Tyler Hurley

Mrs. Brower

Advanced Composition 5A

12 Nov. 2020

Teen Social Media Usage and Anxiety/Depression

Many factors in a teen’s life cause anxiety and stress, especially in today’s society. This

includes things like schoolwork, social stress, at-home issues, and sports, among others. But is

social media one of these main stressors as well? This has been debated for years, ever since the

dawn of social media, and we can never seem to find a definitive answer. Some teens report that

cyberbullying worsens their stress, and others report that it’s a good way to connect with friends

and lower stress. However, objective research may show that excessive social media usage may

be contributing to worsening mental health rates in teens. Some things that excessive social

media usage is linked to, according to research, include but are not limited to: depression,

anxiety, cyberbullying, and stress about current events.

The primary consequence of excessive social media usage is a higher likelihood of

depression. This correlation especially applies to teens, according to data. For example,

“Although all participants seemed to use SNSs for several purposes, the time spent on SNSs

increased with depressive symptom​s” (Gürbüz et al. 3). According to the data provided in this

study, the researchers found that as time spent on SNSs (social network sites) increased,

depressive symptoms increased as well. The article finds other interesting data about social

media and depression as well; finding that social media usage was higher among depressed teens

than non-depressed teens as well (Gürbüz et al. 3). These data provide strong insight into the link

between social media use and depression rate, but they are not the only ones to suggest the same
thing. Another article reviewed ten studies examining the link between victimization on social

media and depression and found a significant correlation (Ring 1). According to the sum of the

data provided, it would be an objective truth to suggest that excessive use of social media has a

significant correlation with increased rates of teen depression.

Another consequence strongly associated with the excessive usage of social media is

increased anxiety. A number of studies and examples of data can also verify this correlation. For

example, a study found that as social media usage in teens increased, anxiety disorders increased

as well ​(Gürbüz et al. 3). This suggests that those who use social media an excessive amount of

time are more likely to have or develop an anxiety disorder, meaning that it is a real possibility

that social media is the direct cause of these disorders. In addition, another article finds that the

connection between social media and anxiety has only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic,

and social media usage only makes the anxiety worse because of excessive worrying and reading

articles online about the pandemic (Sahoo 2). This not only suggests that COVID-19 causes

increased anxiety, but also that the heavy usage of social media in teens only worsens this

anxiety. Less usage of social media would therefore correlate with less anxious article-reading

and therefore lower teen anxiety rates. A third article states that as social media use is increasing,

so is anxiety and self-harm (Knopf 1). Therefore, according to this correlation, as the use of

social media sites increases, so does the rate of anxiety in teens. In other words, social media

may be causing teens’ anxiety.

Now that we have objectively proven that social media is directly correlated with the

increasing rates of teen anxiety and depression, we will now analyze what factors exclusive to

social media are causing these rates. The primary online cause of depression is cyberbullying,

which entails bullying or harassing someone else online rather than face-to-face, especially over
social media. It is much more common than one may think; 23% of teens say that they have been

cyberbullied before (Ring 1). Cyberbullying can also be catastrophic to a teen’s mental health;

some may argue that it is even worse than face-to-face bullying because it invades something

that a teen may usually consider a “safe space”. This is supported by data as well. A study states:

“Victims of cyberbullying are almost twice as likely to have attempted suicides compared with

adolescents who were not the target of online attacks” (Ring 2). The important thing to note is

that the concept of cyberbullying is entirely reliant on social media use. Theoretically, if those

teens had decreased their usage of social media, they would not be cyberbullied. Therefore,

increased usage of social media leads to higher amounts of cyberbullying. Studies also may

suggest that cyberbullying is a direct cause of depression and anxiety in teens. For example, an

article states that researchers blame increased rates of depression and anxiety on social media,

and more specifically, cyberbullying (Knopf 1). In other words, without such high rates of social

media usage, cyberbullying would decrease, and depression and anxiety rates would also

decrease as a result. So, according to the data, social media facilitates the spread of

cyberbullying, which therefore facilitates the current increases in depression rates and anxiety

rates.

Another cause of decreasing mental health over social media in today’s society is stress

about current events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdowns and deaths that it

has caused around the world. Many current events tend to be stressful for teens and cause them

to read about things that can be particularly harmful to one’s mental health, and the largest and

most widespread current event going on right now is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused

stress for millions around the world in a number of different ways. But when it comes to teens,

one of the largest stressors and facilitators for disease information is social media. When teens
read excessively about the pandemic, they will naturally become more stressed, and this leads to

depression and anxiety. This is backed up by studies as well. For example, an article states that

mental health has declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and social media is

the main facilitator for this (Sahoo 2). In this article, it follows the story of an 18-year-old girl

and her experiences with anxiety and the pandemic. The case study states that she develops an

anxiety disorder because of her excessive stress about the pandemic. She is diagnosed with

medication for her panic attacks, and she cannot be reminded of the virus without growing

excessive worry all of her family and friends dying. This was because she was hooked on

watching news channels and following stories about the pandemic on social media while her

anxiety piles up accordingly (Sahoo 1). This suggests that excessive usage of social media can be

correlated with stress from news articles, and can lead to the development of depression or an

anxiety disorder. So in these current times of stress from the news, studies objectively prove that

it is best to avoid excessive social media use.

While the hypothesis that social media causes increased rates of depression and anxiety

in teens can be objectively proven, there are limitations to the extent of the application of this

theory. One thing that studies do not objectively prove is the idea that any usage of social media

is inherently negative. This is not the case. According to a study that suggests that excessive

social media use leads to depression and anxiety, wellbeing actually increased from teens who do

not use social media to those who use social media lightly (Twenge 4). This means that it is

objectively better to use social media in moderation than to cut oneself off from it entirely.

Therefore, not all social media use is bad. It can be a good support system for those who struggle

with mental health, in fact. For example, “In addition to meeting with an experienced social

worker, Matthew started using Instagram as a source of connection; he said it helped him realize
other kids were experiencing similar problems” (Ring 2). In other words, according to this case

study, moderate social media use can be uplifting when used in a positive way and in

moderation. Another possible misconception about the meaning of this hypothesis is that the

same statistics apply to the similarly increasing rates of anxiety and depression in young adults

as well. This is also incorrect. In fact, another study researching the link between mental health

issues and social media use in young adults finds different results than the others stated before

which studied teens. That study found no significant correlation between depression and social

media usage in 18-26-year olds (Alsabaani 1). It rather found that the stress levels in young

adults tend to be more influenced by college and similar stressors (Alsabaani 5). This means that

the hypothesis that social media causes increased depression and anxiety in teens cannot be

applied to young adults. In other words, the applications of this hypothesis are limited strictly to

teens who use social media an excessive amount, not adults or those who use social media only

in moderation or for positivity.

Now that we have addressed the impacts of social media on teen depression and anxiety,

what facilitates it, and what the limitations are, we will take a look at what solutions there may

be to this problem. There are many ways to deal with the stresses of teenhood and the effects of

anxiety disorders and depression, and one of those is counseling or support (Knopf 2).

Counseling is a general way to treat depression and anxiety in teens and help reduce their

symptoms. It gives the teen the feeling that they are not alone in what they are going through and

can help them to feel less alone in their struggles with their mental health. This also includes

using social media support groups in order to feel less alone as well (Ring 2). Support groups can

be effective, similar to counseling, in helping the teen feel less alone. Another solution that can

be used by those who developed depression or anxiety because of social media is a simple one:
limiting exposure to news and social media (Sahoo 2). As stated before, excessive exposure to

bad news on social media can lead to anxiety disorders, and the best way to fight them is to limit

your exposure to the news. The girl who was followed in Sahoo’s case study limited her

exposure to news in order to fight her anxiety disorder, and it proved effective for her (Sahoo 1).

Therefore, the best way to avoid the impacts of social media on mental health is to limit exposure

to social media itself.

From this article we can objectively learn that there is a significant link between

excessive social media usage and teen depression/anxiety. If we hope to improve the state of

mental health in teens in the future, we as teens must control our urges to use social media

excessively and learn to cope without the constant usage of these sites and applications. Only

then will the mental health crisis be improved for teens.

 Works Cited

Akkın Gürbüz, Hatice Gözde, et al. “Use of Social Network Sites among Depressed

Adolescents.” ​Behaviour & Information Technology,​ vol. 36, no. 5, May 2017, pp.

517–523. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1080/0144929X.2016.1262898​.

Alsabaani, Abdullah, et al. “Association Between Over-Use of Social Media and Depression

among Medical Students, King Khalid University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” ​Egyptian

Journal of Hospital Medicine,​ vol. 70, no. 8, Feb. 2018, pp. 1305–1311. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.12816/0044639

Knopf, Alison. “Suicide Rates Increasing; Researchers Especially Worried about Teens.” ​Brown

University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter,​ vol. 35, no. 8, Aug. 2019, pp. 9–10.

EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1002/cbl.30404.

Ring, Melinda. "Teen Depression and how Social Media can Help Or Hurt."​ CNN Wire Service​,

05 Aug 2015​. SIRS Issues Researcher,​

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265390688?accountid=6704

2​.

Sahoo, Swapnajeet, et al. “COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Anxiety in Teenagers.” Indian Journal

of Psychiatry, vol. 62, no. 3, May 2020, pp. 328–330. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_327_20.

Twenge, Jean M., and W.Keith Campbell. “Media Use Is Linked to Lower Psychological

Well-Being: Evidence from Three Datasets.” ​Psychiatric Quarterly,​ vol. 90, no. 2, June

2019, pp. 311–331. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1007/s11126-019-09630-7.