Toxic Networks

The psychoanalyst Maria Rita Kehl reflects on the impacts of hyperconnectivity on mental health and human relationships.

BY MARIANA SERAFINI

Content originally published in CartaCapital.

The word of the year, chosen by the Oxford Dictionary, from the eponymous British university, is "brain rot." It literally translates to "cerebral rot." It refers to mental exhaustion caused by the excessive consumption of superficial and undemanding content, mainly associated with the unrestricted use of social networks. Dozens of studies have shown how excessive use of social media negatively affects health, leading to diseases such as anxiety, insomnia, and depression. To discuss the effects of hyperconnectivity, psychoanalyst and writer Maria Rita Kehl received the CartaCapital report at her home. Right off the bat, she said: "I don't even use social media; I only observe it." However, she pointed out ways that could be useful for breaking free from the entrapment caused by these devices.

CC: In Brazil, the population spends, on average, three hours a day on social media, which puts the country in fifth place in the global ranking of platform use. Why do Brazilians resort to this socializing mechanism so much? What is the impact on social life?

MRK: I tend to call these environments "antisocial networks" because they are where the most fights happen. The fact that the body is not physically present makes users feel less responsible for their words. A lot of violence circulates on these platforms, anonymous violence, without any need for accountability. One can even maintain a fake profile. What should be a mechanism for facilitating dialogue becomes a space where some individuals feel protected to do things they wouldn't do in person. In other words, on social media, the other person, the one on the other side of the screen, almost isn't an individual. At best, they are just an image, a face, and you don’t even know who they are. This doesn’t happen in the materiality of real life because we are responsible for our words, our actions, and also for others. We can't offend someone's dignity, hurt, or humiliate them without facing consequences. When this "other" becomes just a cartoon, a little face, it's like entering a no-man's land.

CC: It’s also an environment of intense exposure to all kinds of advertising. Influencers sell an unattainable lifestyle for most, which must create a lot of expectation and frustration, right?

MRK: This is only secondarily related to the internet. Before, it was television: ads for wonderful clothes, incredible trips abroad, and a series of other unattainable things. This is capitalism, always throwing out bait, even if you can’t swallow it and end up with a worm stuck in your throat. This compulsion to "buy," "have," "travel"... until you’re happy. It’s horrible to turn happiness into an object of consumption. Freud said that health can be summed up by the ability to love and work. Love in the sense of having connections, and work by creating things, something that gives satisfaction. Of course, life is more than that, but if you have affections, bonds, loves, and work on something meaningful to you – and only a minority have this possibility – these are not elements for absolute happiness but for valuing yourself and feeling that life is worth it, despite its setbacks. Social media feeds us images of all of this but can't truly provide it. Maybe that’s the frustration. Not because you want all those things, but because it’s as if social media has the power to give them to you. It’s common to see people scrolling to the end of their feed. What do they expect to find there? This creates an expectation that traps you, giving the feeling that, at some point, something relevant will appear.

CC: What are the consequences of this "anything goes" attitude in real life?

MRK: They are devastating. A rumor can be shared by thousands of users, and the uproar of false information doesn't even know how the story started. Someone is being unjustly accused, and everything multiplies at an incredible speed. What scares me the most is this irresponsibility. At the same time, in this no-man's land, a low trick emerges: defending "freedom of speech" at all costs, as if there were no limits to what can be expressed on social networks. Well, slander and defamation are crimes. It doesn’t change in the digital environment. I don't know how to resolve this technologically, but social networks need to be regulated. And mind you, I went through a dictatorship, when what we wanted to be made public was censored. Obviously, anyone who went through that can only be in favor of freedom of expression, but we can’t use this right to protect any vandalism committed through language.

CC: How to escape this trap?

MRK: Here we are in a room full of books, almost an "anti-social media" environment. Do you notice how this is a different interaction? I don’t know if it’s better or worse, but it’s certainly very distinct. One of these crazy nights, I decided to read and memorize a poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade with over 40 verses, called Passagem da Noite. And why? Because we need to carry Drummond's verses with us to access in difficult or boring moments. We should memorize song lyrics to occupy our minds when necessary. We have a vast symbolic wealth at our disposal. It’s not about being against what comes from social media, the point is that that alone isn’t enough. You’ll hardly get a Drummond poem sent to you on WhatsApp. Normally, you get very obvious things or displays like "look, I'm at the beach" or "enjoying Carnival." We used to do that before when we came back from a trip and showed printed photos. Now, while you live, you also exhibit.

Published in issue no. 1343 of CartaCapital, on December 31, 2024.

This text appears in the print edition of CartaCapital under the title Toxic Networks.