Impacts of Social Media on the Mental Health of a Youth

Posted: January 5th, 2023

Impacts of Social Media on the Mental Health of a Youth

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Abstract

Since the advancement of technology initiation during the 20^th century, numerous benefits can be accounted for each day. The rise in technology has enabled the increased social interaction between various individuals in society and acting as a source of entertainment. The young have been the most positively impacted by the social media application in society since they account for the highest number of mobile phone users today. As documented in the various research works, social media interaction has affected the youth’s mental health, as illustrated in the article below. This paper, therefore, expounds on the negative implications of social media usage among the youth in regards to their mental health hence unsuitable for their Usage. The paper will expound on the depression rates, loneliness, addiction, cyberbullying, as well as fake news and their relation to youth mental health, making it unsuitable for their Usage.

Impacts of Social Media on the Mental Health of a Youth

Advancement in technology accounts for the various benefits realized in society due to various applications associated with the technology, such as social media. Social media platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp, and Twitter and YouTube, and Instagram account for the most popular social media application being used in modern society due to the advancement of technology. Their popularity is accounted for by the widespread benefits accrued from their Usage, with 92% of the youth owning a smartphone. They act as a source of entertainment in society and act as a central point of interaction in modern society. The National Centre for Research study, for instance, attests to the youth gaining a variety of benefits from the social media usage by projecting a 31% of the youth believing in the positive impact realized from their accessibility to the social media sites and accounts. Through social media, the youth can connect with their peers in contemporary society and create friendships across the various social media interaction applications such as through live calls. However, alongside the vast benefits realized from the social media applications, a couple of devastating effects have been realized among the youth from social media usage. For instance, as indicated in the various research studies, the rate of young individuals diagnosed with mental distress inculcated from social media usage has increased from 24% in 2013 to 34% in 2015 and 39% in 2017, unideal for the social media usage among the youth. The inpatient medical admission for the adolescents diagnosed with mental issues has also increased compared to various other medical conditions for this particular age group in the adolescent. This mental health distress has thus been associated with increased instances of cyberbullying, emotional concerns arising from the various posts, and the sharing of fake news across the various social media sites, as documented below hence the invalidation of the social media usage among the youth.

Loneliness

Psychological experts argue that the less connected individuals with human beings are less enjoying social interaction, as evident in social media. The youth constitute the most active individuals within the various social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. A study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2018 indicated an approximation of 95%  of the young individuals aged 13-17 years have accessibility to smartphones even if not individually owned (Keles et al., 2020). Out of the 95% of the adolescents found to have accessibility to smartphones, 72% are active Instagram users, and 41% have accessibility to access and use Snapchat. A study on Social media and perceived isolation conducted on nationwide research of young adults (19-32 years) has depicted the correlation between social media usage and perceived social isolation (Twenge, 2020). This has been attributed to increased social media interaction among the youth as they create new friends over online social interaction sites. This has thus led to replacement for the face-to-face interactions experienced in modern society. Smith, Leonis, and Anandavalli (2021) affirm that social media, as designed, demand an in-person connection with other individuals, which leads to triggering the development of emotions linked to the trigger of the hormones that make the specific individuals happy, especially the youth. Simultaneously, the youth exclude themselves from real-life social interactions with their peers. Besides, the preoccupation of the youth over social media explains the worries youth encounter as they question reasons for not being called for a party by a friend (Primack et al., 2017). This ultimately leads to loneliness among the individuals who become addicted to social media rather than real-life interactions, leading to the conclusion that social media usage does not fit for use by the youth. They prioritize social media constant updates, which less reward their emotions hence explaining the isolation and loneliness.

Isolation, Depression, and Anxiety

According to recent statistics, the rate at which the youth are developing depressions and anxiety is alarming. For instance, various research studies have documented an increment of 13-16% of the number of youth who have been diagnosed with depression arising from social media application usage (Twenge, 2020). This is accounted for by the deprivation of loneliness among the youth as they are involved in the communication with their fellow peers via the social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. This explains fewer positive impacts on social media, leading to exclusion from fellow interaction mates among the youth compared to their older counterparts who are less engaged in phone conversations (Primack et al., 2017). Due to a lack of face-to-face interaction, the youth cannot share and express their feelings to the various close individuals than their older individuals, leading to the building up of thoughts that consequently culminate in depressions. In addition, the content accessed via social media has indicated less emotional satisfaction hence culminating in the individuals being socially isolated (Riehm et al., 2019). The high level of depressions, on the other hand, leads to high levels of anxiety as the young individuals involved too much in social media are uncertain of the occurrence or exhibit more fear of the next event around them hence the invalidation of the social media usage by the youth.

Emotional concerns

Addiction

Social media usage may indirectly impact the individual moods, as demonstrated in the various researches targeting the adolescents who are highly addicted to social media usage. For instance, the high social media addiction has led to the deprivation of sleep among the youth, which culminates in depression. As documented in the various research studies, approximately 60% of the various adolescents are engaged in their phones relatively one hour before going to sleep (Kwon et al., 2020). It has been documented in the various research studies that there is a correlation between the blue light emitted from electronic screens and the interference with falling asleep. Besides, the individuals are browsing over the various social media platforms, which culminates in stressing among the adolescents (Keles et al., 2020). The addiction of the youth engaging in the social media leads to taking more time on the phone, which reduces the time one requires in sleeping and consequently the youth are already tired for the next day’s tasks hence the challenge in concentration (Riehm et al., 2019). This challenge hence leads to the conclusion that social media usage should not be recommended for the youth. This leads to reduced engagement in the academic work in school.

Self-esteem

Low self-esteem accounts for the increased depression levels as projected by several studies in which girls have accounted for the highest percentage of the most affected. For instance, the number of suicidal attempts in the United States among adolescent girls has increased from 8.1% in 2015 to 8.8% as of 2018. This is because adolescent girls use social media to compare themselves with others through the various posts on the various individual timelines and their friend’s status update in contrast to the mature individuals who are busy and not engaged in the social media posts. However, some of the posts in the social media platform are being furnished with Photoshopping, which culminates in the loss of self-confidence among those who cannot afford such quality pictures as their supermodels over social media (Keles et al., 2020). This is because the various youth access the various social media sites to stalking people concerning the various attributes the particular individuals possess. These attributes range from physical factors such as the face complexion and the type of clothing attire that the particular individuals dressed in, especially the social media influencers who target the youth market than the aging population who are less interested in beauty.

According to the recent statistics on the social media usage among the youth, there is a lot of comparison among the female youth who are yearning and competing to be the best in society either in complexion and most attractive in social media and real-life situations. This leads to the escalation of the various mental health issues among the female youth as the kids resolve to spend too much time over social media as they attempt to post what the world would perceive as perfect (Kwon et al., 2020). This is because they fear rejection if they do not post such appealing pictures. The adolescent girls also encounter low self-esteem as they worry about their friends viewing them as not confirmed over social media whenever getting positive feedback on their posts over social media (Keles et al., 2020). Moreover, the various posts among the individuals who have that appealing and attractive complexion on the various social media attract more attention than the others hence the low self-esteem, which is a matter of less concern among the aging population.

Depression

The various youth who access social media have reported a high number of depression cases among the youth in the United States. The youth’s yearning inculcates this for the particular lifestyle they view as the best for their lives, influenced mainly by comparison with celebrities and their fellow peers (Keles et al., 2020). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, approximately 40% of the young women aged 9-10 who accessed social media depicted stress and, consequently, losing weight. The youth who might have increased their weight to certain levels are forced to undergo regular exercise, which might be strenuous for them to achieve such a curvy posture that is likely to attract such colossal attention (Thorisdottir et al., 2019). The high level of depression leads to withdrawal from the various groups in order to achieve a specific complexion or figure. The personalities further seek the Usage of the various supplements and beauty products to improve their skin to such attention competition level. Besides, most women are conducting beauty enhancements through the help of certain apps over social media platforms that easily lure the youth compared to the various aging populations; hence, this validates social media users not being fit for the youth accessibility.

Frustrations

The increased social media usage among the youth culminate in the disrupted concentrations documented in the statistics involving the adolescent youth still in school hence explaining the increased levels of frustrations. The various students engaged in social media usage while studying have reported frustrations in their school performance as they are engaged in conversation with their friends over social media (Kwon et al., 2020). The poor concentration as recorded among the adolescents who are using social media while studying has led to the poor grasping the content they are reading about, leading to the various assignments they are tasked to take a relatively more extended period than it should. This cuts off the free time the youth could have enjoyed doing what they like, culminating in increased stress and frustrations (Craig et al., 2020). The deprivation of the overall performance by the youth and a poor concentration and lack of leisure period explains the frustrations encountered by the adolescent youths engaged in social media usage; hence this forms a basis of the argument of the social media usage not being fit for the youth accessibility.

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying entails hurting various individuals through the utilization of information and communication technological advancements. As it has been reported, cyberbullying includes posting critical ideologies and false information designed to harm a specific group of individuals (“How Social Media Effects Teenagers’ Mental Health | NorthShore,” 2018). Various research studies have documented of the adolescent being the most targeted individuals by the social media bullying. Elmquist and McLaughlin (2018) argue that although such acts have been classified as criminal acts according to international law, there are still surfacing the headlines. Since cyber-bullying occurs over social media, they have unlimited audience coverage and increased exposure as it is preserved for a relatively more extended period, which leads to depressions among adolescents compared to the aging population, who are less concerned about the various criticism.

In the United States, cyber-bullying has been associated with increased cases of suicides among adolescent individuals. This is because adolescents form the most active social media individuals, comprising an easy target for cyber-bullying (Kreski et al., 2021). In recent research studies, cyber-bullying has been associated with affective disorders, which culminates in depression among the youth than the aging generation (Craig et al., 2020). Approximate 93% of the various cyber victims in society have reported the various negative impacts of cyberbullying, such as sadness, hopelessness, and powerlessness. However, the adolescent depression symptomology has shown some variance according to various research studies as 32% account for stress, 38% account for emotional distress characterized by the adolescent individuals being extremely upset in addition to the insecurity concerns among the cyber-bullied individuals (Handono, Laeheem, & Sittichai, 2019). This accounts for the increased cyber-bullying cases, which have affected adolescents’ mental health compared to the aging generation.

As documented in the various research studies, the cyber-bullying cases reported among adolescents have led to cyber-bullying victimization cases in society, which negatively affects adolescent mental health. Among the youth, the cyberbullying victimization has been documented to be related to the adolescents fear of victimization by their fellow age mates, which has consequently led to the embarrassment, hurting of the victim feelings, the self-blame as well as the infliction of fear among the victims (Kreski et al., 2021). Besides, this is as documented in the various cases in which the adolescents in relation to the aging generation who are victims of cyber-bullying have attested to cyber-bullying leading to increased anger, embarrassment as well as sadness. This leads to the conclusion that social media should be disbanded for use among the youth.

Cyber victimization has also been reported to various disruptions in the relationships between parents and peers, which has led to isolation and hopelessness among the victims, as documented in the various research findings (Riehm et al., 2019). The various previously victimized individuals have presented less friendship as well as trust in culminating in peering emotional relations and consequently low social anxiety and the decreased levels of self-esteem among the adolescents than their parents (Kwon et al., 2020). However, the extreme cases of cyber victimization have been linked with the increased suicidal cases as the individual feeling embarrassed of such occurrence. The various research studies have documented the relationship between the adolescent’s substance abuse and violent behavior, which are closely related to cyber-bullying and suicidal attempt cases, hence supporting the ban of the youth from accessing social media.

Fake News

Fake news commonly referred to as propaganda has negatively affected youth’s mental health. This is as it has been documented, the youth who are the most active social media users either in browsing, chatting, or reading the various other individuals contributions encounter the vast misleading content among the youth who are highly engaged to the social media than aging generations (Hills, 2018). This has been associated with inflicting anxiety among the youth as they try to follow the content posted, which negatively affects their mental health due to anxiety about their future. The high level of anxiety among the youth makes them an easy target by the various pyramid schemes (Rampersad & Althiyabi, 2020). For instance, the pyramid schemes have been documented to be on the rise due to the advancement in technology and easily coerce individuals to give in to their offers, which are so lucrative that the youth cannot comprehend their tricks in soliciting money from them without any counter remittance of the profits realized as backed up with the various research studies. This has led to the youth generation suffering from depression as they borrow money from their peers and their family members with a promise to return only to get conned in the various pyramid schemes as per the current statistics (Hills, 2018). This leaves the youth depressed compared to the aging generation, as they are unaware of where they can gain the same amount of cash to repay the various creditors who had lent them their money. In some circumstances, the young individuals who cannot fully refund the cash end up committing suicide due to depression. Hence, social media should only be allowed for Usage by aging individuals as opposed to youth.

As documented in the various research works, the various posts over social media lack supporting evidence that easily coerces the youth into misleading content compared to the aging generation. The generation of opposing ideologies and information from such kinds of posts has been associated with confusion among the youth, which creates anxiety among such individuals. In relevance to the various statistical evidence, fake news in developing countries has been harnessed by the citizens’ urge to demonstrate the negative coverage of the various mainstream media accordingly (Talwar et al., 2019). This influence, as documented, has led to the development of emotions, consequently inflicts fear and suspicion among the youth who either had been involved in sending the information. Youth involved in such kinds of fake news become anxious about the government leveling crimes against them for spreading such misleading information. Thus, this explains the consequent development of depression and anxiety among the various youth than the aging generation who might not even be aware of the propaganda spreading since not highly engaged in social media. This argues of the youth being banned from use of social media than the aging population.

It is beyond reasonable doubt that social media offers unlimited accessibility, which allows for youth access to various posts without any restrictions, even if they contain false information. Various research works have affirmed the social media lacking the much-needed measures to restrict the spread of fake news culminates in the youth who are socially active in accessing misleading information, championed by the various social media influencers as compared to the aging generation. As backed up by Handono, Laeheem, and Sittichai (2019), the high number of likes and comments on such individuals post easily trick the youth into believing whatever content they see on those specific individual’s accounts that are sometimes misleading. This is hence invalidating the social media usage by the youth in relation to their aging generation.

Conclusion

Ultimately, social media has become the order of the day among the youth who are primarily free and not engaged much in various activities. Social media is essential when used appropriately among the youth as they a source of entertainment, social interaction sites, and engagement with diverse peers. However, the widespread usage among the youth, especially those within the adolescent stage, illustrates the various devastating effects on the youth’s mental health as documented above, backed up with various research works. Social media usage has led to the loss of self-esteem, depressions, anxiety, and frustrations that have affected the youth’s mental health compared to the aging generation.  Social media usage by young individuals has also led to cyberbullying, which has culminated in various mental health issues and withdrawals from the communal activities due to the mocking attacks leveled against the victims of social media bullying, which sometimes leads to committing suicides. Fake news in social media, as illustrated above, are less controlled but acts as a source of mental health issues as some youths fall victims through investing pf their cash in various misleading pyramid schemes. Therefore, the youth should be cautioned on their long-term engaged with social media or banned from its use as it negatively affects their mental health status as dictated above.

References

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