NKY National Alliance on Mental Illness
Nearly 1 in 3 teen girls report having seriously considered suicide in the past year. One in 5 teens identifying as LGBTQ+ say they attempted suicide in that time. Between 2009 and 2019, depression rates doubled for all teens. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
How is social media linked to these problems?
The American Psychological Association testifying before Congress said:
Social interaction is key to every child’s growth and development. Humans are social creatures, and we learn through social interaction. Numerous studies have revealed that children’s interactions with peers have enduring effects on their occupational status, salary, relationship success, emotional development, mental health and even on physical health and mortality over 40 years later.
These effects are stronger than the effects of children’s IQ, socioeconomic status and education. However, social media platforms often traffic in the wrong kind of social interaction. What’s the right kind? It is interactions and relationship-building characterized by support, emotional intimacy, disclosure, positive regard, reliable alliance (e.g., ‘having each other’s backs’) and trust. The problem is, social media platforms often emphasize the “likes” and “followers,” which can lead teens to simply post things about themselves, true or not, that they hope will draw the most attention. And this creates the exact opposite qualities needed for successful relationships. Social media can actually make some teens feel lonelier.
It CAN be good. When used properly, social media can feed teens’ need for social connection in healthy ways. Research suggests that young people form and maintain friendships online. They often interact with a more diverse peer group than offline, and the relationships are close and meaningful and provide important support to youth in times of stress. That’s because, as children enter puberty, the areas of the brain associated with our craving for social rewards such as visibility, attention and positive feedback from peers tend to develop well before the bits of the brain involved in our ability to inhibit our behavior, and resist temptations. Social media platforms that reward teens with “likes” and new “followers” can trigger and feed that craving.
Triggering Harmful Behavior
And here is a huge problem. Likes can make bad behavior look good. In other words, bad behavior feels bad — until other people start liking it. Even worse, social media can also make psychologically disordered behavior look good. There are, for example, websites or online accounts that promote disordered-eating behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury, like self-cutting. This content has proliferated on social media sites, not only depicting these behaviors, but teaching young people how to engage in these behaviors, how to conceal these behaviors from adults, actively encouraging users to engage in these behaviors, and socially sanctioning those who express a desire for less risky behavior.
Addiction
Extreme social media use sure looks a lot like addiction. “Regions of the brain activated by social-media-use overlap considerably with the regions involved in addictions to illegal and dangerous substances. Lots of research says excessive social media use in teens often manifests some of the same symptoms of more traditional addictions, in part because teen brains just don’t have the kind of self-control toolbox that adults do.
Bullying
The threat, and danger, of online bullying is real. Victimization, harassment, and discrimination against racial, ethnic, gender and sexual minorities is frequent online and often targeted at young people. LGBTQ+ youth experience a heightened level of bullying, threats and self-harm on social media. And, online bullying can take a terrible physical toll. Brain scans of adults and youths reveal that online harassment activates the same regions of the brain that respond to physical pain and trigger a cascade of reactions that replicate physical assault and create physical and mental health damage. Youth who report any involvement with bullying behavior are more likely to report high levels of suicide-related behavior.
Self Image
We go onto social media sites and compare ourselves to everyone else out there — especially our waistlines and how we look, or feel we should look, based on who’s getting “likes” and who’s not. For teens, the impacts of such comparisons can be amplified. This exposure creates strong risk factors for eating disorders, unhealthy weight-management behaviors, and depression.
Sleep Deprivation
It isn’t enough to just make kids turn the phone off at bedtime. Research suggests more than half of adolescents are on screens right before bedtime, and that can keep them from getting the sleep they need. (It seems at least one-two hours of no computer/phone screen use is needed).