Is Social Media Messing with Your Teen’s Mental Health?

By AIM Youth Board Advisory Member

SHARE TO SOCIAL

Attempted suicides, drug overdoses, cutting and other types of self-injury have increased substantially in U.S. girls, a 15-year study of emergency room visits found.

by KATIE HURLEY | OCT 16 2017

Social media dramatically changed the way we communicate, socialize, and make and maintain friendships. While there are benefits to living in a digital world, there are also risks. Today’s youth miss out on critical social skills development when they spend the majority of their free time connected to and interacting through a screen. They can also get lost in a world of unrealistic comparisons, cyberbullying, and feeling left out.

Research shows an increase in major depressive episodes from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2014 in adolescents and from 8.8% to 9.6% in young adults. The increase was larger and only statistically significant only in the age range of 12 to 20 years.1 Clearly depression is on the rise among teens, the question we need to ask ourselves is how much does technology and social media contribute to it?

It’s no big secret that connecting via texting, Instagram, and Facebook can include harsh judgments and comparisons. It’s easier to make statements on a screen that would otherwise be difficult to verbalize face to face. And disjointed shorthand conversations can easily result in misunderstandings. It doesn’t help that digital communication occurs at a rapid pace, one that is difficult to process at times.

Continue reading the full article here.

SHARE TO SOCIAL

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

Feeling overwhelmed by school? This student-written guide shares practical strategies to recognize unhealthy habits, manage guilt, and shift your mindset to overcome academic burnout.

How AIM Youth Mental Health is evolving to ensure young people are not just heard, but leading the way.

By Lilia Spiegel, an AIM Ideas Lab Southern California Cohort Member

Funding cuts at the National Institute of Health and elsewhere threaten research on mental health treatment for youth. Private foundations like AIM Youth Mental Health can help.