Depression and anxiety are a relatively common mental health concern and rates are only growing, especially among the young. Considering the parallel growth of social media use and these mental health concerns, a lot of people have been looking into a link between them. Although it is very difficult to prove causation, studies have linked social media use to feelings of unhappiness, loneliness, envy, and other negative emotions. Other studies found that less social media use is linked to lower rates of symptoms of depression and loneliness. Studies like these have prompted the US Surgeon General to issue an advisory around social media use and its relationship with decreased life satisfaction, body image issues, and other mental health concerns in youth. Considering what some are calling a mental health crisis in adolescents, understanding some of the ways social media interacts with anxiety and depression can help us talk to the young people in our lives.
When it comes to depression, hallmark symptoms include a poor self-concept, a negative view of the world, little hope for the future, and loneliness. Social media has been linked to each of these areas. Adolescence is already a time when social comparison is high and self-concept is fragile. The exposure to ideal versions of other people invites lots of negative comparison and can lead to low self-esteem. The media landscape is also increasingly filled with crises and injustice. Faced with constant reminders of a broken system that perpetuates human and environmental injustice, it can be hard to maintain any positivity and hope for the future. This is aggravated by the fact that youth culture praises and rewards those who follow these events. Finally, adolescents have grown up interacting with each other through social media, which has come at the cost of face-to-face interaction. Though reduced interaction with others is a clear link to loneliness, other factors influence this as well. The pseudo intimacy of online relationships can make someone feel as if they have friends, but leave them feeling lonely as these relationships lack intimacy.
Anxiety’s main symptom is excessive worry. For teenagers, much of that worry is based around social situations and how they feel they are being perceived. This sensitivity is supercharged by a few factors. First, social media platforms have become a site of intense social comparison. When someone feels like they compare negatively to most people they encounter (almost everyone in the heavily manicured world of social media), this can heighten their social anxiety and worries about their own worth. Second, Social media allows us to build a facade of our ideal self for the world to see. The safe space of social media, where someone can control how they present themselves, can add to anxiety over less controlled social situations and lead to avoidance. Another factor linking social media and anxiety is that it has become the place where adolescents engage in bullying. This type of victimization has been associated with higher levels of anxiety. Finally, again, the negative nature of news related posts can leave a young person feeling very anxious about the world and their future.
There are two more important things to note. First is the effect of our smartphones on sleep. Because of the addictive nature of social media, we all seem to be sacrificing hours of sleep to these apps. Not getting adequate sleep is associated with the worsening of almost every mental health condition. Adolescents, with lower impulse control, seem to be especially vulnerable to
this problem. Second, the amount someone uses social media is significantly correlated with mental health concerns. Simply, spending less time on these apps can have significant effects on someone’s sense of well-being.
So, what counselling services in Calgary can help protect our young people from these negative consequences of social media while allowing them to preserve the benefits? Here are a few recommendations:
● Education – The negative effects of social media are fairly public. When it comes up naturally, take the time to talk to kids about some of the effects of social media and how to optimize their engagement with the apps to minimize the negative aspects.
● Keep an open dialogue – Talk to kids about their social media use and how they think it’s affecting them. Make sure to maintain a non-judgemental stance. Talk to your kids about your own struggles with social media use. Help them to be aware of, and curious about, the effects on their lives.
● Set reasonable limits around use – Though this might be difficult, set some rules about phone use in the home. Make sure to include the adolescent in the rule-making process as much as possible. In the interest of sleep, keeping phones out of the bedroom at night might be a good start.
● Set a good example – Though we may not like to admit it, we are often just as addicted to our phones as the kids. If rules are set, follow them too. Be the change you want to see in your kids.
