Durban - How many times do you check your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account? How much time do you spend watching TV or videos on YouTube? You are probably not sure but we could agree on one thing, for the general public, it’sa lot of time.
According to MyBroadbrand, on average, 25% of South Africans spend 2-3 hours daily watching TV.
Last week an Eastern Cape teenager allegedly committed suicide, over the death of “Jama”, a TV character on local Edutainment drama ‘Skeem Saam’.
Unfortunately, she is not the only person who has been consumed with - and influenced by - the media.
There have been numerous cases where things go south as a result of what someone has witnessed in the media.
It seems that as a society we are increasingly becoming “out of touch” with the real world and look strongly towards media in making life decisions.
What has the media done to us? What would drive someone to commit suicide just because they will no longer see their favourite character on TV again?
“There is no way a person who was not already suffering from some kind of major depression or dealing with their own deep issues can commit suicide because of a TV character,” says Psychologist Dr Dorianne Weil ‘Dr D’.
However, she adds that many people form serious fantasies around TV characters and other celebrities. Why? Because you don’t have to come to grips with anything you don’t like.
“You can suggest all kinds of unresolved needs, hopes and expectations... anything onto these characters and you can maintain those fantasies as if they were real. So if that person goes it crushes down on everything (you created mentally).”
Yes, there are many positive elements within the media, but it seems that the more media platforms there are, the less authenticity is experienced in life. Today media consumption is more about quantity than quality. It is about how many likes and shares you get.
Don’t you sometimes feel that people just press the ‘Like’ button without giving it any real thought? How could someone you’ve never had a conversation with possible care about what you eat, your health or when you post all those gym selfies?
“The term ‘friend’ has just become so diluted, that most people in their lives are really lucky if they have, say, five people they call really good friends and can talk to openly and have a trusting relationship”, says Dr D.
The media is here to stay, so how can we not lose our ability to connect properly with people and keep family and personal values in the face of technology?
“Be aware that sometimes you need to have eye contact with people, sometimes you need to have courageous conversations that we cannot dismiss so easily with the press of a button. We also have to work harder at role models to teach people about real connections, empathy and compassion”, says Dr Weil.
• Dr Dorianne Weil is a clinical and organisational psychologist. She is also renowned as South Africa’s leading media psychologist. She was also the expert psychologist used to give commentary in the media during the Oscar Pistorius trail.