Effect of Social Media on Adolescent Anxiety Essay Example

The internet, a way to network for some and alternate reality for many, has pulled our society into creating a new issue: mental illness. Anxiety is “a state of fear or dread that can persist even when there is no obvious or identifiable cause, while stress is a response to an external trigger” (Anxiety and Stress Management). When many suffer from anxiety, they try to look for options to distract themselves. With technology, they can take any persona of choice. Many find comfort in the virtual world because it allows them to be different from their reality. However, the comfort of virtual reality ends much sooner, causing more problems and stress than the reality of life. Issues like insecurity, cyberbullying, suicide, and more begin to appear like thin air but only stay to bother their minds. Although some blame influencers for how toxic social media has become, the source, social media, is more at fault because it causes fear of missing out (FOMO), creates competitive pressure, and cyberbullying.

With technology, one can be up-to-date with many lives. Many who use social media are supposed to feel a connection with each other however, it separates more through pictures, videos, and locations. An article on social media and its effect on anxiety disorder says, “The fear of missing out, or FOMO, refers to the social anxiety we get when we feel disconnected from social experiences. On Facebook, you can easily scroll through the feed and be up-to-date on where your friends are, who they're with, and what they are doing—without you” (Duong). Even though anxiety does not have an identifiable cause, many may scroll through social media and watch others smile, laugh, or see others hanging out and wonder why they cannot feel the same way. They view their friends having fun while they lay down in their bed, in fear of wondering what went wrong and why they could not join. These emotions trigger an emotional response to many anxious people and cause anxiety. Others say that FOMO only affects those with social anxiety but it affects anyone with anxiety. Anxiety and FOMO are very similar because they both fear the unknown. Someone being interviewed tells others their first idea to seek social connection is through social media but they only get more FOMO (Trepany). The purpose of social media never reached many, if any at all. Most seek social connection through the virtual world, never finding what they sought. They instead gain new problems that pull them back. 

Likes, followers, and friends are a few things people notice when opening social media. With users able to see this information, it has made it quicker to destroy others' confidence, ego, and self-esteem. “Most social media apps are built on a system of "popularity metrics," indicators such as the number of likes, friends, or followers that attest to the success of a post or a user. But experts say that while likes can produce an immediate thrill, they can also ratchet up competitive pressure among peers, which in turn can lead to psychological distress and low self-esteem" (De Stefani). Many have changed so many aspects of themselves to gain a like or two because they seek validation from an extra comment or like. Most as young as teens depend on social media to feel better about themselves, causing them to be more vulnerable to anxiety. Although competitive pressure can influence anyone, teens and young adults, who are most susceptible to this issue, have said that they have anxiety whenever others around them have more likes than them ( De Stefani). Without likes or comments, many feel they are unworthy. The numbers and rankings social media leave on display only provide seconds of happiness, days at most. For most, however, these rankings change how many feel about themselves. Before, they would think that they were good the way they are, but now, they think changing themselves is their only option. Social media provides another mindset that leaves people anxious about what they post because they want to be accepted. As a result of this mindset, most cannot realize that the toxic community of social media will not welcome them.

Taking advantage of social media to induce harm to strangers is becoming more common by the day, and people choose to look the other way. Common with adolescents; cyberbullying allows people to take others' dignity while being anonymous. Cyberbullying happens in front of many as it is displayed for thousands to see, and it stays with you because it is the internet. No matter how much effort others put to cover what happened, it is still as visible as ever (Prabhu 0:01:43- 0:01:55). Minor incidents like a scraped knee remind many of what happened and similarly, cyberbullying leaves scars in multiple areas compared to one. Mentally, many will not recover and from time to time, thoughts may linger about what anonymous people told them. Especially for anxiety, the memory of the words will never leave them, and it mentally damages different places in the body, the most sensitive areas. Humans improve by the day through areas like looks or grades, but nobody speaks about the progress made with negativity or how social media progressively worsens for many to use. With new social media platforms, the range of ways to torment others has grown wider. Along with the victims of cyberbullying receiving stress and anxiety, they lack in other areas in their life, like their social life or their academic life (Hinduja and Patchin). Whenever anxiety continues to negatively affect people’s lives in these categories, the anxiety becomes a disorder (Anxiety and Stress Management). Fear and dread are how many feel when they realize they have to go to school or work after being mentally tormented and having their feelings toyed with for others' enjoyment. Stress consumes most when in this state and only leads to anxiety as young as elementary schoolers. Kids, teens, and adults should feel free when using social media, but even influencers cannot enjoy social media without someone threatening them or causing insecurity to them. 

In brief, social media has become a toxic cycle that repeats itself despite all the mental overload it causes and continues to use social media as escapism. Social media pulls everyone away from social experiences even though its purpose is to connect others through digital media. Instead of getting an enjoyable experience through social media, many end up having FOMO. Along with FOMO, it was no wonder that competitive pressure trends with social media as many cannot feel valid without having a certain amount of likes. Insecurity becomes a problem and many overthink every aspect of themselves that they once loved. Many begin to feel anxious and have anxiety when the pictures they post do not go as planned. Bullying through the internet, or cyberbullying, has become a growing problem for all mental health problems and will only persist unless social media ceases to exist. Enforcing harm on others for no particular reason causes problems not only for the victim but for the inflictor but, people only persist. Despite much-defining anxiety as having no trigger, many do not blame social media for all it caused but instead protect the enemy of anxiety: social media.