Shantala Boss, a licensed counselor, joined “Breakfast With Bridgett” to talk about Mental Health Awareness Month. She says while awareness around mental health has improved, it’s not without some potential dangers. Especially when it comes to social media and consuming advice from unqualified sources, she says a flood of misinformation creates problems.
“We take influencers who maybe aren’t trained, information we see in algorithms on our phone or through social media,” Boss said. “The problem is some of this information may be faulty or incorrect and we process it incorrectly and this can result in a lot of issues. Because we’re not really getting the appropriate information we need to make informed decisions and so it’s developing a cognitive bias which can be very detrimental.
“People often have it about mental health or mental health awareness, or what it means to have anxiety, depression, trauma, all these things,” Boss continued. “And I see it going not only with adults, but a lot of times with teens more than ever, who are on social media of course and being misinformed and almost creating some forms of social anxiety or pressures, maybe they didn’t have in the past. Because they have too much information about this and aren’t talking with parents or adults.”
For trusted analysis and processing information about your concerns, Boss encourages everyone to meet with a licensed professional about their mental health.
We have a list of places where people can find mental health help in Central Florida, regardless of whether they have health insurance, at ClickOrlando.com/mentalhealth.
Catch Breakfast with Bridgett weekday mornings at 7:30 on News 6+ or ClickOrlando.com.
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