by By Emily Stevens
When I think about mental health today, I recognize how far we’ve come as a society to acknowledge and accept the struggles of it. Social media, as much as it contributes to the incline of cyberbullying and depression, has paved the way for mental health to be discussed and more accessible in our society.
25 years ago, mental health was not accessible, acknowledged, or supported like it is today. It was heavily stigmatized due to the limited public knowledge about the subject and constant widespread misconceptions about the struggles involved. As negative connotations about mental health persist today, I recognize how the major shift in social media has made mental health a topic in mainstream media.
When social media took off in the mid-2010s, everyone could share anything they wanted with the world. As people began to share their struggles and opinions on mental health, social media platforms helped raise awareness about mental health. Popular platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok quickly became valuable resources for connecting with others facing similar challenges.
In the following link, Dr. Nicole Andreoli discusses the impact of mental health through social media. She explains how social media is a force of habit and separates the meaning of social media use and overuse. When we use social media, whether from boredom or excitement, we as users experience dopamine from platforms catered to our interests. Once we experience overuse, there is a connection between anxiety, depression, body-image issues, and more, that contribute to the decline of our mental health.
Beyond the overuse of social media, issues like cyberbullying and online harassment exacerbate negative impacts on society’s mental health. As people may find social media as an entertaining distraction, so much harm exists behind the screen. Younger generations face “comparison culture”, constantly creating self-comparisons with other people online, while misinformation across the internet results in extreme psychological distress. It’s vital to be cautious of social media usage, but ultimately understand the repercussions that may occur online.
Social media simultaneously creates platforms that can harm one’s well-being while it creates an open atmosphere for people to connect and share their experiences. There is a fine line between social media’s positive and negative effects on our society, and setting personal boundaries is key to finding a healthy relationship with its benefits and drawbacks.
At the same time, mental health may not be as prominent today without the influence of social media. These platforms create accessible ways to discuss mental health challenges and receive the necessary resources. As a society, it is our due diligence to raise awareness for those suffering from mental health but recognize the contributing effects of social media. There’s both a positive and negative result from the creation of social media platforms in our generation, but what would the status of mental health look like if social media didn’t exist?
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Emily,
I love this discussion around mental health awareness in 2024. It’s such an interesting dichotomy as you brought up. One thing that has always stuck out to me is a discussion I often have with my parents: are kids nowadays more afflicted with mental health issues compared to previous generations, or do we just have more awareness surrounding the topic, leading to more accurate diagnosing? I don’t have an answer for this, but I think you bring up a lot of great points for both sides.
I believe it is very helpful, as in the past, people’s understanding of mental health and mental illness was quite limited. Socializing online is much easier than in real life, and sometimes it can be more comfortable to talk with strangers.–SHAWN
This is such an interesting topic and I have been wondering about this for a while. I have known people that have come across topics of mental health on their social medias and from those posts realized that they may have poor mental health or even a disorder. And once diagnosed, they have found community and resources from social media which I find to be very beneficial knowing you are not alone, a variety of ways to help, others you can ask questions to, etc. So whenever I read about or hear about social media causing poor mental health, I wonder does the good outweigh the bad or are they about even? Even if you develop poor mental health from social media, it would also provide a community and resources. So at least in my opinion, I think the good outweighs the bad. I think without it, a lot of us would never be able to recognize that we are living with conditions and that there is help out there, especially if coming from a home or community where mental health is not talked about.