Social media connects people around the world. We can share videos, comment on people’s profiles and create online communities with a click of the mouse. However, in recent years social media has been getting criticisms due to the very nature of its purpose. Instantaneous access and sharing of media with incriminating or shaming and embarrassing content has been said to facilitate wide-spread bullying according to recent news sources. Social media is a growing industry with great impact of many people’s lives that only seems to be budding further. In this article we explore the scientific research explaining the good, the bad and the ugly sides of social media.
The Good: Naslund et al., 2016 in the journal of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences publish an article discussing the benefits of social media for people suffering with serious mental illness. In this digital age information can be sourced rapidly and by the majority of people in western civilisation. This paper emphasises that individuals with mental illness rely on popular social media to express and share their personal experiences of living with their illness. They pursue advice from others that share the same illness and online communities are formed as a result of peer-to-peer support. The connections within online
communities with the diverse ranges of illnesses could promote mental well-being and reports have stated that interacting with similar peers online form social connectedness, group belonging and coping mechanisms [1].
A conceptual model was proposed illustrating how online peer-to-peer connections can benefit individuals with opportunities to challenge stigma, access online interventions and increase consumer activation. When an individual presents symptoms of mental illness, social isolation, stigma and fear of reaching out the decide to visit online peer networks. The online peer-to-peer communities on social media promotes challenging of stigmas, increases consumer activation and provides access to interventions [1]. The positive effects of online peer-to-peer connections are influencing the way people cope and deal with their mental illness experiences and thus find ways to seek healthcare and support. However, some online communities are not regulated and can be accessed and edited by anyone. There are risks in believing advice from peers that are unaccredited medically. There is also a large margin of individuality between people’s mental illness, and it is supposable that unrealistic expectations and confusion about their own illness can arise.
The Bad: Negative social comparison between peers has been linked to causative development of mental illness such as depression and loneliness [2]. Envy and lack of real-life conversations can stunt personal development and affect relationship formation. Feelings of stress can arise in young children and adults when pressurised to adhere to trends for peer acceptance. Other negative effects such as phantom vibration syndrome and a decrease in the ability to multitask has also been revealed. Social media addiction activates the reward pathway in the brain similarly to how gambling and substance addiction does, suggesting a dependency and alteration of normal emotion and attention circuits. However, alternative research has indicated that the usage of social media does not necessarily exacerbate or cause mental illness, but the specific ways of usage itself can affect the mental health among young adults [3].
The Ugly: Social media ‘Challenges’ are games that are played majority by young people aged as young as nine to 19 years. Social media ‘Challenges’ such as MoMo Challenge and Blue Whale Challenge allegedly has encouraged young people to engage in suicidal behaviour and self-harm. An interesting future study for psychological journals could explore why and what effects arise in young children and young adults that choose to participate in these challenges. Research into the effects and adversity faced from these challenges in regard to mental health can expose the dangers of participating in such challenges. A deterrent is required to fully inform young people in assisting them to make an informed decision as to whether they should risk partaking in such challenges.
Social media therefore has its wins and its losses. Mental health is significant to everyone and maintaining a healthy usage of social media can benefit us greatly. The research that has explored the usage of social media on mental health is varied and further research is imperative to our future understanding. It is becoming ever more relevant in this Digital Age and such research will benefit the quality of lives of many people.
Struggling with mental health? Please visit and contact these helplines:
Rethink Mental Illness Advice Service 0300 5000 927
The Rethink Mental Illness Advice Service offers practical help on issues such as the Mental Health Act, community care and welfare benefits, living with mental illness, medication and care. Our advice line is open from 9:30am - 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Anxiety UK
Charity providing support if you have been diagnosed with an anxiety condition.
Phone: 03444 775 774 (Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.30pm)
Website: www.anxietyuk.org.uk
Mind
Promotes the views and needs of people with mental health problems.
Phone: 0300 123 3393 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm)
Website: www.mind.org.uk
YoungMinds
Information on child and adolescent mental health. Services for parents and professionals.
Phone: Parents' helpline 0808 802 5544 (Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4pm)
Website: www.youngminds.org.uk
For more information from scientific articles, please read:
[1] Naslund, J.A., Aschbrenner, K.A., Marsch, L.A. and Bartels, S.J. (2016). The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social media. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(02), pp.113–122.
[2] Subrahmanyam, K., Kraut, R.E., Greenfield, P.M. and Gross, Elisheva F (2015). The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children’s Activities and Development. The Future of Children, 10(2), p.123.
[3] Berryman, C., Ferguson, C.J. and Negy, C. (2017). Social Media Use and Mental Health among Young Adults. Psychiatric Quarterly, 89(2), pp.307–314.
Commenti