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Shannon Hayden

ENW 100

Professor Ferrara

December 14, 2019

How Social Media Causes Depression Among Teenagers

Throughout the twentieth century, there has been a radical change in how people live

their life and their values. In today’s society, everything is surrounded by what is talked about in

social media. This change was brought upon us because of the creation of smartphones. The first

smartphone was introduced in 2007 and since then there has been a variety of new social media

platforms that have come out. There is an infinite amount of social media websites that people

like to use to keep people updated with their lives and to get their news. Social media is now the

main focal point in our lives whether we want it to be or not. Social media, like everything in

life, has pros and cons and one of the biggest cons that have come out of it is the increase of

depression among teenagers. There is a definite correlational and causation between the increase

of social media and rates of depression among teenagers.

There has been a rise in both social media usage and the depression rates among

teenagers that increase simultaneously. The amount of social media usage has extremely

increased since 2005. Pew Research Center created an experiment and found out that in 2005

only five percent of the population used social media and now in 2019 almost seventy percent of

the population uses social media. A study was conducted by the Journal of Abnormal

Psychology and it found out that “over the past decade mental health disorders has more than

doubled.” (Lohmann). They also found out that the rate of depression has also increased since

2005. The findings said that “For youth, major depression increased 52 percent from 2005 to
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2017 and is only on the rise.” (Lohmann). Both of these increases show that there is some

connection between social media usage among teenagers and the rise of mental health disorders,

specifically, depression.

The first reason on why social media is greatly linked to depression among teenagers is

because teens are constantly using it and comparing themselves to others. For example, on

Instagram people can become influencers when their account is verified and that means that they

have gotten a lot of likes and comments per post and live a “happy” life. The influencers account

displays their costly vacations, friends, and material possessions. Teenagers see these accounts

and compare themselves to these influencers’ accounts and become unhappy with their life. They

start to think that they are failing in their life because their life is not like these famous

influencers’ life and this causes them to go into a downward cycle and leads them to have

depression. Liu yi Lin, and other physicians, conducted an experiment and one of his findings

stated, “…these envious feelings (about seeing other people’s posts) may lead to a series of self-

inferiority and depression over-time.” (328). When teenagers spend hours upon hours scrolling

through social media and comparing themselves, they will become unsatisfied with their life and

this is not a healthy mental state.

Additionally, experts have also found that females are more likely to respond to social

media this way. Young teenage girls see these influencers posting “flawless” Instagram posts and

don’t realize that the pictures are edited and that their real life is not that perfect. Denis

Campbell, the writer from The Gaudian, stated that “Almost 40% of girls who spend more than

five hours a day on social media show symptoms of depression.” (Depression Linked to Social

Media). Teenage girls are much more likely to have self-esteem issues than in past generations

because of these social media sites. These self-esteem issues often lead to depression and is one
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reason as to why social media is a cause of depression among teenagers. In my own research I

surveyed twenty teenagers, ages twelve to twenty, and 55% of them felt sad and jealous after

using social media.

How do you feel after going on social media for too long?

Happy Sad Jealous

Secondly, teenagers may experience cyberbullying while using social media.

Cyberbullying is defined as “bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones,

computers, and tablets… and can occur through text messages or social media.” (“What Is

Cyberbullying”). Cyberbullying can cause a person to become depressed and start feeling lonely.

Teenagers often times will be overcome with depressed feelings of loneliness when they see a

negative comment on their post or get sent something that is meant to make them feel bad.

Teenagers today are more likely to be overcome with these feelings because there is no way to

not see the negative things people say. There are also other ways people can be cyberbullied now

other than someone directly stating something towards them. An example of how this happens is
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when they go on a social media site and see teenagers posting pictures of all their friends out

together and it can cause them to feel lonely. This will lead them to have depressing thoughts and

eventually open a gateway for them to become clinically depressed.

Thirdly, social media usage leads to sleep deprivation among teenagers which can

ultimately cause depression. Sleeping is an important part of adolescent’s growth and when they

do not get enough sleep their chances of having a depressed mood and mindset rise. Physician

Michael Burke wrote in “Acta Pediatrica” that, “63.6% slept fewer hours than recommended”

when looking at teenagers who used social media. Teenagers are obsessed with looking at their

phone and scrolling through social media that they waste time on it rather than sleeping. There is

a scientific explanation for this connection which is that our phone, laptops, and tablets emit blue

light and this type of light “…can delay the release of sleep-inducing melatonin, increase

alertness, and reset the body's internal clock (or circadian rhythm) to a later schedule.” (“Social

Media and Sleep Deprivation”). Teenagers tend to lose track of time while on social media and

so they sometimes do not realize how late it is or how many hours have past and it ultimately

affects their sleep schedules.

However, some people believe that the rise of depression rates and social media usage

among teenagers is just coincidental. One reason why some individuals do not think that social

media causes depression is that teenagers grew up in a media culture and evolved so that they are

used to the outcomes of social media. McCrae stated that “The internet is constantly evolving,

and young people are adaptable to technological change.” (“Social Media Not to Blame”).

McCrae is stating that since people have grown up with and around technology is it less likely to

cause mental health issues in their future. Although this is a good point social media is not a
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biological factor in a living organism and not everyone will be able to deal with all the

repercussions that social media has and will, therefore, start to feel depressed.

Another reason why some individuals believe that social media is a great source of

entertainment because it gives people a voice and can also give people a source of income if they

get verified. Some people feel more empowered to speak up about their opinions when they are

behind a screen and are more confident. Physician Heffer stated, “adolescent girls who are

feeling down may turn to social media to try and make themselves feel better.” (Heffer). This

may be true but, this is just confirming the fact that teenagers compare themselves while on

social media and even if they do get a confidence boost it is given to them in the wrong way.

In conclusion, I believe that although social media has some positive aspects to it there

are more negatives to it. Feelings of depression, due to social media usage, can happen to

teenagers because they compare themselves to others, are succumbed to cyberbullying, and it

causes them to have sleep deprivation. There has been a noticeable increase in both social media

usage and the rate of depression among teenagers that cannot go unnoticed. Although some

individuals believe it is just coincidental there are too many facts and statistics that override their

opinions.
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Works Cited:

“50 Surprising Social Media Statistics In 2019.” BroadbandSearch.net, Pew Research Center ,

www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/social-media-facts-statistics.

Burke, Michael G. “Social Media and Sleep Duration—There Is a Connection! (Published in

ACTA PAEDIATRICA).” Contemporary Pediatrics, volume 35, number 5, UBM LLC,

May 2018, page 12.

Campbell, Denis. “Depression in Girls Linked to Higher Use of Social Media.” The Guardian,

Guardian News and Media, 4 Jan. 2019,

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/depression-in-girls-linked-to-higher-use-of-

social-media.

Heffer, Taylor. “Data Show No Evidence That Teens' Social Media Use Predicts Depression

Over Time.” Association for Psychological Science - APS, Jan. 2019,

www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/no-evidence-that-teens-social-media-use-

predicts-depression.html.

Lin, Liu Yi, et al. “Association Between Social Media use and Depression Among U.S. Young

Adults.” Depression and Anxiety, volume 33, number 4, April 2016, pages 323-331.

Lohmann, Raychelle. “What's Driving the Rise in Teen Depression?” U.S. News & World

Report, U.S. News & World Report, Apr. 2019, health.usnews.com/wellness/for-

parents/articles/2019-04-22/teen-depression-is-on-the-rise.
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McCrae, Niall. “Social Media Is Not to Blame for Depression in Young People.” The

Conversation, 3 June 2019, theconversation.com/social-media-is-not-to-blame-for-

depression-in-young-people-73635.

“The Sneaky Ways That Blue Light Can Interfere With Your Kids' Sleep.” National Sleep

Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-blue-light-affects-kids-sleep.

“What Is Cyberbullying.” StopBullying.gov, May 2019,

www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html.