For the Motion
Mental health disorders are a wide range of mental health conditions that affect the individuals’ mood, thinking and behavior. They comprise of a broad range of problems identified by different combinations of symptoms, such as depression, anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, dissociative identity disorder, etc.
A survey (ADEC 2016), carried out on public and private school students (age 10-20) in the UAE concerning their social media habits, showed that 69.7 percent of them are on social media between one and five hours daily and only 3.3 percent use social media for less than an hour.
This goes to show that social media plays a noteworthy part in the lives of young people and influences them as well.
The team for the motion supported the idea that social media is to blame for the prevalence of mental health disorders among the youth. They addressed isolation, social comparison, anxiety, body image and the need for validation as it pertains to the relationship between social media and mental health disorders.
LESLIE OGUNDOKUN
As human beings, communication and personal connection with others is important for our mental well-being, but when we are constantly cut off from others and reality due to our obsession with social media we end up in a state of isolation and loneliness.
A recent study conducted by Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 involved 143 undergraduates who were randomly assigned to either limit Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat use to 10 minutes, per platform, per day, or to use social media as usual for three weeks. The researchers found out that making a deliberate effort to decrease your social media usage decreases feelings of loneliness and depression, and the limited use group showed significant reductions in these symptoms over three weeks compared to the control group.
We can, therefore, infer that there is a direct causation relationship between increased social media usage and increased feelings of loneliness and depression.
The more we use social media, the more we compare ourselves to the lives we are exposed to and judge ourselves as lacking or inferior, this is called social comparison and it leads to depressive symptoms.
According to Steers, M. N., Wickham, R. E., & Acitelli, L. K. (2014), there is a link between Facebook usage and depressive symptoms. Their study provides evidence that people feel depressed after spending a great deal of time on Facebook, because they feel badly when comparing themselves to others. Social comparison is the link.
Another recent study carried out in York University in Canada found that young women felt worse about their own appearance after interacting with a post of someone who they thought to be more attractive than them. (Hogue, J. V., & Mills, J. S., 2019)
Moreover, social media has been proven to cause anxiety by many studies.A specific anxious disorder known as “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO), very common among the youth, defined as a state of mental or emotional strain brought on by the fear that you are missing out on exciting or interesting events happening elsewhere, has been linked to social media as well. It is a real phenomenon that is increasingly common amongst the social media active youth, whereby individuals believe that others are having more fun, interesting lives or having more enjoyable and meaningful experiences than you based on what they see on social media.This further leads to an anxious need to stay updated on all that is happening on their social media. Researches carried out by K. Przybylski, Andrew & Murayama, Kou & DeHaan, Cody & Gladwell, Valerie in 2013 showed that FOMO levels are highest in young people and young men in particular.
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The connection between eating disorders and body image is proved by the National Eating Disorders Association which reports that one in every 3.8 televisions commercials conveys an “attractiveness message,” telling viewers what is considered attractive.
These messages deliver the idea that extreme thinness is much more attractive and desirable than a normal, healthy weight. Indeed, the typical American teen sees more than 5,260 of these “attractiveness messages” every year.
Another study conducted by the Mirror Mirror Eating Disorder Help Association found that the more often young men read fitness magazines, the more dissatisfied they become with their bodies. While a study of a popular magazine for teen girls found that 74 percent of all articles about fitness stated becoming more attractive was a good reason to exercise; articles did not recommend exercise to become healthier, just a way to become prettier. Yet, another study found that most adolescent girls get most their information about health from the media – which includes all those “attractiveness messages.”
In conclusion, results from a separate study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that the more time young adults spent on social media, the more likely they were to have problems sleeping and report symptoms of depression. (Allison Hydzik University of Pittsburgh student)
Another small study of teens ages 13-18 from the UCLA Brain Mapping Center found that receiving a high number of likes on photos showed increased activity in the reward center of the brain, feeling the need for validation through others. Further, teens are influenced to like photos, regardless of content, based on high numbers of likes.
So, it feels good to be “liked” and herd mentality is big on social media, like what others like and you’re in.
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In summary, social media has been proven to negatively impact our mental health on different levels, and the youth can be considered the most vulnerable to this effect as we are the most active demographic on social media.
Considering all this we would be wise to pay more attention to our social media usage and make necessary changes to protect our mental well-being.
MUNA ALBOSTAJI
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Furthermore, over the past years there has been a rise in a disorder called “Social Media Anxiety Disorder” which is similar to social anxiety; however, it occurs when a person becomes anxious because he or she cannot check social media. The person becomes stressed out because they have not checked their WhatsApp or Instagram.
The more technology we acquire the more stressed out we become. According to experts, almost 20 percent of people on social media cannot go 3 hours without checking their phones and the average person spends over four hours a day on their device. (Melanie Curtin, 2018)
One study out of the University of Pittsburgh, for example, found a correlation between time spent scrolling through social media apps and negative body image feedback. Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of reporting eating and body image concerns compared to their peers who spent less time on social media. The participants who spent the most time on social media had 2.6 times the risk (Allison Hydzik University of Pittsburgh student).
