Intersection Between Social Media and Mental Health

• Social media use has both positive and negative impacts on user’s mental health. 
• A controlled and responsible use of social media can protect mental health.
• Always seek mental help from professional experts rather than relying on social media.

In today’s age of high-speed internet, everything is accessible at the spur of the moment. Social media’s access to people’s lives includes giving them mental health advice and diagnosing their mental health issues. The Internet’s mental health diagnosis could be unreliable, but its impact on sensitizing people to mental health issues is undeniably far-reaching.  

How Social Media Positively Affects Our Lives and in Turn, Our Mental Health

In today’s age of technological advancement, social media has affected different aspects of our lives positively. It has brought people closer, made them kinder, and has also tried to make the world a better place.

Helps People Have Emotional Connections

Social media brings people closer to one another. It gives people a platform to verbalize their emotions. At times this also leads to people finding those who resonate with them, commonly known as internet friends. This is especially beneficial for those who find it difficult to form ‘offline’ connections. This way social media boosts their morale, having a positive impact on their mental health.

A Great Asset in Sensitizing People on Mental Health

Many mental health professionals are posting content on social media on why mental health issues are a serious thing. This has played a great role in educating people on the importance of mental health. As a result, the taboo around seeking ‘therapy’ has gone down significantly. Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for mental health treatment has continued to increase. Social media addressed how issues during the pandemic such as unemployment, fear, stress, anxiety, etc could affect people’s mental health. It encouraged people to open up online and seek professional help.

Supports and Affirms Body Positivity

 Body shaming is one of many things that could be detrimental to an individual’s self-esteem and mental health. The Social media community’s constant insistence on practicing body positivity and declaring body-shaming ‘uncool’ makes for a wholesome virtual environment. It is one of the good ways in which social media can affect mental health. With this, social media helps its users to develop a healthy relationship with oneself.

Negative Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

Social media has a lot to offer from making connections to showing off creativity. However, social media’s active role in almost every aspect of our lives has also led to negative consequences.

Cyberbullying

Social media has observed both, people’s kindness towards others and people harassing others simply for the fun of it. This could be recognized as an effect of lack of accountability and apparent anonymity arising out of social media. Users of social media face this issue which causes them mental, physical or at times monetary harm. Such kind of unacceptable and harmful behaviour could cause mental trauma and loss of confidence to the adverse party. 

Inferiority Complex

Social media has indeed brought the world closer and enabled users to share their life updates rather easily.  However, the ability to have an easy peep into other’s life through their social media content could give rise to envy. It creates a feeling of social exclusion leading to a feeling of inferiority complex in the minds of some users. This makes individuals think less of themselves, they could be making unnecessary efforts to show-off more on social media, etc. Inferiority complex could lead to social exclusion which is also known as Fear of Missing Out, as termed by GenZ. This FOMO seems to be impacting teenagers the most.

Insomnia and Lack of Concentration: Excessive Use of Social Media

Social media use and sleep disturbance are correlative. Studies have shown that excessive and compulsive use of social media causes problems of troubled sleeping and lack of concentration. This could have severe and long-term consequences on a person’s mental health also affecting their capacity to remain productive.

How to Make an Intersection Between Social Media and Mental Health a Smooth Road Ahead

Social media is one of the best ways in which the internet has been put to use. It is designed to facilitate communication between people and to make the whole world available on a fingertip. However, its misuse and overuse has resulted in severe mental distress to many. To avoid the same we could follow the following things: 

• Start practicing empathy and kindness as virtues and not just because they are trending. 
• Use social media in a self-regulated and responsible manner. 
• As well-aware and responsible adults, help students especially children, navigate mental health. One way of doing could be by restricting the use of social media by children or permit it only under adult supervision.
• Try not to fall for mental health advice from self-proclaimed mental health experts on social media. Always seek professional help.  
• Addiction to social media could also lead to imposter syndrome which could be conquered by learning to celebrate self-worth. 

An intersection of social media and mental health could bring out both positive and negative outcomes. Responsible use of social media and awareness and attempts to prioritize mental health would result in a harmonious intersection.