Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and an expert in addiction, states: “Rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide are going up in countries all over the world, and they're going up fastest in the richest nations of the world. … We are now turning to [electronic] devices and to the Internet to meet our physical, emotional, sexual, educational, every need we have. We don't really need other people anymore. We can get those needs met from the internet. I think that's a very scary prospect because I think it means that we will become more and more isolated.” (“Digital Drugs Have Us Hooked. Dr. Anna Lembke Sees a Way Out,” The Daily by The New York Times podcast, 2/1/2025)
What Dr. Lembke is talking about is the dopamine hit that people receive while on their phones and other devices. More and more research is coming out that dopamine, the neurotransmitter that motivates us to do things we think will bring pleasure, is being activated by electronic media in the same way that junk food activates over-eating.
So why am I (a theologian, pastor, and bishop - but not a scientist) talking about this? Well, I think that the moving from human interaction to electronic interaction is of theological and pastoral concern. You see, at the same time that more and more research is telling us about the harm that is happening when we get “hits” of dopamine from electronic media, we are also hearing (and experiencing in our own lives and social networks) that loneliness and anxiety and stress are rising. In isolation, we might lose trust in others and in our institutions, experience a crumbling of empathy, be susceptible to disinformation, and build walls instead of bridges to another.
Now, before you say to me, “Do you know what is happening in this world?” Please hear me – I know. I know. There is a lot going on in our families, with people we care about, in the United States, and in the world as a whole. I, too, am feeling despair and disbelief. There are valid reasons for feeling anxiety and stress. And we might feel isolated and scared because of these circumstances.
But I implore you, please don’t try to navigate all of the things you are experiencing alone – without anyone around you. Please don’t always turn to your phone and doomscroll or neglect relationships or separate yourself. Instead, I encourage you to look for those spaces where you can physically connect with another person or people. Please find those places where you can authentically, truly be yourself – in your joy, in your sorrow, in your anxiety, and more.
I pray that one of these places is your church community. That you can pray and sing and learn and grow, that you can receive and grant forgiveness through Jesus, receive the sacraments, take action through the Spirit, give and receive care, and that you can rest when needed. I pray that you may do this all in a sacred space where you deeply connect with others – even if you don’t always agree with one another. I pray that you can have meaningful relationships, conversation, and can be there for one another. I pray that you receive love just as you love others. I pray that if you are feeling lonely or despairing, there are those you can reach out to who will sit with you and bring God’s promises again to you.
In these days, when it feels like there is so much, may you feel God’s love and grace surrounding you in the community of others. May we trust in Jesus’ promise, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
+Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee
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