How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health?

How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health?

Social media can have both positive and negative effects on your mental health. Social media can support mental health when you use it for positive activities, such as:

• Learning
• Entertainment
• Social support
• Mood-boosting, like watching funny videos

However, there are also times when social media use can become unhealthy, such as when you:

• Spend too much time online
• Doomscroll
• Compare yourself to others
• Use it as a distraction from healthier activities
• Let it interfere with daily responsibilities

Additionally, too much social media time can lead to depression, anxiety, and lack of sleep. You may even develop an addiction to being on social media.

Is Social Media Bad for Mental Health?

Social media can present challenges for mental health, especially among those with mental health symptoms. Spending a lot of time on social media can increase symptoms of depression and anxiety. It can lead to greater isolation if you feel you have been rejected by others online or in person. In addition, the more platforms you use, the greater the risk of adverse effects of social media on well-being.

Cyberbullying, being trolled, or facing hostile interactions on social media platforms can also drastically increase symptoms of anxiety and depression. Some may even have suicidal thoughts. Furthermore, your social media use can impact offline relationships.

Social Media and Mental Health Disorders

Mental health disorders are on the rise, and the time you spend on social media may be a factor.

The type of social media platform you use, the amount of time you spend online, and the reasons you are online all play a role in how social media affects your mental health.

Some mental health disorders linked to social media misuse include:

• Anxiety disorder
• Depressive disorder
• Social anxiety disorder
• Eating disorders
• Body dysmorphic disorder
• Sleep disorders
• Substance use disorders
• Self-harm
• Suicidal thoughts

Excessive use of social media can lead to a mental health disorder and can also worsen pre-existing disorders, with the most notable links being between social media and depression and anxiety.

How Does Social Media Affect the Brain?

Social media targets the brain reward pathways, and as you engage with it, the brain triggers a release of the dopamine neurotransmitter, which makes you feel pleasure. Some social media activities, such as watching funny videos, boost dopamine levels much higher than other activities.

When you log off, dopamine drops, which then triggers you to spend more time on social media to feel that dopamine high again. You may find yourself needing to be online to feel better.

Social media also activates the memory and visual processing regions in the brain. All of this activity in the brain can ultimately lead to mental exhaustion, problems staying focused, and emotional dysregulation. However, just as the brain can be negatively affected by excessive social media use, it can easily be restored to normal functioning.

Ways Social Media Can Be Positive for Mental Health

People use social media to accomplish a goal, satisfy a need, or both. Social media can have a positive impact on mental health when used for limited periods and for purposes that promote good health. When these factors apply, social media can help with:

• Maintaining social connections with friends, family, classmates, coworkers, and acquaintances
• Expanding social networks to meet new people and build new relationships
• Self-expressing thoughts, feelings, and creativity
• Communicating with people who are like-minded and share interests
• Replacing negative emotions with positive ones
• Networking
• Getting social support from people who understand
• Feeling less lonely and isolated
• Learning or improving skills
• Getting involved with the community or civic engagement

While these activities can promote positive mental health, if social media is misused, they may become unhealthy. It is crucial to monitor your online activity and how it aligns with positive mental health to determine whether you need to make healthier changes.

How Does Social Media Use Affect Teen and Adolescent Mental Health?

Some teens and adolescents can benefit from social media when used correctly. Others may have the opposite experience. Potential benefits include:

• Connection with others who share identities, abilities, and interests
• Access to more diverse groups than they have access to offline
• Social support helps them feel more accepted
• A place to show their creativity
• Access to online mental health interventions

Potential harms of social media use among teens and adolescents who spend three or more hours a day online include an increase in depression and anxiety. Girls seem to be more affected than boys, and may experience poor sleep, harassment, poor body image, and low self-esteem.

Social Media’s Impact on Self-Esteem

Social media can negatively impact self-esteem, especially during adolescence, when you are trying to find your identity.

You may think social media can increase confidence, but it may only do so temporarily. In the long run, it can leave you feeling inferior. It becomes easy to compare yourself to others, and you may start trying to live up to false expectations.

Signs That Social Media Use Is Unhealthy

Misusing social media can eventually become a problem. According to the American Psychiatric Association, you may even develop an internet use disorder. There are specific signs leading up to a disorder that, if you recognize early, you can prevent further harm to your health. These signs can include:

• You notice it is hard to avoid getting on social media.
• Using social media interferes with fulfilling your responsibilities at work, at home, at school, or in social settings.
• You keep using social media even when it causes negative consequences.
• You desire to be on social media even when you are not on it.
• You experience physical symptoms like eye strain, headaches, and sleep disturbances.
• You use social media to cope with or avoid other symptoms, or to escape reality.
• You have symptoms of withdrawal when you aren’t able to log on, like agitation, frustration, and obsessive thoughts.
• You need to be on social media for longer and longer periods to achieve the desired effects.

If you or someone you know is showing signs of an internet use disorder, seek help immediately to prevent use from further harming your physical or psychological well-being. Psychotherapy techniques, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, can be beneficial for treating internet use disorder.

Tips to Use Social Media in a Healthy Way

Healthy use of social media requires you to be purposeful, accountable, and honest in your online behavior. Assessing yourself each time you are online will help you stay on track to better health. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is what I’m doing online harmful or beneficial?
• Is what I’m doing online helping me reach my goals or distracting me?
• Am I following accounts that inspire and uplift, or ones that cause stress?
• Am I setting boundaries, like staying online for a set time, disabling notifications, and avoiding being online close to bedtime?
• Am I using online activities to avoid human interactions?

You may also want to ask someone you trust and respect to answer these questions about your social media use. Sometimes others will have a different perspective and can offer insight into what they observe in your social media use. Match their answers to yours, and if they differ, you may want to take a deeper look into how social media affects mental health.

Improving Mental Health and Social Media Use

If you think you are misusing social media but aren’t sure, seek an assessment from a local, licensed mental health professional. They have tools and tests to help you determine if you have a social media use disorder and can create a treatment plan that can help you overcome social misuse and mental health symptoms.