heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness

Question

Throughout the Economist article it states that people between the ages of 14 and 24 think that social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter make anxiety, despair, and lack of sleep worse. Cyberbullying, trouble with body image, and "fear of missing out" have all been connected to social media use. Also, there has been multiple research studies that followed Facebook users over time discovered a link between a loss in mental health and greater activity. A research from the NCBI addresses related issues but takes a more methodical scientific approach.  The addictive nature of these many social media platforms, The constant social comparison, and cyberbullying, they looked at the unique psychological mechanisms underlying social media usage and discovered a relationship between heavy social media use and an increased risk of anxiety and depression. The results of The Economist are consistent with this investigation.

 

d to mental illness

Comments

I think your claim would be stronger if you added specific quotes or statements said that helps to prove your claim. Then you would have more evidence overall making your claim stronger.

Answer 1

Research has concluded that social media has a link to mental illness. Statistics have shown that social media is linked to a feeling of inadequacy in life, fear of missing out, depression, anxiety, self-harm, and being self-absorbed. Constant alerts and accessibility encourage people to always be on their phones making them, as the Help Guide says, "a slave to the phone." People also use social media to shield themselves from the real world which allows people to in person interactions. Websites like The Economist, the NIH, and the Help Guide all have the same conclusions.

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

Answer 2

This claim is a little more difficult to give a specific yes or no to considering that it is not proven to be the exact main cause for al mental illnesses. In the article given National Library of Medicine it shows much more of the data aspect of it all, and gives clear numbers to help calculate the study. In a different article HelpGuide.org it talks more about the affects of mental health and the pros and cons, a direct quote from the passage is "multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts".

So while neither of these articles give a precise yes or no they share how it could be a leading cause to possible mental illnesses.