As people turn to social media platforms to stay updated on current events and maintain social interactions, it's becoming more apparent how these platforms affect mental health.
Polet Ramirez is a San Jose State counseling and guidance graduate student who’s writing her thesis on the effects of social media on teens during middle and high school years.
She said social media can be a positive influence because it allows people to share a common platform.
“We've seen [social media] play a significant role in social justice and bringing a voice to communities that are underrepresented,” Ramirez said in a Zoom interview. “It’s positive because it brings communities together.”
Active social media users are 1.63 times more likely to develop feelings of psychological distress, such as depression or anxiety. However, users are still 63% less likely to have these symptoms worsen over time, according to a June 21, 2019 study from Michigan State University professor and communication expert Keith Hampton.
Justice studies junior Yareli Solis said scrolling through Instagram motivates her to improve her lifestyle.
“The good thing I find from social media are pages that help keep [me] accountable and give me the motivation I need,” Solis said in a text message. “Such as @the.holistic.psychologist [on Instagram] who has helped me grow [spiritually] through her deep ass reflective post. She’s a real one unlike the other influencers who make you pay for their guidance.”
@the.holistic.psychologist is the Instagram username of Los Angeles psychologist Nicole LePera who posts mental wellness and healing content.
Although social media can be beneficial for users like Solis, it can also have negative effects.
“Multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media [use] and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm and even suicidal thoughts,” stated psychologists Lawrence Robinson and Melinda Smith in a September 2020 Help Guide article. Help Guide is an independent nonprofit that publishes medically-backed and educational mental health content.
Robinson and Smith also wrote how people fear not posting memorable life events on social media, such as hanging out with friends or attending a music festival. This can “trigger anxiety and fuel even greater social media use.”
Ramirez said one noticeably negative social media effect is the constant comparison of one’s own life to another’s shown through a tunnel vision lens.
She said the research she’s conducted regarding social media’s effect in teens also showed younger people experience anxiety from social media similar to Robinson and Smith’s findings.
Ramirez gave an example of high school seniors experiencing anxiety when it comes time for college decisions because of the pressure to go to “a top college.”
Middle school students also experience increased anxiety through comparing themselves to others on social media.
“One of the major findings [from my research] is that we're seeing anxiety levels, revolving around social media in general, like, much higher,” Ramirez said. “So many young 12 to 13-year-old girls specifically feel like they need to look a certain way to workout.”
In order to combat high levels of anxiety related to social media use, some users are keeping track of how long they’re active on a certain social media site for or decided to give it up all together.
Edith Urbano, a child and adolescent development junior, said she recently took a break from social media to “cut the negativity” she saw on platforms.
“I feel like that app [Instagram] was the one that's mostly tailored on what you're supposed to look like and things like that,” Urbano said in a Zoom call. “So that's the one I was like, OK, I'm just gonna take a pause.”
Urbano’s social media break started in January and has lasted for three months. She said she became frustrated with people who posted content with little regard for the coronavirus pandemic.
“Some people were not prioritizing the fact that there was a pandemic, they would post pictures and traveling, like that made me kind of irritated at times,” Urbano said. “I was like, ‘Dude, read the room.’ ”
Like Urbano, Solis said although social media can have positive aspects, it can also be damaging to one’s mental health. She advised people to prioritize themselves and their life.
“Social media is supposed to be very positive but at the same time it's very draining for everyone,” Solis said in a phone interview. “We should take it less seriously because at the end of the day we just got to enjoy [life]. I know that we stress about a lot of things, social media shouldn’t be another reason why we shouldn’t be experiencing our life to the fullest.”
