Social Media Teenagers' Mental Health: What is the Correlation

Teens' mental health is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of social media. The use of digital communication by teens makes them more vulnerable to peer pressure, cyberbullying, and sexting. Most teens are anxious about keeping up with everything online when they have a large circle of digital friends, which can cause stress and anxiety. Researchers are only beginning to establish a link between social media and depression. Cyberbullying, slut-shaming, and other harsh online behaviors make it easy to understand how social media may be a toxic source of anxiety for many teenagers.

When teens use social media late at night, they begin to lose sleep. According to research, screen usage has been linked to the development of ADHD symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and hyperactivity. Despite jealousy and envy being normal emotions, they can harm adolescents' brains if they compare themselves to their peers. As a result, sleep loss can lead to moodiness, a drop in grades, lack of physical activity, and overeating, as well as exacerbate existing problems such as depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Social media is an excellent way to stay in touch with friends and family, but it is different from face-to-face communication. Teenagers, for example, cannot see or hear a person's facial expressions or tone of voice online. Teenagers spend so much time updating their status on social media that they forget to interact with those around them.

Teenagers who prioritize social media will often focus more on showing how much fun they are having than on having fun. As a result, their relationships and life satisfaction may suffer. Teenagers' mental health can be adversely affected by the impact of social media, which can cause depression, anxiety, envy, and antisocial behavior. These impacts will be discussed in more detail below. People who used more than seven social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression, according to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior. The use of social media can intensify depression-related symptoms, such as a decrease in interpersonal activity and loneliness. Numerous other studies have found

Extended social media use is associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, particularly among young people. Many teens are emotionally invested in their social media accounts. According to some research, the wider a teen's online friend circle, the more anxious they are about keeping up with everything online. Teenagers are under pressure to submit excellent images and well-written posts, which can generate a lot of worries.

Additionally, one British study published in the Journal of Youth Studies surveyed 900 teens between the ages of 12 and 15 about the impact of social media on their sleep. Consequently, this sleep loss can lead to moodiness, a drop in grades, lack of physical activity, and overeating, as well as exacerbate existing problems like depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Jealousy and envy can wreak havoc on teens' brains if they dwell on comparing themselves to their peers. Some teens, particularly those feeling self-conscious about themselves, are targeted because they are envious of the target's clothes, body, boyfriend, success, or any number of other factors. This can contribute to sadness, loneliness, rage, and a range of other problems. As a result, young people risk having shallow or unauthentic relationships. When social media takes centre stage in someone's life, their friendships and romantic relationships may suffer. Teenagers who place a high value on social media will tend to focus more on the images they take to show how much fun they are having. This is compared to the actual fun they are having. As evidenced by the data presented here and information available online and in-person, social media has a significant impact on teenagers' mental health. A social media presence can create melancholy, anxiety, envy, and antisocial behavior, causing friends, families, and acquaintances to break up, and making it difficult to tell reality from fantasy. The following questions remain unanswered: What can you do to prevent social media from negatively affecting your mental health?