The Cause Or The Cure: Social Media Effects On Mental Health

Through widespread research we investigate the effects and impact the extensive use of social media has on the health of the youth to date. This essay will address both positive and negative views on how social media is affecting young adults to help establish an opinion on whether social media is actually beneficial or detrimental to the mental health of youth by using supportive and informative recent journal articles.

Social media is defined as a natural environment in which patrons can engage in conversations and enables everyone to voice their opinions and thoughts through an array of media (Lipscomb, 2010). Social media is generally used for communication as every individual enjoys networking and sharing (Lipscomb, 2010). Extensive is defined as a large amount or large scale (Oxford University Press, 2014).

The Australian Bureau of Statistics states how in April 2009, 79% of children aged 5-14 are accessing the internet with more than one in five accessing the internet for social media use. This is more commonly found with girls than boys (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Following these statistics Emily J Kennedy, Alexandra B Inglish, Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, J Brian Houston and Hyunjin Seo state in their article ‘Teens’ social media use and collective action’ that the number of teens engaging in social media increased from 55% in 2006 to a huge 83% in 2012 (Seo, Houston, Leigh , Kennedy, &Inglish, 2014). With this substantial jump in internet and social media use the question begs whether this increase is positively or negatively affecting our youth as they are the future of our society.

 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011)

This picture has been extracted from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It represents the ascending internet and computer usage trend over a decade showing both homes with and without children.

When combining ‘social media’ and ‘extensive’ together you can begin to assess the issues that may follow with the ever increasing use of social media, especially within the younger generations. ‘The Parthenon’ clarifies that this group of individuals are in fact the group that suffer the most from online interacting effects whether it be positive or negative (The Parthenon, 2014). As we are in an era of increasing cyber bullying this gives social media the power to either build us up or tear us down, placing too much power to control our well-being on an insignificant factor (The Parthenon, 2014).

With this increase in online connectivity the youth are being made to feel as if they are an "inadequate star of a second-rate biopic" as quoted by a leading headmaster in London (Paton,2014). The comparison of body image from those on social media is increasing, in boys particularly, in comparison to two decades prior affecting their well-being (Paton,2014). With this constant reminder online of what you don’t have, this is affecting the attitudes and well-being of youth in different mental fields, for example depression, anxiety and self-esteem, by focussing on what you don’t have rather than what you do.

Cyberbullying is a global epidemic, as Irish youth are also facing the effects of extensive online abuse. As well as cyberbullying, online harassment and exposure to unsuitable violent and sexual material is another concern (Collier, 2013). “Social media is having a negative effect on mental health services” (LandmarkDigital Limited, 2013) was stated in a newspaper produced in Ireland giving a direct look on social media and its’ affect. The article follows up on numbers of teenage suicides allegedly linked towards cyber-bullying (Landmark Digital Limited, 2013). With this tragic outcome from the use of social media in youth, the corruption of teenagers’ well-being and the ethics of the online playground come into question.

(MySecureCyberspace,2012)

This video supports that an extensive use of social media contributes toward several mental illnesses and in some cases resulting in suicide. There are even names to identify social media mental illnesses such as: Facebook Envy, Facebook Depression and Facebook Fatigue (MySecureCyberspace,2012). This is clear evidence of the negative effects of social media on our youth in particular.

Although the negative effects of online activity can be clearly identified, there is also support for the argument that social media actually can help reduce the effects of mental illness in some areas. Social media is being used increasingly for patients who need support from other individuals in similar circumstances e.g. support groups or for quick access to their treating clinician. Anna Fenton and Nick Panay underwent research on ‘Social Media and Health’ which was then published in their journal ‘Climacteric: The Journal of the International Menopause Society’ and stated how this usage of social media has proven to reduce levels of stress and depression among existing patients and help them to gain a greater understanding of their medical conditions (Fenton& Panay, 2013). A common issue about patients researching their conditions over social media forums is the quality and reliability of this information therefore the accessibility of their clinicians is needed (Rodríguez-González, Mayer, &Fernández-Breis, 2013).

John O’Mahony, the committee vice-chairman states:

"There is no doubt that social media has immense potential for public good and civic engagement  ...” (Collier, 2013).

This supports the argument for a positive outcome of the use of social media. Social media also relates to social ties which can be defined as who an individual considers as a friend or communicates with on a regular basis (Wutchy, 2009). Social relationships effectiveness on health can be represented through two models; the stress-buffering model and the main effect model (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001). The stress-buffering model proposes how social-ties are beneficial to the well-being of an individual only in times of stress whereas the main effect model shows the social relationships are beneficial regardless of stress (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001).

Research has shown that teenagers generally show positive outcomes to interactions online through social media providing them with a sense of social inclusion and a place they can refer to as home (Seo, Houston, Leigh , Kennedy, &Inglish, 2014). From this sense of social inclusion, Facebook users with low self-esteem and general dissatisfaction with life can benefit from the use of social media (Seo, Houston, Leigh , Kennedy, &Inglish, 2014).

(Iverson, 2011)

It’s interesting to analyse each view on social media use and how the extensive use in medical areas can be beneficial and supporting of patients causing a decrease of depression and anxiety. This however is contradicted when that very cause of these mental illnesses is from social media. It is indeed ironic that, the very reason a large portion of youth suffers from depression and/or anxiety is because of this online activity and yet they are referred back to it for support groups and methods to help them, using that same device that put them there in the first place. It’s almost like giving an alcoholic a bottle of vodka to cure his alcoholism.

I agree with John O’Mahony’s quote "There is no doubt that social media has immense potential for public good and civic engagement  ...” (Collier, 2013) as this doesn't claim that it is benefiting the public good but only has the potential to. I believe that when using social media you have the potential to make it a positive experience but teenagers are creating their own negative experience by inappropriate usage.

It’s possible to view social media as being both a hero and a villain depending on the individual accessing the site and for what use. If you are accessing a social media network to put down others or you are being put down yourself, this will have a negative impact and affect your general sense of well-being and self-esteem. Whereas if you are accessing social media for support groups and information for improvement of your well-being, I do not believe there could be an overuse as this would constantly provide you with a sense of positivity. So no, the extensive use of social media does not have a negative effect on mental health when used appropriately, but when used for inappropriately an obvious undesirable effect will occur.

There is a sufficient amount of literature to support both arguments regarding the extensive use of social media as being positive or negative, however the responsibility is placed on the individual and their use of the network thus being accountable for their own outcome.

Bibliography

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Children of the Digital Revolution. Australian Social Trends 2011, 1-5.

Collier, R. (2013). Social media and mental health. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal., 577.

Fenton, A., & Panay, N. (2013). Social media and health. Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society, 609-610.

Iverson, D. 2011, social media, social networking, social computing tag cloud,
                           photograph, viewed 26 September 2014,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daniel_iversen/5440728270/

Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2001). Social Ties and Mental Health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 458–467.

Landmark Digital Limited. (2013). Internet is bad for kids' mental health. Irish Examiner, 1.

Lipscomb, J. (2010). What is social media? Dental Economics, 74.

MySecureCyberspace. (2012, June 12). Think Time: Teens and Social Networks

     [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TWHsiMYSxw

Oxford University Press. (2014). Extensive. Retrieved from Oxford Dictionaries: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/extensive

Paton, G. (2014). Social media threatens pupils' mental health, headmaster warns. The Daily Telegraph, 14.

Rodríguez-González, A., Mayer, M. A., & Fernández-Breis, J. T. (2013). Biomedical information through the implementation of social media environments. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 955–956.

Seo, H., Houston, J. B., Leigh , K. A., Kennedy, E. J., & Inglish, A. B. (2014). Teens’ social media use and collective action. New media & society, 883-902.

The Parthenon. (2014). Is social media having an effect on mental health? University Wire, 1.

Wutchy, S. (2009). What is a social tie? PNAS, 15099–15100.