Social media and mental health
Humans are now more connected than ever, especially due to the rise of social media. But this advent in technology has its cons, one being a huge negative impact on mental health.
Social media has its obvious benefits but too often use is linked to mental health disorders. There are several studies showing, use of social media too often makes one feel unhappy about their general quality of life. According to a survey, every UK national checks their phone every 14 minutes, this is particularly alarming in teens.
In addition, Teenagers use social media to find their place in the community but it mostly leads to a negative influence on their minds.
There are several ongoing studies that correlate teenage mental health and body image perception of the use of social media. One study showed that teenagers who use social media twice, risk developing mental health disorders more than teenagers with less screen time.
Another study linked social media effects to that of effects of drugs, with increasing activity in reward centres of brain-based on the number of likes and follows. Thus, this was similar to the effect in the brain of people who are addicted to certain drugs.
The downside of social media among teens
The negative sides always feel bigger than the positive sides and the same goes with social media use. Although most people use it for finding friendships and connections. There is also the presence of online trolling, cyberbullying, sleep disturbances and fewer face to face connections.
Spending too much time on social media can lead to anxiety and depression. Here are a few ways social media can be destructive, especially in teenagers:
- Making comparisons of their lives with others
- Falling victims to cyberbullying and hate comments
- Having too many fake friends with no real connections
- Reduced real human connection leading to shrunken confidence
- Leading to sleep disturbances special nighttime sleep
- The decrease in attention span and concentration
There is a growing incidence of depression and anxiety in the younger population that has been linked to this misuse of social media. If you feel like it is affecting your mental health too, instead of quitting why not start by allocating less tie to it and managing time.
The key is to balance real life and connections with the life of social media to find that happy medium somewhere.
