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Nikki West

Diana Watkins

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9th November, 2018

Is Social Media destroying our Mental Health?

How many times a day does someone look and or use their phone? According to the New

York Post “Americans check their phone on average once every twelve minutes-burying their

heads in their phones 80 times a day.” (Swns) If asked how many times we are on our phones a

day I would never guess almost 80 or more. We enjoy Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, but are

we enjoying it too much? There are 1,140 minutes in a day and if we are looking at our phone

every twelve minutes that is 120 times a day give or take some. Being on a phone that much in

one day only raises questions on what it is doing to our brains. Over half of Americans use social

media in some way, but we never stop to think about how it affects our stress, anxiety, and

depression.

Everyone experiences stress in different ways. We all love social media, but have we ever

as individuals thought that it could be adding on to our stress? Social Media users are “14

percent more likely to characterize their lives “somewhat stressful.” (Dick)” When I think of

stress it is finishing homework or being somewhere on time, it is not if I got so many likes on

this photo, or if I have this many followers. Teens and young adults today strive for likes and

followers. I can only imagine how much stress that causes, taking a picture down if someone got

more likes, or waiting until “prime time” to post that one picture. I think some of the stress

caused from social media is our own faults. We are constantly wanting to keep up with
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everything evolving, which is not a bad thing. Everyone is influenced by what they are seeing

their friend sharing, buy and or listening to online. The Huffington Post states that “People who

say social media influences the products they buy are 45 percent more likely to say their lives are

‘very stressful.’” (Dick) Wanting to stay involved with everyone and everything around us just

sounds stressful. We all know someone who is a “constant checker” or we are one. A constant

checker is someone who will get on their phone in the middle of a conversation, meeting or on a

date. When spending so much time on the internet, and then not being able to check your phone

like normal it can cause a spike in anxiety.

Everyone is different when it comes to anxiety. Merriman Webster states the definition of

Anxiety is “apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending anticipated ill; a

state of being nervous.” Does social media cause or have an effect on your anxiety? One of the

most common mental health disorders in the United States is Anxiety disorders. (Fader) A few

symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder are being withdrawn from friends and family, fail to look

after school work or other activities, and getting nervous if not able to check social media.

(Fader) When someone is spending so much time on social media they tend to go blind to the life

going on in front of them. When at a family gathering and everyone is on their phone, not

socializing the feeling of disconnection is still there. We have all experienced thinking our

phones vibrated or went off but when we immediately check them we see that they did not. This

happens more than we think, ask classmates or friends, they will admit that it has fooled them

before. Seeing or hearing your phone go off makes us want to see what is going on and for some

people if they do not get the opportunity right away anxiety sets in. It is like the fear of not

knowing what is going on in that moment. During teenage years we tend to want to be alone, and

we do not really listen to what our parents say. Most of the time when we are alone and “bored”
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we pick up the phone and look at the same things we looked at ten minutes ago. Relying on

social media for our boredom only brings up the effects it has later on down the road.

According to the World Health Organizations it is estimated that nearly 300 million

people suffer from depression. (Choudhury e-tal.) Depression is different for everyone; the

episodes occur differently. When it comes to social media we use certain platforms to express the

ideas we have or our opinions. Everyone has different opinions, once someone’s opinion is put

out their people will state theirs as well to try and sway people on why their opinion is right. We

use social media to post pictures of the fun times we have had or our “selfies”, there is always

that one person who will try and put others down. Social media is a cause for “Cyberbullying” is

where others use social media to communicate or post false, embarrassing information. (O’Keefe

e-tal) When being criticized very often young teens who do not know how to cope with it or tell

an adult, let it get to them or keep it to themselves without knowing the outcome. Some people

cannot handle it well which causes a cry for help in some way without directly asking. “The

emotion and language used in social media…. Characterize major depression” (Choudhury etal.”

This can also lead to suicide for young teens or even adults. Before getting that far depression

would take place and over time they would give up trying to put up with the online harassment

and bullying. We tend to post online about how we are feeling or what we are doing, but not

everyone is going to read it with the emotion intended. 87 percent of the world’s government has

some sort of health services for mental illnesses but some have no programs or a budget to help.

(Choudhury) With little to no budget to contribute to mental illness are people going to get the

best help? The internet is powerful, today kids, teens and adults have access to so much to allow

for them to help cope with whatever it is at the time without it being public.
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To me social media is a cause for a copious amount of problems. Teenagers are in the age

where pettiness takes over. People will post conversations or pictures of one another to “get

back” at them not thinking about the outcome for them or the other people involved. Social

media takes over our lives, we live on the internet daily, only to put it down to sleep for a few

hours. Family time or family gatherings are not the same anymore, it is like communication is

not supposed to be face to face, only via text, snapchat or Facebook message. Even on dates we

will both be on our phones not even talking to get to know each other. Stress and Anxiety play

roles in my life, and I do believe it is from social media addiction. I personally do not have a

problem with depression but that does not go to say others do not. People struggle with

depression on a daily basis, and social media could be the reason. The internet has changed

humanity.

How many times did you look at your phone today? The internet has come so far within a

short period of time. We have learned all the good and bad things so far with only more to come

as it progresses on. Before we become totally controlled by the internet, we need to take a long

look at what it is doing to us from a different prospective. To find the different prospective

maybe we should take a small break and see the difference social media really has on us

physically and mentally. We would think after looking at our phones and social media 80 plus

times a day we would have nothing to look at anymore but somehow we do. With all the stress,

anxiety, and depression that can aspire with social media use, we would think to take it a little

more serious.
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