Is Social Media Good for Youths’ Mental Health?
Over the recent past, social media and mental health have attracted endless debates from many scholars and researchers. Recently, social media has immensely become popular and mental disorders among the youths becoming more common too. According to (Naruse 4), social media increases depression and anxiety, and decreases relationship skills. Studies by (O’Keefe and Clarke-Pearson 800) found that social media is more addictive than drugs. However, social media can have a positive impact on youth’s mental health in that it acts as a resource for young people to find social support when they experience psychological and emotional problems.
Clearly, the use of social media is creating depression among the youth. According to (), there is no doubt that youths connection through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and texting includes harsh comparisons and judgements. Disjointed shorthand conversations among the youth result to misunderstanding. Research by (Naruse 7) revealed that there was a major increase in depressive cases to 9.6% from 8.8% since 2005 to 2014 in youths. In particular, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all have side effects on youth’s mental health. The depression symptoms on the youths include hopelessness, mood swings, and social isolation.
Also, social media poses a great health risk to the memory of the youths. Excessive use and reliance on social media greatly affects the youth’s mental power to remember, recount, and account for past events effectively (O’Keefe and Clarke-Pearson 804). Also, social media distorts the manner in which the youth remember certain important life experiences. Memory problems lead to sleeping problems. With excessive use of phone, youths lack enough time to sleep; something which makes them stay alert with anxiety and thus unable to sleep. In this context, the attention span of the youths’ memory gets limited.
In addition, the use of social media platforms causes low self-esteem on the involved youths. Every youth has a fair share of insecurities, some which are kept private and others are shared openly with other people. Social media channels such as Snapchat involve the use of photos, and in some instances naked photos of youths get shared there (Naruse 8). In the event these photos get leaked to the public, the affected youth develops a low self-esteem. Such feelings of self-doubt are very negating when it comes to mental power stability. A person with low self-esteem lacks human connection abilities, and thus developing psychological and mental unconsciousness.
However, social media has positive mental effects on the youth. Social media inspires healthy lifestyles and connections among the youth. Platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are used in the spreading of motivational information that advice the youths to quit drug abuse. According to (Naruse 9), social media helps relieve social isolation and loneliness effects such as hopelessness, despair, and low self-esteem. The youths interact through social media groups such as WhatsApp and form friendships that aid in combating the dangers of stigma, depression, and stress. Also, social media strengthens the existing relationships already established by the youths till their adulthood.
In conclusion, the use of social media by the youths has been largely irresponsible. As a result, cases of depression, low self-esteem, memory unconsciousness, and low mental concentration power have been increasing on the part of the youths. But, the use of social media by the youth greatly helps in relieving social loneliness and isolation and thus inspires healthy lifestyle transformations. As a result, parents are worried and should monitor and control the use of social media by their children at the youth age.
References
Naruse, Kevin. “7 WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA CAN BENEFIT MENTAL HEALTH.” Painted Brain (2017): 4-9. <https://paintedbrain.org/editorial/7-ways-social-media-can-benefit-mental-health-2/>.
O’Keefe, G and K Clarke-Pearson. “Clinical Report-The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.” Pediatrics 127.4 (2011): 800-805.