Social media can have both positive and negative impacts on mental health.
Social media has become an addiction to many teens. While there are some benefits of using social media, there are also drawbacks.
Most teenagers will start to only communicate on the phone whether it’s calling, texting or writing a message on social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram and Snapchat. Being on the internet and social media all day, teens see how other people live their life and they want to become better. It might start off good but eventually they become insecure in the way they look, talk and even live their life and will continue to change things until some are a shell of themselves.
People might have low self-esteem to begin with but once they see other people that have a nice smile, have nice hair and even have cool eyes they could start to have body image issues. Self esteem is not something people can take for granted explained by Science Direct. Self esteem is how one values and perceives themselves. It’s based on opinions and beliefs about how people see themselves, which can be difficult to change once leading to a “dark side”. As soon as someone gets in one’s head, they can start to feel less good about themselves, thinking of all the mistakes that someone could make and how insecure it might make them. Once someone’s confidence starts slowly withdrawing, moods change and can go from happy to lonely and fragile in an instant and start to feel inferior to others which shouldn’t be happening to begin with.
According to Help Guide, using social media can also lead to anxiety and depression. Help Guide mentions that “Rather than helping to alleviate negative feelings and boost your mood, you feel more anxious, depressed, or lonely after using social media.” It shows that no one can get better if they are online all the time.
Most teenagers, due to being on their phone all the time, lose sleep. They stay up late playing video games or talking to their friends or honestly just scrolling through Instagram comparing themselves. What some people don’t realize is that by not sleeping it increases risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and a stroke.
When teenagers start to use their phone more they miss out on life. They miss out on the present, the life they are currently living in. Stated in LSPR also known as London School of Public Relations, teenagers also start to lose social skills, especially communication. Being used to doing it only online, which will definitely not help them later in life. It shortens people’s vocabulary, their attention span and how they talk. Even when talking they will not focus on who they are talking about and specifically what they are talking about.
Social media also has a lot of threats as well. According to Pew Research Center, 79% of teenagers struggle online and are affected negatively by cyberbullying, hacking etc. If a teenager starts to get cyber bullied they start feeling more bad especially if they don’t know who it is. UGA Today says “Teenagers who are addicted to social media are more likely to engage in cyberbullying, as well as those who spend more time online. Participants in the study reported spending on average over seven hours online per day, and the reported average maximum hours spent online in one day was over 12 hours”.
It’s important to be aware of the risks and establish a relationship with and without the phone, creating a healthy balance when it comes to being on social media. Prioritize mental well being first and engage in other things in the real world. Find hobbies, exercise and have face to face interactions that could help people in the future. Make them realize they are not alone. Parents, educators and other individuals should also play a key role in showing people how to responsibly use social media and helping them with any issues that they may or may not have.
If you or someone you know who is starting to have an addiction with social media or drifting away and starting to become cold check up on them. Talk to them and let them know they are not alone, that whatever they are going through if it’s something big or small, have them see someone supporting them. Nobody knows what someone is going through until it is too late but by letting people know they have someone behind them, giving them a hand, it could lead to a positive change. Just make sure you check up on your friends, family and even yourself.
