.
Engagement vs Distraction : Definitions and possible
Implications
The mental health disorders that are arising out of
technology.
Reviewed your own distraction and behaviours.
Actions to reduce your digital distraction + dependency to
improve your mental health and Well-Being.