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Callie Riley

Professor Freeland

English 1201-505

26 Mar. 2022

Social Media and the Mental Health of Young People

I think about my 14 year old self all the time. I wish I could tell her that everything she

was seeing on social media was not real. Middle school was an already hard time for me, as my

body was changing and I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. Everyday, I was consumed by

my Instagram feed. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was constantly being exposed to

unrealistic body types and fake pictures. I wanted to look like the Instagram models and

celebrities so badly. Feeling comfortable in my own skin was alien to me, and I wanted a change.

I stopped eating. 14 year old me hated herself so much that she starved herself for three days.

This eventually turned into an eating disorder that took me years to recover from, and I still

struggle with it today. Unrealistic pictures of models on social media puts pressure on young

people all over the world. Social media does more harm than good on mental health. Not only do

unrealistic expectations affect mental health, but many other factors as well. Social media

damages the mental health of young people by creating an addiction to social media, allowing

access to any content on the internet, and portraying unrealistic expectations.

Modern social media is relatively new, considering that the internet that we know was

only invented in 1969, according to Ralph Olliges, a writer from the Journal of Philosophy and

History of Education (1). Olliges’s purpose for writing the article was to inform people of the

history of the internet and technology. No one at the time of the invention of the internet had any

idea that social media would spring from it, not to mention how it would affect people in the
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long run. In fact, an article from Marysville University, “The Evolution of Social Media: How

did It Begin, and Where Could It Go Next?”, states that the first social platform called Six

Degrees was created in 1997. This would make the social media known today only 25 years old.

Because it is so new, young adults today are the first generation to grow up with this technology,

so the effects of it on the mind are still being researched. Now, studies from Mental Health

Weekly Digest, a mental health news publication company, have shown that one of the top causes

of suicide and other mental health issues in youth is social media. This study was done to spread

awareness of the risks social media poses on teens, specifically girls. (“10-year study shows

elevated suicide risk from excess social media time in teen girls”).

Many researchers have developed the similar idea that too much time on social media

causes increased risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health illnesses. Michelle O’Reilly,

a writer and researcher for the Journal of Mental Health, states that 99% of adolescents are

online for 21 hours per week at least (1). Constantly being on social media can cause addiction.

Being addicted to social media and spending too much time aimlessly scrolling can cause anxiety

from having to go without it, and depression. Furthermore, Vikram R. Bhargava and Manual

Velasquez, philosophical writers and professors at Cambridge, found that most people addicted

to social media are among younger users (6). Both studies were intended to find different ways

that social media and mental health are linked.

Being addicted to social media affects the brain the same way that some substance use

does. According to the Addiction Center, social media produces the same chemical in your brain

that drugs do; dopamine. This is a chemical in the brain that provides a sense of reward and

pleasure. The constant stream of likes and follows on social media triggers this feeling of

emotion, and the Addiction Center says that this mimics the feeling of reward that cocaine gives.
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Not only does social media mimic the effects of cocaine, it also produces similar feelings to

gambling. Neural circuitry in the brain that is sparked by recreational drugs and gambling is the

same neural circuitry caused by social media platforms. Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are

among these platforms, and they use this circuitry to keep users using their sites. This shows that

social media can be dangerous in more ways than one, and social media sites specifically create

their platforms to keep users coming back for more (“What Is Social Media Addiction?”).

Bhargava and Velaquez found a great example of this in their studies. A great example is the

“like” button on Facebook. When users on Facebook receive a like, they feel a sense of social

validation and reward. The feeling of validation keeps users posting continuously so that they

can keep feeling the reward of getting likes on their posts. Another example is “snap streaks” on

the social media site Snapchat. “Snap streaks” are essentially the number of days in a row that

two users have exchanged “snaps” or pictures with each other. Teens nowadays are pressured to

keep these streaks with their friends, which in turn, keeps them on the app. This shows that social

media networking sites used by young people like Snapchat, give the feelings of social validation

and reward like drugs and other addictive substances do (Bhargava).

The overuse of social media is especially observable in youth. In the Addiction Center’s

article “What is Social Media Addiction?” they state that “An estimated 27% of children who

spend 3 or more hours a day on social media exhibit symptoms of poor mental health.” Spending

too much time on social media causes young people to have poor mental health. This is because

children’s brains are still developing. As a result of the overuse of social media, youth tend to

have a more hard time with social interactions, and their skills in that area are extremely stunted

(1). When exposed to social media at a young age, critical developmental skills like this are not

developed and can possibly affect social skills as an adult. Spending too much time on social
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media can also make youth more unhappy and isolated. When youth spend more time on social

media, the more likely they are to see things that decrease happiness like unrealistic goals and

jealousy of things that are not the consumer’s. According to the Addiction Center, anxiety and

depression can be developed in young people as a result of excessive time on social media

(“What is Social Media Addiction?”).

Another repeating idea among researchers is that young adolescents have access to any

information on social media. While this may not seem like a big deal, this access can be

detrimental for youth mental health, as they can be exposed to inappropriate, serious, or hurtful

content that influences them in harmful ways. Tatum Hunter, a writer for the Washington Post,

interviewed a young adult whose mental health was affected by social media. He wrote that some

teens may see things that they do not want to see, such as weight loss ads or inappropriate and

vulgar images (Hunter). A study by Lindsay H. Dewa, a doctor specializing in mental health

research, showed that young adults and adolescents are exposed to negative content on social

media (44). For example, pro-anorexia forums, videos including violence, posts of self-harm,

romanticizing suicide, and instructions on how to kill yourself were all able to be accessed and

seen on social media. Dewa and Hunter’s findings were both found in separate ways, Hunter’s

being through interviews and Dewa’s through research, but they both found the same idea and

had the same purpose.

Along with being able to see almost anything on the internet and social media, youth can

also feel left out or have FOMO (fear of missing out). When scrolling through social media

aimlessly, teens have access to any information, even things they do not want to see. Imagine a

teen scrolling through their Instagram feed, and they come across a post about a party that they

were not invited to. This would make them feel left out, isolated, and that no one likes them. This
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can cause anxiety and self esteem issues. FOMO also can create the need to check social media

compulsively, so the user can be sure that they are not being excluded or missing out. This

demonstrates that being able to see the content of everyone’s personal life on social media can

cause anxiety and self esteem issues among young people. FOMO can also cause anxiety

triggered by the fear of not being included or not being liked by peers (“What is Social Media

Addiction?”).

Some content seen on social media can not be controlled. Social media networking sites

will show ads or put content on young people's feeds that impact them negatively. For example,

Tatum Hunter, from The Washington Post, writes about how sites like Instagram pick the content

that is viewed by social media users. Companies like Instagram select recommended posts on

users’ feeds based on a few factors. Some of these include posts from accounts the user has

interacted with before, how popular the account or post is, and types of content the user has

interacted with in some way, even if all they did was tap to look closer. This proves that social

media sites pick some of the content that viewers see, even if it is not what they interact with

directly. This can cause viewers to consume negative content like weight loss ads or diet posts.

Young people do not need to be seeing negative content like this because it supports the idea that

they are not perfect the way they are, and they need to change themselves. This causes young

people to develop negative ideas about how they look, which can decrease self esteem.

Low self-esteem is another major effect that social media poses on young people. Seeing

celebrities and influencers have perfect lives and ideal body types makes teens and adolescents

feel bad about themselves and lowers their self-confidence. Teens are constantly surrounded by

expectations of what they should look like on social media, which puts pressure on them to be

“perfect.” However, a lot of celebrities' pictures are manipulated and edited, as found by Anna
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Behrmann, a writer and researcher for the Times in the United Kingdom. These self-image

problems can cause a variety of issues in both boys and girls, including low self-esteem, eating

disorders, and depression (Hunter).

Celebrities and influencers on social media make young people feel bad about themselves

from the content that they post. Teens are constantly exposed to celebrity posts, which can be

cool knowing the lives of celebrities, but the content they post put pressure on youth to look and

act like these celebrities. Anna Behrmann states in her article, “Teenagers Blame Social Media

for Anxiety Over Body Image,” that this puts pressure on youth. Many teens feel as though

staged photographs and glamorous posts on platforms like Instagram have influenced the way

that they think they should look. In fact, 62% of 15 to 16 year olds feel this way. In addition to

this, these teens believe that these images and flattering shots are changing the idea of what a

normal body looks like for young people around the world. This proves that a majority of youth

on social media are negatively impacted by the constant pressure to have the perfect body when

it is not always realistic images they are seeing. Because of these manipulated and unrealistic

pictures, the beauty standard today is literally unobtainable for anyone. The unrealisticness of

these standards leads people, especially youth, to feel bad about their bodies, which in turn has

harmful effects on mental and physical health. Feeling bad about yourself lowers self esteem and

can cause depression from not feeling comfortable in your own skin and hating how you look.

Youth constantly being pressured to look like the “perfect body type” negatively affects their

mental health, when they are perfect the way they are (Behrmann).
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Fig. 1. This data chart shows how social media makes women want to change how they look

(Gardley).

Another way fake content on social media affects youth is causing eating disorders.

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that affect relationships, thoughts, and behaviors

about food and eating. The National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC) discusses how

eating disorders cause severe medical issues and psychiatric problems, and in turn have serious

repercussions on the lives of those diagnosed (“What is an Eating Disorder?”). Seeing everyone

on social media have perfect lives, pictures, and bodies can cause youth to develop these eating

disorders. A lot of teens are even aware that not everything on social media is true, but it is

difficult to not make comparaisons and get caught up in it. These comparisons cause young

people to look at themselves and change the way they feel about their bodies, which lead to

disordered eating. Teens also see this as a way to fit in, so they alter their appearance for likes

and follows (“What is Social Media Addiction?”).

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Social media is not always a safe space for some youth, as social media is sometimes a

platform used for cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is using technology and electronic

communication to bully or harass others. Competing for likes and attention on social media can

often lead to cyberbullying, and a lot of bullying happens online now because it is easy to make

fake accounts to harass people and for bullies to hide behind a screen. Because of this type of

harassment online, suicide rates in young adults is on the rise, as well as increasing development

of anxiety in youth as they try to avoid this abuse. This shows that cyberbullying on social media

causes suicide in young people and anxiety. Though it is not easy to recognize, cyberbullying is

another negative effect that comes with social media (“What Is Social Media Addiction?”).

Everyone shares their best moments on social media, but this is not always the real truth.

No one has a perfect life, job, house, relationships, or family. Many people see others living the

“perfect” life on social media. They post the fanciest cars, nicest houses, and about how great

everything is going in their lives. However, this is far from the truth. Seeing everyone live the

“perfect” life on social media can lead teens to feel isolated, jealous, depressed, and suicidal

because their own personal life does not like that. Little do teens know, no one is living the

perfect life. Many social media users believe that the people they see on social media are more

successful and happy than they are in reality. The environment created on social media allows for

users to compare their real life selfs offline to the edited, flawless, and perfect versions of the

people they see, which leads to negative self perception and mental health. Almost everyone

shares the best parts of their lives on social media, causing young people to constantly compare

themselves to others. This can push teens to only share the best parts of their own lives to seem

perfect to others (“What is Social Media Addiction?”).

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Social media can expose young people to explicit content that they did not ask for. In

fact, 25 percent of teens reported that someone has sent them inappropriate or explicit pictures

that they never asked for, and seven percent reported that someone has shared their own explicit

images with others without permission. These pictures can consist of inappropriate pictures of

body parts and the sharing of private pictures and conversations without consent. This sharing

can cause rumors to spread, and can ruin the mental health of the person who’s conversations or

pictures were shared. Mental health problems like depression and low self esteem can arise from

these rumors. Having their private conversations shared with others can cause trust issues and

anxiety in youth (“What Is Social Media Addiction?”).

Some topics regarding social media use among young people are quite controversial. Not

all parents monitor their children the same, as some let their kids do whatever they want with

their social media while other parents are extremely strict with it. Some researchers say that

parents should constantly be checking their children’s phones, have access to their accounts, and

limit their time on social media to teach them to be healthy social media users (“10-year study

shows elevated suicide risk from excess social media time in teen girls”). On the other hand,

some researchers believe that taking kids phones and constantly monitoring them is not the

answer. This is because children can access social media from any device, and some even get

their hands on another phone. Furthermore, these researchers believe that educating these

teenagers of the risks of social media and how to have more self-confidence is the answer, rather

than stalking their every move and going through their devices (Hunter).

Another controversial opinion about social media is that it is more positive than negative

in the fact that it brings people together. Social media is a great tool for staying in touch with

loved ones and friends, as well as for users to share their own life so others can keep up with
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them. It is also a great way for teens to create their own space and express themselves. Writers

from Internet Matters state that social media is a great way for teens to understand the world

around them as well (“Social Media Benefits”). While all of this is true, social media is much too

often the root of negative mental health effects on youth. For example, an article from The

Australian called “Social media 'does far more harm than good'" found that while 75 percent of

people agree that social media is good in some sense, 56 percent believe that it is harmful to

society and that the harm outweighs the good. They also found that only 28 percent of people

believe that social media causes more good. This shows that most people believe that there is

some benefit to social media in general, but over half of the population believe it is more harmful

than beneficial. Social media has so many negative aspects that affect the mental health of youth,

like social media addiction, unrealistic expectations, pressure to be perfect, cyberbullying,

having access to any information, and seeing others “perfect” lives. Social media does much

more harm than good on youth mental health (Social Media does ‘far more harm than good’”).

Social media is posing a huge threat to future generations. It causes so much more

harmful and negative effects on youth mental health and well-being. Some of these issues can

include suicide, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and more. Social media damages the

mental health of young people by portraying unrealistic expectations, allowing access to any

content on the internet, and creating an addiction to social media. These unrealistic social media

expectations changed the way I grew up and how I am living today. I just wish that I could tell

my 14 year old self how fake social media was and is today.
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Works Cited

Behrmann, Anna. “Teenagers Blame Social Media for Anxiety over Body Image.” Times,

The (United Kingdom), July 2018, p. 7. EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=7EH1398611

53&site=eds-live.

Bhargava, Vikram R., and Manuel Velasquez. “Ethics of the Attention Economy: The

Problem of Social Media Addiction.” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 3,

July 2021, pp. 321–59. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2020.32.

Dewa, Lindsay H., et al. “Young Adults’ Perceptions of Using Wearables, Social Media

and Other Technologies to Detect Worsening Mental Health: A Qualitative

Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 9, Sept. 2019, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222655.

Gardley, Miranda. “Social Media’s Impact On Body Image.” Word Press, 10, Feb. 2016.

https://mirandagardley.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/social-medias-impact-on-body-

image/

Hunter, Tatum. “For Teens, Navigating the Mental Health Pitfalls of Instagram Is Part of

Everyday Life.” The Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2021. EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.679

703951&site=eds-live.

Olliges, Ralph. “A Brief History of the Internet.” Journal of Philosophy & History of

Education, vol. 70, Jan. 2020, pp. xiii–xxix. EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=149427369&s

ite=eds-live.
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O’Reilly, Michelle. “Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health: The Good, the Bad

and the Ugly.” Journal of Mental Health, vol. 29, no. 2, Apr. 2020, pp. 200–06.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2020.1714007.

“Social Media Benefits.” Internet Matters, May 2014.

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/social-media-advice-hub/social-media-

benefits/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2022.

"Social media 'does far more harm than good'." Australian [National, Australia], 1 Mar.

2022, p. NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695350131/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC

&xid=6e98096c. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.

“The Evolution of Social Media: How Did It Begin, and Where Could It Go Next?”

Maryville University, 2022.

https://online.maryville.edu/blog/evolution-social-media/. Accessed 26 Mar.

2022.

“What is An Eating Disorder?” National Eating Disorders Collaboration, 2021.

https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/the-facts/whats-a

n-eating-disorder/. Accessed 25 Mar. 2022.

“What Is Social Media Addiction?” Addiction Center, 2022.

https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/. Accessed 1 Apr.

2022.

“10-year study shows elevated suicide risk from excess social media time for teen girls."

Mental Health Weekly Digest, 22 Feb. 2021, p. 66. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints,
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link.gale.com/apps/doc/A652566215/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC

&xid=a2b5c43e. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022.