Impacts of Social Media on Mental Health
Introduction
Social media are computer-mediated interactive technologies that enable the creation and development of information or other forms of expression. Heavy use of social media has been linked to the cause of depression, anxiety, people harming themselves, and having suicidal thoughts. Social media can reduce a person’s social circle and lead to isolation and loneliness. On the other hand, it has been connected to being a social platform that enables people to share their feelings, thoughts reducing loneliness, and isolation. Social media use can both positively and negatively affect an individual’s mental health.
Social media is the biggest and the fastest growing technology that has changed the way people relate and interact. However online social networking has been linked to psychiatric disorders which include, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. The use of social media has a very great impact on social relationships and more time spent on being on the internet is connected to decreased communication with relatives and friends (Keles, McCrae & Grealish 2020). This leads to reduced social circle which increases the feelings of depression and isolation. Social media has been seen to have negative impacts on the social development of a child. Association between the use of social media or the internet and symptoms of depression is the fact the computer-mediated communication may lead to wrong impressions from other people.
The online use of social media is blamed for increasing mental health in young people and has a big influence on depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues. Online friends may give wrong information about themselves and when the user discovers the truth, it can prompt them to have depressive symptoms especially if the user believed them. Depression and anxiety have consequences in the development of children which include poor performance in school, risk of abusing substances, suicide, and mental health problems. On the other hand, social media is also used as social support that helps to reduce loneliness by making new friends online or strengthening bonds between people, which helps to improve mental health.
In recent years, social networking has changed how people communicate and relate. Research shows that extended use of social network sites has been associated with depression. Social media is related to mental issues that include depression, self-esteem changes, and addiction to the internet. Social media could make a user perceive that others are happier, or have a better life developing the feeling that they may be incomplete. This could negatively impact their mental health resulting in depression. Research shows that the most common disorders in adolescents and children are depression and anxiety and which has increased through the years mostly due to the access of computers and the use of social media (Pantic 2014). Children have become addicted to the internet where they are being exposed to problematic behaviors. Too much time spent on the internet is a cause of mental health problems. This is in a case whereby a user has multiple platforms that could generate anxiety due to their demand.
The internet impacts our brains and the cognitive process by multitasking and switching caused by seeking attention rather than maintaining our focus (Firth et.al 2019). It also influences our real life when we get too much in the online world, trying to fit in the social media world. Increased internet use for children is associated with decreased verbal intelligence and a slow rate at maturing. The internet has replaced the need for particular systems of human memory. The ability to access information through the internet has made them dependent on the internet. Social media has the ability to can generate severe and continued adjustments in the areas of intellect that are reflected in the alterations of the brain. It could negatively influence the cognitive development of children and adolescents by decreasing the way they engage with social and academic events. On the other hand, the online world could generate positive cognitive motivation for adults. This is through online games, novels which are easier and faster to get online which help to sustain the cognitive function in old age.
Conclusion
Increased use of social media is associated with causing depression, anxiety, suicide, and other types of self-harm. Increased internet use for children is associated with decreased verbal intelligence and a slow rate at their maturity. It negatively influences cognitive development by reducing engagement with social and academic activities. Online social networking is a form of communication and interaction but has also been linked to psychiatric disorders. This occurs when users in social platforms want to compare their lives with those of other people that they perceive to be happier or have a better life. Multitasking while a user has several sites can cause anxiety because they want to attend to all sites which make the user lose focus. On the other hand, the online world provides a source of positive cognitive stimulation for adults when they engage in online games and have easy access to books online.
References
Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Alvarez-Jimenez, M.,
Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J. (2019). The "online brain": how the Internet may be changing our cognition. World psychiatry: official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 18(2), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617
Keles B., McCrae N. & Grealish A. (2020) A systematic review: the influence of social media on
depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25:1, 79-93,
Pantic I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, behavior and
social networking, 17(10), 652–657. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0070
