heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness

Question

Youngsters report problems with anxiety, depression, sleep and “FoMO”

Comments

The statement that social media has negative effects on metal health is factual and backed up by scientific evidence, but the source used of the Economist is not entirely reliable because it is a .com website, and it's source is from the Royal Society for Public Health, which have since taken down their article. I found a source from the National Library of Medicine with a study titled The Relationship between Social Media and the Increase in Mental Health Problems. They did a study in Saudi Arabia on teenagers who use social media, and stated that "High social media exposure has also been found to be associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety in the kingdom [12]". The NIH is a trusted and reputable source that is peer-reviewed, so I trust their evidence.

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This article claims that the heavy use of social media is causing depression and anxiety among young people. One of the main uses of evidence is that Sean Parker, Facebook’s former president, admitted that Facebook was designed to exploit human psychology. This is true as Sean Parker came out to the public in 2017, sharing that Facebook was designed to consume as much attention as possible, knowing its impacts on young people's brains. This article took findings from a survey by the Center for Humane Technology, indicating that nearly 63% of Instagram users reported that they were unhappy, having spent an average of an hour per day on the app. 37% who were happy spent around half an hour. This is consistent with what I found in the official survey, making this fact check true.

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This article from The Economist makes a claim that young people from the ages 14-21 that use social media deal with a lot more mental health problems. I agree with this claim because they use a lot of backed up evidence and statistics to provide a valid argument. Some of the evidence they used like "platforms exacerbated anxiety and depression, deprived them of sleep, exposed them to bullying and created worries about their body image and “FOMO” (“fear of missing out”)." that is backed up by a well respected organization from the United Kingdom. I agree with The Economist's claim and I believe it is a valid article.

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I completely agree with this article, I personaly have been effected negativly by what i saw on social media, it is harmful to people that have insecurities and self doubt to be scrolling on social media and seeing all these people showing how great their life is made out to be and how successful they are, I also think that excessive social media intake will lead to procrastination and laziness.

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I agree that over use of social media can lead to mental distress. The act of constantly observing others life and comparing them to your own can lead to you not feeling good enough.

Answer 1

The idea that an excessive amount of social media causing mental illness is proven to be true time and time again. In the article, "How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness" by The Economist, it claims that too much social media has a negative effect sleep, body positivity, fear of missing out, bullying, and many other problems. The article emphasizes that due to a HEAVY amount of social media teenagers are getting more negative effects of social media than positive. Although social media is a good place for connection and self expression, spending too much time on it can cause long term issues. Additionally, I searched up the claim online and was overwhelmed with the amount of other articles that cover this material. Taken from another article by Psychology Today, they talk about how an overuse of social media can conflict with happiness in ways that arenʻt normally noticed. All of these different articles help support the idea that with an excessive amount of social media, mental issues can happen.

Answer 2

This article seemed to have good journalism, with similar articles coming from other valid sources such as government sites. A key piece of evidence is a 2017 admission by Sean Parker, Facebook’s former president, who stated that Facebook was deliberately designed to capture as much attention as possible, fully aware of its impact on the brain, especially of younger audiences. The article uses evidence from different types of citations, including surveys from the UK government and different established organizations/universities. There is plenty more statements on this, such as the National Library of Medicine, who claimed, “Social media use is the second leading cause of disability among psychiatric disorders.”

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/05/18/how-heavy-use-of-social-media-is-linked-to-mental-illness?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw68K4BhAuEiwAylp3kojZc-_RSnDsZNcqsrkgak4j9Q8JBp2LzzSAIP-uPjHy9VeuAY_qzBoCFfEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10129173/

Answer 3

I agree with the claim that heavy usage of social media is linked to mental illness. There are various trustworthy and reliable medical websites that support this claim, describing the different negative mental health effects associated with spending a lot of time online. From the McLean Hospital website, it states that there was a 2018 study done where social media use was tied to "decreased, disruptive, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and poor academic performance." Therefore, more time spent on social media leads to these negative health outcomes, which in turn means an increased risk for mental illness. From Stanford Law, which is an educational website, it explains there have been numerous studies and research that has proven the use of the apps is associated with depression, anxiety, and psychological distress. It does not prove causation, however there is a strong correlation between these two factors. Lastly, from the National Library of Medicine, a government website, it describes many linkages between heavy social media use and mental health, such as social media fatigue, appearance-related unhappiness, and depressive symptoms.

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health

https://law.stanford.edu/2024/05/20/social-media-addiction-and-mental-health-the-growing-concern-for-youth-well-being/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10129173/

Answer 4

Excessive use of social media has been linked to various mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances. Research indicated that Hugh levels of social media engagement can lead to increased feelings of social isolation and exacerbated mental distress.

https://pmc.ncbi.nhm.nih.gov