Impact Of Social Media On Mental Health Of Teenagers

Since the introduction of social media in the late 1990s, the world has witnessed a lot of change. A large part of that change was due to social media platforms like Orkut, Facebook, etc. Social media has made our life easier in a lot of ways. From learning how to bake a cake, to connecting with the whole wide world, social media has been helping us in any way we can imagine, and the people who are benefiting the most from social media are students.

Unfortunately, they are also the ones who are facing mental health issues like anxiety and depression due to the excessive use of social media.
Social media has created a sense of inadequacy of life and appearance in the minds of teenagers. The world of social media is fake, and these young minds do not understand this. They start comparing themselves with the fake standards of social media appropriate appearance and then start feeling insecure about their body at a very young age.

Another disadvantage of excessive use of social media is disassociation from the real world. Teenagers tend to spend so much time on social media platforms that they eventually stop socializing with people. This also affects their mental health in a very bad way.
Social media also creates FOMO, or the “fear of missing out'' certain happenings, causing teenagers to believe that their life is boring or not living a life as extravagant as others. This makes them feel left out.

There are also serious mental health issues associated with the excessive use of social media. Studies have proven that social media use is linked with anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-harm, etc.

Cyberbullying has increased multifold in the last few years. Teenagers who use social media excessively were reported to have trouble concentrating, picking up fights, suffer sleep problems. They also tend to have less self-confidence. All these issues can be significantly reduced in teenagers only if parents and guardians become more attentive to their child’s life. Parents, guardians, and teachers play a very important role in the lives of teenagers. They can make sure that their child is not moving down the wrong path just by talking to them and understanding their world from their point of view.

By- Shristi Gupta

Content- https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm