By Valentina Ceriello
You’ve heard the saying “social media ruins your mental health”, and thought, “Oh, that won’t affect me. I’m good with social media anyways.” Well, what you think is incorrect. If you don’t know, social media is slowly ruining your mental health in more ways than you think.
To start off, according to an article by Stanford Law School, “Media use and screen time are associated with increased risks for children and adolescents, such as attention deficits, increased aggression, low self-esteem, and depression.” Let’s talk more about how social media contributes to people’s low self esteem.
According to Child Mind Institute, an organization which works for children’s mental health, social media can contribute to one’s low self esteem by teens viewing their peers as having a better time than they are. Also, according to the Social Media Victims Law Center, some studies have shown that girls between the ages of ten and fourteen are most affected by low self esteem due to social media. The same source says that “social media can add stress to your daily life…you might worry about the number of likes, shares, and comments your post will generate…you might wonder why another person’s images or content got more attention and positive feedback than yours.” Essentially, when you upload a post to social media, you might worry about whether your peers are getting more likes on their posts or positive comments than you do.
Social media also contributes to depression. According to the source Verywell Mind, research says that social media could trigger a lot of negative emotions that contribute to symptoms of depression. The University of California, San Francisco, says a study found kids whose social media use rose from seven minutes to seventy-three minutes over three years of study, that their symptoms of depression also rose by thirty five percent. According to Child Mind Institute’s article, “Does Social Media Use Cause Depression?”, “Some experts see the rise in depression as evidence that the connections social media users form electronically are less emotionally satisfying, leaving them feeling socially isolated.” What this is saying is that connections you make on social media are not making you as happy as one thinks they should, causing depression.
Last but not least, social media contributes to short attention spans. I’ll start off this topic with my own experience. I watch a lot of short-form content on my TV/electronic device. As I watch too much than I actually should, I found myself not able to watch a longer video on the same app I was watching that content on. I would say I was able to watch about a two minute video, if the video was actually five minutes long, for example. According to the research site, Scrip.org, “Key findings reveal that frequent exposure to rapid, fragmented content on platforms…overstimulates cognitive processes, leading to decreased working memory capacity, impaired cognitive control, and challenges in maintaining focus.” This basically describes what I experienced after watching short-formed content. Scirp.org also says, “Additionally, the study examines the emotional implications, including heightened anxiety and diminished self-esteem…”, which is another key part of my situation. I became more anxious when I watched all those short-formed content videos, and as I watched less of those short videos, I became less anxious than I should.
Now that I’ve talked about how social media can ruin your mental health, here are four tips to not let it ruin your mental health.
Limit your screen time: According to Jed Foundation, you can track your screen time on social media using special timers the app has for people to control their screen time, letting you know when it’s enough on the app. Less screen time can limit your chances of it ruining your mental health.
Take breaks: According to Maryland Primary Care Physicians, “Research has found that taking several days off can lead to significant improvements in well-being, depression and anxiety.” Take breaks once in a while to keep your mental wellbeing good.
Don’t compare yourself to others: The Mental Health Commission of Canada says that while it’s normal to compare your own life with social media, remember that social media is a made-up version of reality, so you’re never seeing the truth of how that person is living. They recommend that you should see social media like a movie: for entertainment instead of real life.
Don’t go on social media before you go to sleep: According to YoungMinds.org, when you use your phone before bed, it makes it harder for you to go to sleep. It also recommends keeping your devices out of sight in your bedroom.