Psychological Effects Of Social Media On Youth – The impact social media can have on our mental health and expert tips on how to achieve a healthy balance

Century, has given us easy access to friends, family and loved ones – allowing us all to stay connected online. As social creatures, we want to communicate with others, and social media allows us to do that, anytime, anywhere.

Psychological Effects Of Social Media On Youth

As social media sites have increased their influence on our lives, more attention has been drawn to its connection to our mental health. Overuse of social media can lead to mental health challenges including anxiety, depression, eating disorders and addictions.

The Impact Of Social Media On Youth Mental Health — My Good Brain

Sometimes, people use social media networks to victimize and abuse others online. Harmful or offensive comments are very common in some areas of social media, making it a cruel place for those on the receiving end.

Although this can happen to anyone, it is especially problematic for children and teenagers. Hurtful comments, rumors and lies can have a huge impact on a child’s mental health. It can be even more harmful if that child is also being bullied at school, as digital spaces allow the perpetrator to continue bullying outside of school hours.

Whether it’s on social media or not, when we see friends or family having fun, we get the sense that everyone is enjoying a more eventful life than our own. In many ways, this is just a natural human response.

Social media can amplify these feelings. If we see pictures of other people out enjoying themselves while we’re sitting at home, this can make us feel like we’re missing out and worry that our social life is less exciting. to other people’s lives. Over time, these feelings can escalate into serious mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Solution: Social Media Use And Mental Health Bar Chart

Social media has long been criticized for the ease with which people can manipulate images with filters and other tools. These doctored images often promote an unrealistic body image, which makes us feel insecure about how we look. This can lead to conditions such as eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), especially among young people.

It’s not just how other people look on social media that makes us feel insecure. The system of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ that most social platforms use, means that we can constantly compare ourselves to others. If we find that our posts are getting less likes than a friend, it can make us feel less popular or generally inadequate. Also, it can mean that our sense of self-esteem and self-worth becomes dependent on the level of engagement we get on social media, as opposed to more important things like what we look like as people.

“Social media tricks our brains in a number of ways. We constantly compare ourselves to our peers to make sure we ‘fit in and belong’. Young people often have a mix of peers and celebrities on their social media channels, with little ability for their brains to tell the difference. So, instead of just comparing our lives to our classmates and neighbors, we’re comparing it to Victoria’s Secret models and Justin Bieber. This leaves most young people feeling ‘less than’.”

Social media can also make us feel more isolated and isolated. Evidence shows that physical, face-to-face interaction with others is a boost to our mental health, but a 2015 study in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society found that limiting face-to-face contact face-to-face almost doubles someone’s risk. developing depression.

The Effect Of Social Media On Well Being Differs From Adolescent To Adolescent

If we start to reduce our face-to-face interactions with people, and only interact with them through social media, this can put us at higher risk:

Idealized body images and photo editing tools are used on social media, meaning that these platforms may contribute to people developing eating disorders. A recent study in 2019 said that the more young teenagers use social media, the more likely they are to develop an eating disorder.

There are also trends such as ‘fitspiration’ on social media, where healthy eating and fitness become an unhealthy obsession. Research from the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that women who post ‘fitspiration’ images on Instagram are more likely to engage in eating and exercise behaviors that can be harmful to their physical and mental health.

Opening your phone releases dopamine in our brain – a neurotransmitter known as the ‘happy chemical’. Over time, we can develop an association between using our phones and having a rewarding, enjoyable experience. While social media may feel welcoming at first, this dopamine hit can mean you want to log in again and again, which can go into slavery soon.

Social Media And Mental Health

In the US, it is now estimated that as many as 5-10% of Americans may meet the criteria for being at risk of social media addiction.

Social media can have a negative impact on all of us, but when the damage is done to children and young people, it’s natural to feel even more concerned.

Social media can be like the center of a young person’s world. They may not have the maturity or life experiences that an older person needs to insulate them from any negativity they may experience online. older and maybe mentally stronger, or with other things to focus on.

The influence of social media on young people is widespread, to the extent that Facebook (which also has Instagram) has recently been criticized for keeping its own research on the subject hidden. Research suggests that these social media channels have a negative impact on young people’s body images (affecting teenage girls in particular) and that teenagers blame these channels for rising rates of pregnancy. mind and anxiety.

Ways Social Media Affects Teen Mental Health

The younger generations also feel more bullied online. The Office for National Statistics says almost 1 in 5 10-15 year olds have experienced cyberbullying, but a 2018 Pew Research study suggested this could be as high as 59%.

Calls for social media channels to do more to limit their negative impact on young people are growing stronger, as are suggestions that the government should act. In the Priory poll, we found that 67% of parents want legislation on the use of smartphones in children aged 10-17. 44% go so far as to say they would support a complete ban on smartphones for children under 16.

For parents, worrying about your kids’ online safety is bad enough, but adults are not immune to the effects of social media overuse.

A study by Priory found that social media is partly responsible for triggering symptoms of anxiety and depression in parents – fueled by the same feelings of ‘FOMO’ and feeling of ‘less than’ which affects our children.

Mental Health Effects Of Reading Negative Comments Online

“Women who criticize themselves, or accept that others will judge them, for not being the perfect mother they want to be, are at increased risk of postnatal depression. to feel guilty or inadequate if their experience does not match this.”

Social media can also strain or stress relationships. It can cause feelings of jealousy or envy, especially if one member of the relationship becomes secretive about smartphone use. In response, more than a third (34%) of partnered adults say they have checked their partner’s phone at some point.

These areas of conflict can lead to ongoing relationship problems. A 2017 study reported that people who engage more in “unfaithful behavior on social media” are more satisfied with their relationship.

There are signs you can look out for that may indicate your social media use is having a negative impact on your mental health. These include:

Attention & Mental Health

How to Change Your Social Media Use for Positive Mental Health Be More Conscious of Your Social Media Use

Making yourself aware of how much social media consumes your life is the first step towards starting to cut back. Try this exercise, as recommended by an expert in addiction.

“List the effects social media can have on your sleep and health, the time you spend with family, not focusing on work or studies, or accessing inappropriate websites suitable

Draw three concentric circles, consisting of an inner, middle and outer circle. The inner circle contains ‘harmful’ behaviors that you want to stop – such as taking pictures for social media purposes, thinking in hashtags, obsessive scrolling, hours playing a game specific or residing on a specific site or app. The middle circle identifies things that can lead to these harmful behaviors, or triggers. This could include checking phones for music or alarms, holding phones, announcements.

How Harmful Is Social Media?

The outer circle will be the healthy choices that add to your life. These are often the things you didn’t have time for.”

By doing the above you will increase your self-awareness of the negative impact technology has on your life – and how you could replace your ‘addiction’ with things that could improve levels of happiness and mental health.

Along with being more aware of your social media usage, you can a

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