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Social Media And Mental Health

Social Media and Mental Health

How Does Social Media Affects

Social media and mental health are terms that are increasingly becoming intertwined. Social media refers to various computer-mediated applications that help in the sharing of information, personal issues, corporate interests, and other forms of interactive activities. The most popular social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, Snapchat, Reddit, LinkedIn among others.

Mental health refers to one’s psychological, social and emotional well-being. It directly influences how a person feels, acts and thinks. Moreover, it determines how an individual can handle stress and how good they can make decisions. Mental health is very significant in every person’s phase of life; hence, the need to avoid activities that could ruin it.

With the rapid advancement in technology and the ease of joining various social media sites, many people are facing challenges in their mental health. Social media platforms are increasingly converting the world into a global village; hence, people are being exposed to different types of information, which has varying impact on their mental health.

Negative effects

Is Social Media Bad For You

The use of social media is a leading cause of Depression (mood) among teens. Jelenchick, Eickoff, and Moreno (2013) argue that the more time they spent on social media, the higher the likelihood of them becoming depressed. This can be attributed to the kind of content they are exposed to. Currently, a majority of teens tend to portray their fake lifestyles on social media, which leaves other teens depressed. This is because most teens compare themselves to their peers who are seemingly doing better than they are.

As Vogel et al. (2014) note, the resulting impact is lowered Self-esteem and depressive feelings that make them unproductive. Moreover, such comparisons drive them into being overambitious. Since their ambitions do not actualize immediately, the teens sink into depression. For older people, depression has been evidenced in the increased number of suicide cases due to comparing themselves to people who seem to be more successful and doing well in life. Furthermore, there is increasing access to uncensored and inappropriate information that negatively affects different people. Discussions and interactions in social media platforms are also becoming offensive. Some people do not observe the appropriate code of conduct, which consequentially hurts unsuspecting people exposing them to depression.Social Media And Depression

Social media use is a leading cause of sleeping problems such as poor quality of sleep.It is imperative to point out that social media use is addictive. Levenson et al. (2016)note that due to excessive time spent on social media, most people are becoming Insomniac. They find it difficult to fall asleep, and when they eventually do, they wake up regularly within the night. This implies that addiction and overuse of social media platforms are ruining a time that people should use to rest. The leading cause of poor quality of sleep is anxiety that comes because of the things that one sees on social media, which puts the brain on a high alert during the night. In addition to that, light from devices that a person uses to access the platforms in some cases suppresses production of melatonin, which helps one feel tired so that they can sleep instantly.

Social Media Negatively Affects Your Mental Health

Hyperactivityis also on the rise because of the increased social media use globally. Addicted social media users have been observed to be losing touch with reality and talking too much on topics that do not directly affect their societies. Such users engage in all sorts of topics they come across on the platforms. Moreover, they are inattentive and unable to concentrate in quiet activities. For teens in school, their inability to focus is likely to ruin their academic performance. Their levels of hyperactivity are also becoming a nuisance to those they interact or live with. 

Social media use can distort one’s memory. As noted previously, social media platforms have converted the world into a global village, which implies that people can access huge chunks of information. Because of the excess time people spent on social media, the memory space is filled with unnecessary data. This makes it difficult for people to remember some essential things in their lives.

Primack et al. (2017)point out that teens and young adults depict signs of Loneliness and social isolation after excessive use of social media. Despite that people argue that social media communication connects people more, the impact of face-to-face interactions is invaluable. It helps people share their affairs and address them on a personal basis. Given that social media is taking the attention of young people by a storm, they are losing touch with some of their friends and the impact is not fit for their mental health because loneliness makes them desperate to connect with people and in some cases, they fall for inappropriate friends.

Social Media And Lonely

Positive effects

Social Media Can Benefit Mental Health However, social media use is mentally healthy for people who have poor Social skills. O'Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson (2011)claim that some people are afraid of rejection because it can ruin their level of self-esteem[[1]]. Since they intend to socialize just like their confident counterparts, social media helps them connect with friends of their choice. It is even more advantageous since they can create pseudo profiles on social media to hide their real identity.

Moreover, the use of social media helps people in marginalized groups connect and find support from people who uphold similar ideologies. An example is the case of people who advocate for LGBTQ rights. Because of the rejection by society, they are isolated; hence, the use of social media helps them link up with supportive friends and share their experiences. This helps them avoid depressive feelings that could be potentially Suicide.

The effects of social media use on mental health are increasing every day. It is, therefore, crucial to monitor how one uses the platforms to avoid addiction. People should consider reducing the time spent on social media and increase face to face interactions. Moreover, they should shun inappropriate conversations that could expose them to depression. For addicts, it is advisable that they deactivate their social media profiles until they regain touch with reality and can regulate their social media use. In addition to that, people need to learn that most of what is posted on social media is fake. Therefore, they should stop exposing them to unnecessary comparisons that ruin their mental health.