What are the Effects of Social Media on The Adolescent Mind?
The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is turn on my phone and catch up on life whether it be social media or emails, it is a routine I’ve had ever since I was allowed to own a phone. Social media is where I get my news, gossip, text messages from my friends so in reality social media is what keeps me up to date with life. Older generations always seem to have a problem with the youth using social media their excuse is that its making us dumb and lazy. But I think it is deeper than that. I believe that social media is impacting us in a different way and shaping who we are as people. So I ask what are the effects of social media on the adolescent mind?
We all have that one bigger than life celebrity we look up to, names such as Kanye West and Kylie Jenner influence millions of people on the daily. Even though we are influenced by them, some of us are torn down by them. Not intentionally but from hidden jealousy that we can’t obtain something they have. For instance, Kylie Jenner has gotten multiple surgeries done in order to have the ‘perfect’ body. This created an unfair standard to women’s beauty and it affects young girls who at times may not even be fully developed. “Recent studies show emerging concern linked with increase
social media use and decreased body image satisfaction. Studies show that Facebook use is directly linked with negative mood and increased body image dissatisfaction in women.” (Fardouly J, Diedrichs PC, Vartanian LR, Halliwell E.) |1| This dissatisfaction leads to bigger and more severe problems, but it is hard for adolescents to stop viewing social media because it is such an entertaining platform. “Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric diagnosis within the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. In BDD the patient has an impairing preoccupation with a minor or perceived defect of their physical appearance. Any minor abnormalities are overly exaggerated by the patient, causing feelings of shame and embarrassment, which have negative effects on the patient’s life”. (Brohede S, Wyon Y, Wingren G, Wijma B, Wijma K.) |2| When young women see a beautiful female on social media and all the attention they are receiving they too want to be looked at the same way causing them to create impossible standards for themselves.
I’ll usually catch myself up really late watching tiktox or reading tweets and it prevents me from getting a sufficient amount of sleep. This happens with millions of kids around the world and it really messes up not only their mental health but their physical health because your body isn’t reducing the amount of rest it needs. “The negative impact of changes in sleep health include metabolic and vascular outcomes such as hypertension, myocardial
infarction, arrhythmias, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. In mood, sleep impacts the emotional regulation, being comorbid with depression and anxiety”. (WILLIAMS, L). |3| Not getting a good amount of sleep makes your body overwork causing stress not only on your body but your mind as well and that’s when depression kicks in because you don’t know how to handle the stress nor find the root of it.
A lot of us jokingly say we’re depressed when things get tough but there are people out in the world that aren’t joking no matter the circumstance they are always sad. In an interview with Prof. Dr. Wulf Rössler.
They discuss depression and anxiety. He states “ Depression is a combination of a genetic liability and environmental impact” |5| In this case social media is that environment that is causing the depression. “The habit of binging bad news on social media sites or elsewhere online is known as “doom scrolling,” and it can adversely affect one’s mental health”(leNittle, Nadra.) |4|
As we scroll through social media we always find breaking news on a death or a sad video about animal cruelty and it has an affect on some people, too much exposure to sad content is one of the roots to depression. When a person is surrounded by negative energy, that energy is bound to leap onto them as well.
Social Media is how the world is being run today, it is everyone’s easiest access into our private lives. Yes it is entertaining and at times it can be a great source of information but we cannot ignore the downside. We are a generation being influenced by strangers. We seem to care more about a celebrity that doesn’t know our names than our closest friends or family. We look at ourselves differently because we are jealous of the attention someone else is receiving even though that attention is coming from people just like us. We lose sleep trying to be up to date on everything social, basically killing ourselves slowly. Once we are aware that an hourglass body or the newest jordan sneakers are not the solution to sadness we will see a rise in joy and if we can spread that joy we don’t need anyone else’s validation nor praise.
Sources
- Fardouly J, Diedrichs PC, Vartanian LR, Halliwell E. Social comparisons
on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women’s body
image concerns and mood. Body Image 2015;13:38-45.
- Brohede S, Wyon Y, Wingren G, Wijma B, Wijma K. Body dysmorphic
disorder in female Swedish dermatology patients. (1365–4632
(Electronic)).
- (WILLIAMS, L). Sleep Deprivation: Global Prevalence, Dangers and Impacts on Cognitive Performance. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2017.
4. (leNittle,Nadra.)“CanSocialMediaCauseDepression?”VerywellMind, Verywell Mind, 1 July 2021, https://www.verywellmind.com/social-media-and-depression-5085354#. adding to development or heightening of anxiety or depression symptoms.
5. The Kusnacht Practice. Symptoms, Causes and Treatment of Depression – Interview with Prof. Dr. Med. Wulf Rössler.YouTube, YouTube, 8 Oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clwiajNXXPg. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.
