The first source is an article on a Newport Academy Website named Effects of Social Media on Teenagers. It was published on July 14th, 2022, by Monroe and analyzes how various social media resources affect teenagers. The author uses statistics from other publications and touches on the subject of mental health the most. The article’s main goal was to assess the relationship between teenagers’ use of social media and their mental health. The main idea stated that youth who feel alone or alienated, particularly LGBTQ teens, often find solace in social media. According to the article, teenagers who used social media often reported considerable psychological stress at 27%. Only 17% of teenagers who used social media less regularly reported high psychological stress levels.
However, social media’s effects on young people can also harm their mental health. Teenagers using apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. excessively risk developing computer addiction, body image problems, and cyberbullying. Compared to 18% of teens without depressive symptoms, one-third of adolescents with depression said they used social media constantly. Many specialists think that social networking’s constant overstimulation causes the nervous system to enter fight-or-flight mode. Teenagers receiving mental health therapy can develop the abilities and self-awareness necessary to recover from excessive social media usage’s underlying causes and unfavorable effects. They also spend less time engaging in healthy, outside activities, negatively influencing their mental health.
According to some experts, the rise in social media use and overall screen time between 2010 and 2015 may be to blame for the sharp rises in teen depression symptoms and suicide rates that started around the same time. According to many specialists, overstimulating social networking causes the neurological system to go into fight-or-flight mode and exacerbates problems like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder. Teenagers who spend much time on social media observe their classmates’ lives and online personas. This constant comparison-making can be detrimental to self-esteem and body image. This exacerbates conditions like ADHD, teen sadness, and teen anxiety. The article’s idea that social media and, sometimes, cyberbullying cause the deteriorating mental health of young people was evident.
The second journal article was published by Dubicka et al. on August 18th, 2019. The work explores the topic of an experiment held in 2018 by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The primary purpose was to organize a discussion for young people on a topic of their choosing about social media. One young individual proclaimed, “This is my heroin — it’s the heroin of our generation,” while holding up his smartphone (Dubicka et al. 2). Another teen disagreed, saying, “I don’t agree – this is my lifeline. I am a looked-after child, living on my own, and the only way I have of keeping in touch with my family and friends”. Technology has been used to develop treatments for anxiety and psychosis, such as virtual reality.
The article has explored teenagers’ screen time, trying to divide between healthy usage of social media and an addiction that results in psychosis, causing anxiety to develop. The article has described and evaluated the experiment’s purpose and execution. However, the extensive use of screen media and its consequences on young people are the subject of numerous worries. People who face more hardship in their daily life are more likely to suffer negative consequences from screen media, such as receiving adverse comments and finding it difficult to control their Internet usage. In the future, there might be a digital divide between individuals who can healthily use the Internet and profit from it. People at the other end of the spectrum are more susceptible to destructive impacts and more likely to have negative online interactions.
The third source is the New York Times article published on June 3rd, 2019. To conclude, the main topic revolved around the worry about sleep problems and suicide among teenagers and whether or not social media is the only reason for the deteriorating mental health of teenagers. Over the past few weeks, much concern has been regarding teenagers using social media. The influence of social media on young people can also be detrimental to their mental health. Teenagers who use social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter excessively risk developing computer addiction, body issues, and cyberbullying.
Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation brought on by social networking triggers the nervous system’s fight-or-flight response. This makes disorders like ADHD, teen depression, and teen anxiety worse. People are more likely to experience negative effects from screen media, such as receiving adverse comments, if they experience tremendous hardship in their daily lives. According to Dr. Michael Rich of Boston Children’s Hospital, the problem lies with people, not technology (Klass 2).
In conclusion, questions are being raised by recent studies and publications on suicide, sleep, and mental health vulnerability. Social media’s influence on youth is also impacted by the construction of one’s identity, a crucial aspect of adolescent development. As a result, social media gives teenagers a platform to practice identity-related skills. Self-presentation and self-disclosure—sharing one’s views, convictions, and preferences—come under this category. According to the article’s primary purpose, it can be concluded that the exact connections between social media use and mental health are unclear. It is generally accepted, though, that these connections, for better or worse, are becoming more and more critical to the emotional landscape of the younger generation.
Works Cited
Monroe, Jamison. “The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers.” Newport Academy, Newport Academy, 2022.
Klass, Perri. “When Social Media Is Really Problematic for Adolescents.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2019.
Dubicka, Bernadka, et al. “Editorial: Screen Time, Social Media and Developing Brains: A Cause for Good or Corrupting Young Minds?” Child and Adolescent Mental Health, vol. 24, no. 3, 2019, pp. 203–204. Web.