Social Media and Mental Health

Mar 28

The Wide Reach of Social Media

Social media can be a wonderful tool to help us connect with one another, share common experiences, and learn new perspectives. On the flip side, it can also be draining, triggering, and harmful to our self-esteem. So many of our social interactions happen through social media sites. For some, it may be their main form of connection with their social circles. As of December 2019, Facebook reported 2.5 billion monthly active users, Twitter reported 330 million monthly active users, and as of January 2020, Instagram had over 1 billion active monthly users worldwide (Ulvi et al., 2022). It’s pretty evident that most of us are using these platforms and they seem to be widening their reach. While none of us can alter the fact that social media is almost unavoidable, we can start to get curious about its impact on us.

Some important questions to ask yourself could be:
What role is social media playing in my life right now?

How do I feel about myself after scrolling on social media for a while?

Possible Downfalls of Social Media Use

Many friends, family members, and clients share that they often scroll on social media longer than they intend to. When asked if they liked the type of content they were seeing or how it was making them feel, many people were not too sure. Some report feeling disconnected, left out, or “behind” in life. Let’s take a look at some of the research surrounding the effects of social media on mental health:

Excessive use of social media can be related to increased depression and anxiety (Ulvi et al., 2022).
Social media use has been tied to decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and poor academic performance (Sperling, 2022).
Instagram may contribute to body image and self-harm issues in young adults. The platform has also been linked with anxiety, depression, bullying, increased fear of missing out, and unhealthy sleep patterns (Ulvi et al., 2022).

Social Media Altering Social Comparison

Social comparison happens when we get to know ourselves in comparison to others. As human beings we are primed to look to those around us for information on what attitudes, traits, and abilities are desirable (Festinger, 1954) This is natural and can be positive. It can increase motivation, normalize our experiences, and allow us to learn from one another. However, comparison has been shown to be stressful and can increase competitiveness. Social media complicates the way in which we compare ourselves to others. We are often comparing our full selves and lives to others’ highlights and curated posts.This can be particularly dangerous for those who are already dealing with low self-esteem.

Checking In

Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, (insert your platform of choice here) have a wide reach and could be affecting you in ways you might not understand. There might be some use in taking a step back and thinking about what content you’re consuming everyday. Beating yourself up over your current social media use or forcing yourself to stop use all together may not be the best option. Instead, let’s try to offer ourselves compassion and find ways to engage in that don’t harm our mental wellbeing. Research suggests that monitoring what we’re seeing and limiting the amount of time we spend on social media can reduce feelings of loneliness and depression they may cause (Hunt, 2018).

Moving Forward

You may be thinking “So I have to go on social media less and monitor my own use? How do I even begin to do that?” Great question! The answer is not that simple because everyone is different, but here a few suggestions to get you started:

Limit your use to ten minutes a day per platform
Find an alternative activity you enjoy doing during down time
Begin to notice how you feel after using specific platforms and experiment with deleting or reducing your use of the ones that make you feel worse
Engaging in weekly therapy can be a great way to regularly check in with yourself and work towards shifting your social media use in a way that works for you.

If you would like to dive deeper into your relationship with social media and hear from others who are doing the same please stay tuned for our Social Media Workshop announcement!

Sources

Festinger L. A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations. 1954;7(2):117-140.

Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751-768.

Sperling, J (2022, January 21). The social dilemma: Social media and your mental health. McLean Hospital Harvard Medical School Affiliate. https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health.

Ulvi, O., Karamehic-Muratovic, A., Baghbanzadeh, M., Bashir, A., Smith, J., & Haque, U. (2022). Social Media Use and Mental Health: A Global Analysis. Epidemiologia, 3(1), 11-25