heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness

Question

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

Comments

While I agree with the claim, and there are many facts to back up the claim. I'm apprehensive of the article you chose to back up your claim. I'm always skeptical when it comes to .com websites because typically there is a lot of ad revenue but can have a specific bias if a certain company is sponsoring the article. I also am skeptical is the only resource to back up their claim is a survey that consisted of 5k Americans in 2015. The data is pretty dated, and I think there are more negative effects within the last ten years.  I really enjoyed reading this article because it was put out by a hospital talked more about the scientific effects of what is going on with your brain when you are interacting with social media.

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

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This claim is very well supported as they used direct evidence from sources like the CEO of Facebook and other outside research to support this claim.

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This claim about social media being a link to mental illness in young adults is a well backed statement. After analyzing the article provided in the post, I cross analyzed it with a more recent article from McLean Hospital. Mclean provides professional opinions and multiple articles that back the information provided within The Economist article. Along with mentioning the same results from the 2018 British study illustrated with a graph by The Economist article.

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

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I totally relate to what you’re saying. Social media can often be overwhelming, especially when it seems like everyone else is living their best life and achieving so much. It can definitely magnify insecurities and make you question your own worth or progress. It's important to remember that what we see online isn't always the full picture, and everyone has their own unique journey. Taking a step back and focusing on real-life connections and self-care can really help with staying grounded.

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I agree with this statement. The claim is correct and there are statistics to prove it. The articles are linked and include relevant facts relating increase of social media with decrease in mental health. There are also many reputable articles published on the same topic with the same conclusion.

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

Answer 5

Excessive social media use negatively impacts mental health, as highlighted in "How Heavy Use of Social Media is Linked to Mental Illness" from The Economist, I also found another source called ""Social Media and Mental Health: Are You Addicted to Social Media?" by Robinson and Smith. Robinson and Smith focus on the addictive nature of social media, explaining how dopamine-driven feedback loops contribute to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The Economist article takes a broader approach, citing studies linking heavy social media use to rising mental illness rates, particularly among youth. Both emphasize how unrealistic portrayals online foster negative self-perception and stress the need for awareness and intervention to mitigate these effects.

https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/wellbeing/social-media-and-mental-health

Answer 6

In the article from the economoist it states that according to a survey made from the royal society for Public Health stated that "ages from 14-24 believe that Facebook, Instagram, snapchat and twitter have detrimental effects on their wellbeing" stating yes heavy use of social media can cause to have a mental illness especially for such young users because of being exposed to bullying creating body dispmorphia, depression and anxiety. https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/instagram-ranked-worst-for-young-people-s-mental-health.html. This is the link where the Economist got their information from. Another source to state this is true is from Clean Mass General Brigham's" The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health," which states that social media can cause depression, anxiety, and other health challenges. "When there’s a filter applied to the digital world, it can be hard for teens to tell what’s real and what isn’t, which comes at a difficult time for them physically and emotionally." stating from the article claims that its hard to tell whats real and not and that can lead to have a diccifult time emotionally and psychically because it crates unrelaistic standard or expectations making it difficult for teens to distinguish between whats real or not. https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health

Answer 7

The claim that heavy social media use is linked to mental health issues is true. According to the article linked in the original post, "...the Royal Society for Public Health, Britons aged 14-24 believe that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter have detrimental effects on their wellbeing. On average, they reported that these social networks gave them extra scope for self-expression and community-building. But they also said that the 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'). Academic studies have found that these problems tend to be particularly severe among frequent users." This quote shows that while social media can sometimes have positive effects like a sense of community and the ability to express oneself, young social media users also report that social media platforms heightened anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, body image issues, cyberbullying, and a fear of missing out. This shows that the positive uses of social media can still be outweighed by the comparison platforms' cause, leading to poor mental health. An article from the Standford University Law & Biosciences Blog states that a link between social media use and poor mental health has been observed in numerous studies and research papers, "A systematic review found that the use of social networking sites is associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress ... though not by itself proof of causation, at least some reason for concern." This suggests that there is not yet any causal evidence that social media use causes poor mental health, but there is certainly a correlation. Additionally, the National Library of Medicine states, "A number of studies have been conducted on the impacts of social media, and it has been indicated that the prolonged use of social media platforms such as Facebook may be related to negative signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress." Therefore, according to multiple credible sources, while there is no exact causal evidence that social media causes poor mental health, it's been observed that there's a link between frequent social media use and poor mental health. 

Sources:

-https://www.economist.com

-https://law.stanford.edu

-https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7364393/

Answer 8

The statement that heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness is true according to  economist.com a survey taken in 2017 by Royal Society for Public Health, Britons aged from 14-24 believe that Facebook, instagram, snapchat, and twitter have detrimental effects on their well being. They mentioned the plus sides of social media like self expression and community building but these platforms still come with a lot of downsides. The platforms exacerbated anxiety and depression as well as depriving them of sleep, exposed them to bullying and created worries about their body image and FOMO (fear of missing out)

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/05/18/how-heavy-use-of-social-media-is-linked-to-mental-illness

Answer 9

This claim provides sources connecting facts to how social media negatively impacts the youth today, though it can't be fully proven as the main reason for these mental conditions. According to Child Mind Institute, "Studies show that depression among teenagers and young adults has gotten more common over the past decade. Social media use has also increased during the same time. It’s hard to say for sure that social media causes depression. Still, there are several ways that using social media could harm kids." This states that social media does cause harm but is not proven as the complete main cause. While according to John Hopkins Medicine, "“We found that if you tended to be a person who was depressed, you were a person also spending more time on social media,” explains Vidal." Once again, social media can't be solely responsible but can contribute at times.

https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2024/05/johns-hopkins-childrens-center-study-shows-more-than-just-social-media-use-may-be-causing-depression-in-young-adults

Answer 10

I have in fact heard this claim before, and I like how you backed it up with several articles. I have also learned that you should steer clear of .com articles, so perhaps find something different there.

Comments

I appreciate your concerns but I would’ve liked to see more research on your end. Maybe find some articles that aren’t .com and link them here to support the original claim.