Depresh Mode with John Moe Are Dating Apps a Mental Health Grenade? And, How Are Kids Doing in ICE-Era Minnesota?
Feb 16, 2026
Dr. Sarah Gerstad, Clinical Director at Children’s Minnesota who treats youth mental health, and Liesl Shirabi, professor who analyzed online dating studies, join the conversation. They tackle dating apps linked to anxiety, compulsive swiping, addictive design and the coming AI upheaval. They also explore how ICE activity affects children’s sense of safety, sleep, behavior, and what adults can do to help.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Usage Style Matters
- Compulsive, excessive swiping tends to correlate with worse outcomes compared with users who actually meet people and go on dates.
- Differences in types of use (compulsive vs. purposeful) likely explain variation in mental health effects.
Matching Feels Like Product Recommendations
- Dating apps often use collaborative filtering: recommendations derive from user behavior resembling Netflix or Amazon algorithms.
- This makes dating feel like product recommendations and can reduce serendipity in partner discovery.
Chicken Or Egg: Cause Is Mixed
- The causal direction is unclear: apps may worsen mental health, but people with pre-existing vulnerabilities are also likelier to use them.
- Shirabi suggests a combination of selection effects and app-driven influences explains observed associations.