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Writer's pictureMelissa Shelton

Social Media and Mental Health

In my opinion, yes, social media can distort our view on life and distort our definition of "what is a good life". Social media only portrays small bits of an overall big picture and what we see from someone else’s life is only our perception of that small glimpse. Without understanding this properly, it can really impact our mental health, identity, and well-being. One article I found titled “Social media’s impact on our mental health and tips to use it safely”, stated “social media can negatively impact our overall wellbeing by fueling anxiety, depression, loneliness and FOMO (fear or missing out)” (UC Davis Health, 2024). This is a very true statement; I have experienced this myself at times and had to limit my exposure to Instagram. I would find myself not feeling like my experience was worthy unless I was filming it so I could show it to the web. I am grateful at how quickly I realized how distorted this view was and quickly fixed it. Sadly, some people, especially young adults, have not yet developed this ability.

Social media can be very addictive because it provides immediate gratification and dopamine. Another article I found titled “Online Social Networking and Mental Health”, discusses the link between social media and depression, addiction, low self-esteem, and poor communication (Pantic, 2014). It appears that there is still a lot of missing and contradictory data, and I feel that is because social media and the internet can be positive for many reasons, but it’s all about balance. Just like most things in life, if we don’t understand it or if we use it in access or not enough then it can be harmful. For example, dark chocolate is delicious and has many health benefits but if I eat 20 bars a day then that will negatively impact my health. I think there should be more awareness and education brought around the positive ways we can use social media and the negative ways it can affect us.






References

Pantic, I. (2014). Online Social Networking and Mental Health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(10), 652–657. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0070

UC Davis Health. (2024, May 10). Social media’s impact on our mental health and tips to use it safely. Cultivating-Health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/social-medias-impact-our-mental-health-and-tips-to-use-it-safely/2024/05

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