The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health (Essay Sample)

The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course code & Title Professor’s Name Date The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health Over the past twenty years, social networking sites' explosive growth has drastically altered how individuals interact and communicate in the modern world. In the broadest sense, social media refers to any website or mobile application that provides a virtual platform for people to interact and communicate. Even though it might seem like social media and social networking sites are a more recent invention, a literature review on these topics reveals that they have been around since the 1970s. As a result, the social media landscape is evolving swiftly. The first social networking website was launched in 1977. Today's social networking platforms, including Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Skype, and Facebook, are the fruits of decades of technological advancement in the field, according to Barrot (2022). People interact with one another through these platforms utilizing digital content, including messages, images, and videos. Because of the benefits, it increases connectedness, facilitates online learning, and enables idea sharing. However, concerns regarding how social networking sites affect users' mental health are growing. As a result of these concerns, researchers become more interested in investigating the relationships between media use and mental health. However, studies on how social media affects mental health have sparked much discussion. According to some authors, social media has a positive effect on mental health, such as increasing self-esteem. Yet, it is also associated with problems including depression, anxiety disorders, and self-esteem problems. Given this ambiguity, the purpose of this paper is to provide a response to the question, "How does social media affect mental health?" Background Information on Social Media Use and Mental Health There are concerns about how much time people spend online, even though social media has made networking and communication simpler. Social networking websites have been associated with a decline in in-person interactions and increased social isolation. Stress, depression, and lack of sleep have all been connected to social networking site usage. Social media promotes dangerous behavior that may be detrimental to users' mental health, claims Karim (2020). Furthermore, social media is now a part of daily life for people in the modern world. Platforms for social networking have primarily taken over people's daily life. For instance, Facebook reported having more than a billion active members as of the end of August 2015. The fact that one in seven people on the planet used Facebook every day to communicate and interact with family and friends at that time is telling. On the other hand, it's assumed that social media is used by half of the world's population. More than half of people with a mental health condition use social media, with younger patients using it more regularly, according to early data from 2015 (Naslund et al., 2020). Today's social networking services are increasing and providing easily accessible forums for discourse and amusement. They give people a simple way to express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings in an unprecedented volume. The younger generation uses social media more perversely than the older age does. According to research, roughly 24% of US teenagers are constantly active on social media. According to another survey, 57 percent of US teenagers have relationships that began online, and 50 percent of the respondents acknowledged approaching people on Facebook and asking them out on dates (Zhafira et al., 2021). Other researchers, however, disagree with the idea that social media is terrible for mental health. They contend that the adverse effects are transient and go away over time as consumers get more digital experience, refuting the internet problem. It is also suggested that social media's adverse effects depend on the context in which they are used and the social resources that users are exposed to. Few studies demonstrate how social media affects mental health because it has only been around for ten years. Most of the mainstream media has reported on studies demonstrating the adverse effects of social media on users' mental health. Though there are ongoing discussions about the impact of social networking sites on users' general well-being and mental health, the scientific community is divided on this issue. The Positive Effects of Social Media on Mental Health According to Naslund et al. (2020), social media platforms encourage global connectivity among people regardless of location. People with severe mental illnesses have reportedly benefited from their connections with others online through social media. This is a big revelation since persons with mental illnesses are often quite lonely and have few relationships with people in the real world. In a study (Naslund et al., 2020), young individuals with serious mental problems admitted that they prefer social media to interact with a large community, reducing their feelings of loneliness. Furthermore, studies show that social networking sites give users access to information on mental health. Users can hide their identities when searching for mental health information on social media because it increases anonymity. More commonly, psychiatric professionals and other public health specialists provide helpful information about mental health on social media. Social media has given the general public more opportunities to learn about mental health. The Negative Effects of Social Media on Mental Health The notion that using social media can have a negative impact on one's mental health is not new. According to a study, internet users are at risk for adverse psychological health effects as early as 1995. Researchers found that heavy internet use within the first year of experience was linked to outward manifestations of despair and loneliness. Researchers have recently focused on social media to understand how it negatively impacts mental health. Studies show that several psychiatric conditions, such as bipolar mania, narcissism, depression, and obsessive behavior, are associated with social media. Characteristics related to social media use, including general use, length of use, number of friends, and sharing of images, predicted the existence of adverse effects. Policymakers and medical experts have frequently expressed concerns about how teens and young people are exposed to social media's effects on mental health. Among these risks is exposure to content that psychiatrists deem inappropriate for teenagers. Examples of this kind of stuff include pornography, rude comments, sexually explicit posts, privacy violations, and excessive influence by advertising gentlemen (O'Reilly et al., 2018). For instance, according to a UK study, 15% of teenagers between 9 and 16 said social media sites bothered them (Chan et al., 2021). Furthermore, 28% of teenagers between 11 and 16 reported having a traumatic encounter on a social networking site. Cyberbullying is a prevalent threat to social media users, according to research. Teenagers are the most affected since they are exposed to and actively participate in harmful content. The cause is that young people are very prone to peer pressure and lack self-control in their online conduct. Furthermore, teens are more susceptible to hazardous content because their brains are still developing, and this exposure can have a disastrous effect on their psychological welfare. Social Media and Addiction One of the mental health issues linked to the widespread use of social media is addiction. According to research, using social media and the internet frequently can become addictive (Grau et al., 2019). Another claim is that social media addiction exhibits comparable symptoms to drug addiction. They include parent-teen conflicts and dysfunctional families. Even while the social networking site itself may not be addictive, people engage in a variety of activities that have the potential to be addictive. Some of these habits include cybersex, cyberrelationships, and information addictions (surfing). These addictions are a risk for those who use social networking sites to access information, view images and videos, and develop relationships online. Social media addiction manifests as mental obsession, emotional problems, neglect of one's personal life, running away, and even hiding one's obsessive behavior. Meshi et al. (2021) discovered that those who cease utilizing social media sites have withdrawal symptoms. These people experience minor but significant psychological and physiological effects. For example, people who frequently use social media might feel some anxiety when they stop using the platforms. The physiological signs of anxiety may include increased heart rate and systolic blood pressure when utilizing social media is discontinued. According to Reed, these withdrawal-like symptoms are akin to what users of sedative drugs experience. According to this research, using social media excessively may lead to several psychological issues and constitute a global public health concern. Addiction to social media has an impact on both the person and those around them. There isn't enough time for family and friend conversations because parents and teenagers are preoccupied with their electronics. Expressed addictions result in self- and other neglect. When parents are dependent on social media, children suffer more. Since children's brains are still developing, emotional neglect may result in serious mental health issues. Therefore, neglect may result in trauma and a lack of empathy in the family, deteriorating the victims' mental health. Thus, it is clear that growing social media use has weakened the ties that bind the family. Social qualities like care and l...