Social Media And Depression Essay

Kardaras, Nicolas. "Generation Z: Online and at Risk?." Scientific American Mind, vol. 27, no. 5, Sep/Oct 2016, pp. 64-9. MasterFILE Premier. Kardars discuss generation z use of social media affecting them negatively. He opens his article with a story of Heidi who becomes addicted to social media when her school issues her a Chromebook. Before Heidi is issued the laptop, she was a sweet innocent girl and after having it for a semester she became someone her parents could not recognize. He states that social media is a “perfect storm” for humans because having a social connection key to “happiness and health”. Having the ability to always use social media leads to hyper texting the illusion of a real connection making it hard for teens to have face to face conversations, making a teens become “glow kid[s]“, someone who is raised on mostly digital social interactions. Facebook depression” can result in the teen to have lower grades and behavior problems in teens. He concludes his article with facts proving that Facebook can become addictive in some people. This source helps support my thesis that Facebook affects teens mental health.

Social media has been widely used in the United States and the rest of the world. These sites influenced the way we communicate, but, what about our health? According to the National Center for Biotechnology, researchers have found that the use of social media has increased the number of psychiatric disorders

Becker, M. W., Alzahabi, R., & Hopwood, C. J. (2013). Media Multitasking Is Associated with Symptoms of Depression and Social Anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 16(2), 132-135. doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0291

In a growing world where technology has become an essential source of communication, special attention must be placed on the potential hazards of social media. The relationship between an individual’s social media habits and mental health is complex. In this report many concepts will be explored thoroughly such as, the effects of social media on mental health, how it is concerned with substance abuse, the advantages and disadvantages of social media and which social media site is cyberbullying occurred on the most.

“The analysis showed that people who reported using the most platforms (seven to 11) had more than three times the risk of depression and anxiety” (Zagorski web). The younger the person is when exposed to social media the more likely they are to suffer from depression and anxiety. With teen’s brains not fully developed and using multiple social media site this could lead to negative thought or feeling in a teen. This could lead to making a teen self-harm or committing suicide. With so many teens on social media and so many emotions on these sites they are contagious to read, however when a teen reads these statuses it also can make them feel the same way. So, when a teen reads a depressing status it can cause them to feel the exact same way.

The popularity of social media giants such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are on the rise and so is our nation's overall poor mental health status (The State of Mental Health in America). Studies have shown that there is a direct link between our social media obsession and our poor mental health (Walton). Social media can lead to feelings of comparison, jealousy and even delusional behavior. Another effect that social media has on our mental health is that it often leads to feelings of sadness and loneliness. Lastly, social media addiction is one of the many things that affects our mental health. Studies show that social media is often the cause of poor mental health, it can cause comparison, jealousy, loneliness and lastly addiction.

It all started with Facebook, where people could post desired snippets of their seemingly perfect lives. Then, Instagram came along. Users would carefully choose one photo or video to sum up whatever they wanted to—whether it be the big game or a friends night out. Finally, Twitter was gifted to us. Twitter enabled the average social media junkie to post short comments about virtually anything. But, despite all of the differences, what do these three internet giants have in common? They keep the social parts of us connected. In recent years, the world truly has been put at our fingertips. We have been given the opportunity to snap, tweet, share, like, view, comment, and scroll through anything. This has revolutionized the way we communicate. We no longer have to talk to each other, or write letters. Face time is no longer a part of a conversation, rather an app on a phone. So, there is a downside to all of this connection. If used incorrectly, social media can have negative effects on mental health.

Some people may wonder what effect social media has on people worldwide. Many people are using social media daily and because of that, they might not know the effects that can be lurking behind a screen and causing harm to their mental health. Social media has many negative effects on mental health. Some people could think that mental health and social media has no relation, when it does. It is a fast-growing issue with many “cause and effect” reasons behind it. Each cause needs to be recognized along with the effect it has on the people who use social media.

Social media is described, by the Merriam-Webster dictionary (2015), as “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)”. As few as 10 years ago the term social media was yet to be coined, but within that decade the use of these blogs, websites and sharing platforms has increased exponentially with no plateau in sight. From creating Instagram accounts for household pets, to sharing Halloween themed baking ideas over Pinterest, people today have access to social media outlets for almost everything. Today about 74% of people ages 18-65 use some form of a social networking site (Pew, 2014). Facebook takes the lead in social media usage with about 71% of those adults. LinkedIn and Pinterest are tied for second at 28% of users, 26% use Instagram, and Twitter falls last in the top 5 most used social medias with 23% of users (Pew, 2014). In September of 2013 the Pew Research Center measured that 90% of adults ages 18-29 used these social media outlets on a daily basis, which is an astonishing increase from the 9% that was measured in February 2005 (Pew, 2014). Due to the fact that young adults are increasingly involving themselves in these online platforms, it is very important to understand the long term and psychological effects (such as depression, social anxiety,

Social media: a blessing or a burden? It gives the ability to like, comment and interact with any person at any time. A platform with recent growth and popularity, Instagram, reaches copious amounts people. Expectedly so, controversy has arisen from the decade of social media and this form in particular. Research has found Instagram to have the highest overall negative effect on mental health (Cramer & Inkster, 2017). Through analyzing human psyche and critiquing data, this paper will seek to explain the negative mental health outcomes resulting from the use of Instagram.

Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.

The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. Many people would agree that social media leads to isolation, depression, and anxiety. Social Media impacts people in many ways; some are good, but some are very bad. Using social media to communicate is extremely convenient, unfortunately, more people are developing social anxiety because we are learning to comunicate through a screen from a young age. Also, seeing people posting about all the good in their lives can lead you to compare yourself to others. Most importantly, increased exposure of bullying through the internet contributes to high risk of depression. Generally, social media has more bad effects on our mental health than good ones.

In 1971 the first email was sent. This was the beginning of social media. Social media is a form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other contents. Social media sites are like fads where people eventually stop using them and move on to the next one. This essay will be about the effects of social media on the mental health of the main users of social media.

Is social media affecting the mental health of this generation? The app, Instagram, is popular among millennials. It is a social media platform provide a way to share pictures online. With the ability for others to like and comment on your posts, this can instill pressure to receive a certain amount of likes and comments in order to achieve approval from peers. As stated before, Instagram is a method to see someone’s life through a camera lens. This being said, a person can begin to compare their lives to the one’s they view on Instagram. Feeling as if their life may not compare or be as exciting as one of their peers, one can begin to feel depressed. Ultimately, the use of the social media app, Instagram, causes users to develop self-esteem issues and depression.

Social media is one of the most common ways for people to communicate anywhere and at any time in modern society. Some people think that it is beneficial to have in society. Although, many people are starting to see negative effects arise from the use of social media as well. These negative effects are increasing and becoming more problematic every day. The disadvantages of social media far outweigh the advantages. Social media effects everyone in society, especially teenagers by negatively impacting their lives, face-to-face interactions, and mental health.