Social Media & Its Impacts on Mental Health

If you’re reading this newsletter (first off, thank you!), you more than likely noticed its advertisement post on the Mental Health Peers Instagram page. You also more than likely join the > 98% percent of college-aged students who use social media, according to consumer insight service Experian Simmons. This number has drastically increased in recent years and now it seems as though everyone has at least one social media app on their phone. These apps include, but are not limited to, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook. Since so many social media outlets are accessible to the majority of college students, it can cause students to repeatedly check these apps throughout the day, while in class, and/or at work. Time spent while checking these apps throughout the day can accumulate to a surprising number each week. An annual nationwide survey of college students by UCLA found that college students spent more than 16.8 hours on social media each week. This large amount of time spent on social media can have serious negative effects on one’s mental health. 
Before I go into the negative effects that come with social media, it’s important to recognize the positive aspects of social media first. While virtual interaction on social media doesn’t have the same psychological benefits as face-to-face contact, there are still many positive ways in which it can help you stay connected and support your wellbeing. Some positive aspects include being able to:

• Communicate and stay up to date with family and friends around the world.
  
• Find new friends and communities; network with other people who share similar interests or ambitions.
  
• Join or promote worthwhile causes; raise awareness on important issues.
  
• Find an outlet for your creativity and self-expression.
  
• Discover (with care) sources of valuable information and learning
  

    These positive aspects benefit you and the people around you in ways that promote social connections and support. They can create new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Finally, they allow for easy sharing of helpful resources. However, social media can also create negative experiences such as:

• Feelings of inadequacy about your life or appearance. 
  
  • Even if you know that images you’re viewing on social media are manipulated, they can still make you feel insecure about how you look or what’s going on in your own life. Similarly, we’re all aware that other people tend to share just the highlights of their lives, rarely the low points that everyone experiences. This makes it hard for discussions around mental health to take place on social media. Since most people depict themselves as always happy or having fun, it can make others compare themselves and feel out of place or not normal. Although it is gradually coming to attention, mental health and hardships are not topics that are easily brought up on social media because of this one-sided portrayal of everyone’s lives.
    
• Fear of missing out (FOMO). 
  
  • Sites such as Facebook and Instagram seem to exacerbate feelings that others are having more fun or living better lives than you are. The idea that you’re missing out on certain things can impact your self-esteem, trigger anxiety, and fuel even greater social media use. FOMO can compel you to pick up your phone every few minutes to check for updates, or compulsively respond to each and every alert—even if that means taking risks while you’re driving, missing out on sleep at night, or prioritizing social media interaction over real world relationships. 
    
• Isolation. 
  
  • A study at the University of Pennsylvania found that high usage of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram increases, rather than decreases, feelings of loneliness. The study also found that reducing social media usage can actually make you feel less lonely and isolated and improve your overall well being.
    
• Depression and anxiety. 
  
  • Human beings need face-to-face contact to be mentally healthy. Nothing reduces stress and boosts your mood faster or more effectively than eye-to-eye contact with someone who cares about you. The more you prioritize social media interaction over in-person relationships, the more you’re at risk for developing or exacerbating mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
    
• Cyberbullying. 
  
  • About 40 percent of teens report being bullied on social media and many other users are subjected to offensive comments. Social media platforms such as Twitter can be hotspots for spreading hurtful rumors, lies, and abuse that can leave lasting emotional scars.
    
• Self-absorption. 
  
  • Sharing endless selfies and all your innermost thoughts on social media can create an unhealthy self-centeredness and distance you from real-life connections.
    

    There are several negative effects of social media and since the vast majority of college students have social media, it raises the concern that the mental health of more and more people are becoming affected every year. But how can we tame our social media use to develop and healthier wellbeing for ourselves? Some ways to reduce your screen time include:

• Keeping Your Phone Out of Sight
  
  • We’ve all heard the common phrase “out of sight, out of mind,” and the same applies to your phone. The farther you are from your phone, the less you will think about it, and the less you will be tempted to check social media. 
    
• Using the Screen Time Limit feature on the iPhone.
  
  • There is a neat feature on the iPhone that allows you to view screen time data from the past week and allow you to see what is taking up so much of your time each day. This can be very helpful in deciding if you want to limit the amount of time you have to check those apps each day. You can also use browser extensions that will block you from social networking sites. These features will lock access to the specific app(s) and possibly require you to enter a passcode. But, the point of this is to inform you of your app usage and set some boundaries with your phone.
    
• Develop Hobbies That Don’t Involve Screen Time
  
  • You can also implement certain hobbies of interests that don’t involve screen time during your breaks. This could be going for a walk, playing an instrument, or creating something through art. This will keep you from turning to your phone as soon as you are on your break.
    

    I hope that this newsletter was able to shed some light on the positive and negative implications that affect > 98% of college students. Although social media can strengthen personal and community relationships and share helpful information, there are negative aspects that can contribute to the decline in mental health wellbeing. However, there are ways to limit social media use by utilizing key features on the iPhone and on the internet that could prevent or reduce the temptation to check your phone. So, if you do check social media, do so more purposefully and possibly set up days where you take a break in order to reduce overall screen time.

- Jose, Mental Health Peer