Social Media and Depression

The misuse of one essential factor in society today could result in depression and poor

mental health for many. It is virtually impossible to integrate oneself into society without having

and using social media. The development of social media grows in tandem with the evolution of

smartphones. Over the past fifteen years, smartphones have aggressively made an appearance

into the world, to now be an indispensable aspect of most people’s lives. Social media has

become so popular because of the way it allows people to connect from across the map. Along

with connecting to others, social media apps are designed to capture a user’s attention and make

them desire the feeling of using it. The use of social media these days is higher than ever and

constantly growing. These trends have prompted questions about what effects social media use

has on people. Most people are aware that cyber bullying exists but do not fully understand the

roll social media plays in one’s mental well-being. Often times, young individuals allow their

happiness to depend on their social media status. Thus, the youth who use social media are at

risk of becoming emotionally instable, especially when using it becomes an aid to their anxiety.

Are the connections between social media and depression strong enough to worry about?

Through my research, I hope to ascertain the true impacts social media has on someone and

discover if it is to blame for depression. I argue that poor social media habits and unstable mental

health are both induced by one another leading many adolescents quickly down a path towards

depression.

Through the emergence and development of social media, people have formed a variety

of questionable habits while using it. Social media habits can be seen in someone through the

ways they use it and amount of time they spend on it. These habits usually directly impact the

emotions they experience from using social media, for better or for worse. According to a
specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, “Pew data suggest that the average adolescent

engages in over seven and a half hours per day of media use” (Belfort). This number seems

alarmingly high considering that is nearly half of the waking hours one spends in a day. A large

reason why young men and women use social media to such an extent is because that is a habit

they have formed. Another aspect of social media habits are the actions someone takes while

actively using it. For example, someone who uses social media primarily to view content will

likely feel different than someone who actively shares on it. Every time someone uses social

media over and over, their “brain develops a cognitive structure of triggers and actions that

surround the use behaviors and associated responses” (Osatuyi). In other words, the action of

checking social media is wired into one’s brain until they do it without thought. Social media is

designed to make people want to keep using it, as there is only happiness while using it.

Eventually, using social media in such a way leads many teens down a path to addiction.

Addiction to social media is one of the negative outcomes that develops from bad habits.

Social media addiction is fundamentally no different from other addictions in being a difficult

habit to stop. Not to mention, social media apps are purposely designed to capture an maintain

ones attention. Those who show addictive tendencies towards social media also show symptoms

of withdrawal, mood swings, and relapse during periods without using it (Osatuyi). Once

someone develops such a dependence on social media, it becomes an unhealthy activity for them

to continue. The act of using social media becomes compulsive and they do it in times they

would be better off not. Social media then dictates the everyday actions of someone to eventually

control their life. Slowly, the healthy activities a person once enjoyed fade away as that time is

replaced with time spent on social media. In one study, the “results suggest that social media

itself doesn’t cause harm, but that frequent use may disrupt activities that have a positive impact
on mental health such as sleeping and exercising” (Asmelash). These results even go as far to say

that most of the blame can be moved away from the apps themselves and completely placed on

social media addiction. Exercise and sleep are just two activities that benefit ones emotional

health, and when time using social media takes those away, there are likely negative

consequences. Over time, the healthy habits someone once had will be forgotten and social

media will seemingly be the only important part of their life. Along with habits, the content that

social media exposes adolescents to can also be a cause of harm to their mental health.

The content someone sees on social media, good or bad, is a contributor to their habits

and mental well-being. There are good aspects of keeping in touch with people far away, but

there is much more seen on social media to be worried about. The Wall Street Journal shared the

perspective of a few university students about what makes college years mentally challenging.

One of them talked about how today’s young generations have been made accustomed to instant

gratification through the content they see on their phones, including social media.

Consequentially, adversity outside the realm of technology can seem like a bigger issue than it is.

Additionally, people are only viewing a filtered version of their peers on social media, making it

easy to compare themselves and feel inferior (Brent). So many people suffer from comparing

themselves and feeling substandard, even if they don’t realize it. When someone feels sad, they

might wonder what is wrong with them because they see virtually everyone else living a happy

life on social media. Another student goes on to discuss the competitive nature people show on

social media. Too many people care about the number of likes and followers they have that they

go to dangerous measures trying to maximize those numbers (Brent). In order for social media

content to get recognition nowadays, it likely must contain something extreme to stand out. The

moment someone lets the number of likes or followers control their emotions, they have
developed a social media habit bound for a mental health disaster. People who try gaining

attention through their social media material seem to have no boundaries, even if that means

deliberately putting others down.

One of the harshest routes to depression via social media is being the victim of

cyberbullying. This issue is fueled by the immature nature of young men and women but given a

platform with social media apps. Cyberbullying covers a wide variety of circumstances, but all

involving someone putting another person down online. The New York Times shared a story of a

young girl, named Mallory, who was cyberbullied and her mother who witnessed the effects. In

this case, the victim had nonconsensual pictures of her posted online and hateful comments

harassing her. Mallory’s mother remarked that “They called her horrible names, told her you

have no friends and said, when are you going to kill yourself” (Valencia). Although social media

does not fuel the malicious actions of cyberbullying, it is not innocent as it is the platform that

most cyberbullying takes place. Sometimes, there are less malicious acts of cyberbullying, such

as toxic masculinity, that still result in someone mentally hurt. Toxic masculinity has been a part

of society for a long time, and just as apparent in social media. Social media makes it easy for

some men to act condescending towards others as they can hide behind a screen. Almost always,

there are those left with damaged self-esteem while others thrive. Those who are negatively

impacted by toxic masculinity also are likely to emotionally suffer from bad interactions on

social media. One study showed that toxic masculinity tended to have indirect correlation with

depressive symptoms, “suggesting that negative online interactions mediate the relationship

between toxic masculinity and symptoms of depression” (Parent). Social media is a platform for

men to be victims of toxic masculinity guiding them to depression from negative online

experiences. Additionally, social media makes it easier for people to put others down by taking
the face to face interaction away. People tend to have less of a filter when they can share their

thoughts without having to see the person they are hurting.

Cyberbullying is a primary example of how social media can cause poor mental health,

but poor mental health can actually encourage the unhealthy use of social media. Many studies

suggest that social media has ways to emotionally hurt someone, but there is a much more

complex side to that. In fact, one study suggests a network connection between active/passive

social media use, stress, depressed mood, fatigue, loneliness, hopelessness, and more. Each of

these variable can influence one another causing a chain reaction until each one is impacted.

First, it is important to distinguish the difference between active social media (ASMU) use and

passive social media use (PSMU). ASMU involves posting and sharing content whereas PSMU

is scrolling through the feeds of others. The results of the study showed that “engaging in PSMU

did not predict depression symptoms, loneliness, or stress. Instead, previous fatigue and

loneliness predicted PSMU, indicating that these symptoms might lead participants to scroll

through social media pages. Within the same timeframe, PSMU co-occurred with loss of interest,

concentration problems, fatigue, and loneliness” (Aalbers). The article noted that there is no

evidence that PSMU directly causes depression, but depressive symptoms and PSMU were often

positively correlated. These results suggest that the people who already are emotionally unstable

are also the most vulnerable to using social media in such a way to damage their mental health

even more. This understanding highlights the idea that no single entity, like social media, is to

blame for causing depression, but rather the cause of depression is usually much more complex.

Often times, depressive symptoms are likely to cause other negative symptoms and increase

social media use. The use of social media itself can be seen with both negative and positive

impacts to one’s mental health.

 One might argue that social media actually makes people happier. The basis of this

argument comes from the intended purpose of social media. The ability to connect with everyone

using a handheld device is fascinating and extremely convenient. Additionally, social media

often gives one a good feeling when using it, whether they see pictures of someone they like or

watch a funny video. If social media has all these benefits, why does it catch so much blame for

causing depression. The book “How the World Changed Social Media” has a chapter with

deeper discussion about social media and people’s happiness. One paragraph says that some

studies “find that using social networks to chat or make plans increases satisfaction, they may

discover positive correlation between the use of Facebook and increased social capital, trust and

civic engagement, and therefore a feeling of gratification in life” (Miller 195). However, the

same paragraph mentions that the many studies on this issue show polarizing results, for both

positive and negative effects social media has on happiness. Arguing that social media increases

happiness is not strong because people use social media in a variety of ways, and not all of those

ways lead to happiness. Later in the chapter, the author declares that the opposite findings of the

studies should highlight that people use social media different from one another impacting their

happiness. Furthermore, happiness is perceived in such a variety of ways that is makes it hard to

measure and determine the cause. Social media is one of the most deceiving activities as it is

often a consistent method to gain temporary happiness for many people. People often must rely

on a strong, stable social support system in order to maintain happiness that social media likely

cannot provide.

Someone who turns to social media for social support is setting themselves up for

unstable mental health. Social support involves having friends, family, and others that someone

can turn to in times of crisis when they need help. Yes, these people can be reached through
social media, however, the danger comes when one views their number of likes or followers as

all the social support they need. Without social support, the symptoms of depression such as

loneliness and helplessness will eventually prevail. Most people prefer informal social support

through use of friends and family over formal social support from a health professional and

counseling. However, one study found that about half of college aged kids dealt with stress on

their own, and about a third did not indicate any methods of handling it (DROUIN). With college

being one of the most stressful times of someone’s life, developing a strong social support

system can be one of best things for them to do. Too many young men and women like to deal

with stress on their own, often turning to social media to fill that gap. When someone uses social

media as their primary resource of social support, they often are left feeling unsatisfied and

uncared for. Further results of that study showed that most of the “participants indicated that they

had occasionally (54.2%) or frequently (15.0%) experienced people supporting them through

social media through challenging or tough times. However, the majority also indicated that social

media occasionally (54.6%) or frequently (9.8%) contributed to their stress (DROUIN). These

numbers suggest that most people receive at least some social support through social media,

while social media is also contributing to their stress. In the best case, social media is used as a

side platform of receiving social support while also maintaining meaningful connections with the

closest people in one’s life. The nature of social media is to prompt temporary pleasure, and

when someone relies on it, there will likely be caused a mental health collapse.

In conclusion, there is no clear answer proving if poor mental health is caused by social

media use, or vice versa. However, there is undeniable evidence supporting the two being related

in at least some way. Multiple studies show positive correlation between the two, suggesting they

both can lead to the other. One of the key variables contributing to someone’s mental well-being
are the habits they develop on social media. The most risky part of bad social media habits is the

possibility of social media addiction, and thus depression. People are drawn in and emotionally

influenced by the content social media contains. The people who rely on social media for social

support are at the greatest risk of psychological catastrophe. Currently, there are too many

people, particularly the youth, who are depressed and trying to find causes and resolutions for it.

Social media has lately been a common factor people point to as something that has great

impacts their mental health. For this reason, there is urgency to determine the connections

linking depression and social media. Looking forward, virtually everyone would like to see the

number of depressed people decrease. To do so, it is important to find the greatest contributors

causing depression and address the problems. Social media is not only contributing to

depression, but is also one of the most widely used tools across the world. If people can see that

the ways and reasons they use social media can directly impact their mental health, they might be

able to change their habits and improve their emotional health and overall happiness. Ultimately,

depression has been around for much longer than social media, so people must realize that

depression is typically complex and the result of multiple factors in which social media can

contribute.
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