Mental health issues linked to social media use among youth

[transplant99]

Interesting findings and not all that surprising considering the cess pool twitter etc can be at times.

Obviously nothing concrete scientifically and these are observations to this point, but more research should really be done on this. Something is responsible I'm guessing.

Mental health issues have risen significantly over the last decade and the rise of digital media may be one reason why, according to a national survey released Thursday.

The research, published by the American Psychological Association, found sharp increases in the number of young adults and adolescents who reported experiencing negative psychological symptoms — specifically in those born in 1995 or later, known as iGen. Coincidentally, the greatest spike in symptoms occurred in 2011, around the same time social media bursts onto the scene.

No corresponding increase was observed in older adults.

iGen? ugh.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/menta...-finds-n982526

[mrdonkey]

Read the article, and the link to social media use seems like a very “shark attacks and ice cream sales” kind of conclusion.

[Erick Estrada]

As a youth I struggled with mental health issues but I feel that was born of a toxic home environment. Conversely we have been having a hell of a time with my 12 year old boy and his issues despite the fact he's been afforded a stable environment that I could have only dreamed of. He's so unhappy and feels hard done by even though he has it very good. I definitely believe things went downhill for him once he got a cell phone but I don't know if taking that away is the answer as we have gone through counselling and it seems to have short term positive effects that diminish within a matter of days. It's not only my boy having the issues but his friends as well going through the same things with their families. There's definitely something to it but not a lot of answers outside of continually plugging away, trying to make things positive and paying attention to the trouble signs.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

Read the article, and the link to social media use seems like a very “shark attacks and ice cream sales” kind of conclusion.

Indeed. A survey doesn't really qualify as a study.

[bizaro86]

I have had a number of people close to me with serious mental health issues over time, including family. Given the prevalence of mental health issues that shouldn't be a surprise. But one thing I've noticed is that (anecdotally) they all have very poor sleep habits and/or trouble sleeping. While I don't have a good handle on cause/effect there obviously, it seems like lack of sleep and rest for the brain could be a precursor to mental illness. That potentially ties in with social media, as I wonder how many folks are checking facebook/instagram on their phones in bed instead of sleeping...

There is also recently published scientific papers alleging that the brains connection to the lymphatic system is much more efficient during certain types of sleep. It doesn't seem like a huge stretch to me to imagine that insufficient sleep (and thus the brain not clearing all its waste) could eventually cause problems with the brain on a biological level. I linked one study which has full text available.

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/490349

[CliffFletcher]

The Atlantic ran a provocative article on the issue a year ago:

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

The author of the article, Jean Twenge, has a book on the subject.

Social media is just part of the issue. Childhood has changed radically in the last 30 years, in ways we're only beginning to recognize. Outdoor play way down. Unsupervised play with other children way down. 12th-graders in 2015 were going out less often than eighth-graders did in 2009. All being replace largely with solitary screen time. College students today spend a full hour less a day socializing with their peers (2.5, down from 3.5) than they did even a decade ago.

Basically, we're undergoing a rapid change in how we socialize. And it's becoming clear that the ersatz socialization of digital entertainment and social media is not a real substitute for the face-to-face stuff.

The retreat from meatspace into the digital world has some positive consequence: less street crime, violence, drunk driving, etc. But those improvements are matched by subtler and more insidious downsides: increased isolation, anxiety, and depression. Turns out we aren't suited to spending 40+ hours a week alone indoors staring at glass screens. Especially during our formative years.

There's a reason the bigwigs in the tech industry severely restrict screen time and access to social media among their children. Unplugged schools are now starting to open up in the heart of Silicon Valley, where phones are prohibited and tablets are being replaced with chalk boards. These people understand the consequences of the world they've built.

Silicon Valley Parents And Industry Giants Are Banning Tech From Their Kids

[Ped]

I hetter post that on all my social media accounts

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I have had a number of people close to me with serious mental health issues over time, including family. Given the prevalence of mental health issues that shouldn't be a surprise. But one thing I've noticed is that (anecdotally) they all have very poor sleep habits and/or trouble sleeping. While I don't have a good handle on cause/effect there obviously, it seems like lack of sleep and rest for the brain could be a precursor to mental illness.

Your first error here was to create a big basket called "mental issues" and lump all mental illness in together as if they have the same causes. This is like someone saying they took a flight full of sick people and caught a cold, so that's probably how you developed lung cancer.

Your second error is to confuse a very well known symptom of depression and anxiety - inconsistent sleeping patterns - with a cause.

There is also recently published scientific papers alleging that the brains connection to the lymphatic system is much more efficient during certain types of sleep. It doesn't seem like a huge stretch to me to imagine that insufficient sleep (and thus the brain not clearing all its waste) could eventually cause problems with the brain on a biological level.

This does sound intuitively plausible, but that isn't how neuroscience works. We understand very little about the brain, and cannot reason by inference about how it will work and what stimuli will have what results. So speculation of this type attempting to link illnesses to he efficiency of the lymphatic system is basically alchemy. It does no good and likely only produces more confusion about a topic that is already fraught with misinformation and confusion.

[PepsiFree]

The link could also be attributed to the fact that with social media, you have access to a much wider array of people sharing experiences, and thus you are able to compare them to your own. This might come with a greater realisation of "this thing I thought was just being sad, actually sounds like depression, I should talk to someone."

This timing also coincides with efforts to erase the stigma behind mental illness, which encourages more people to talk with their doctor and seek advice, insight, and possibly treatment for what they're feeling or things that otherwise would have gone completely unreported even 20 years ago.

I'll never really understand why people demonize social media as an all-encompassing entity, but I usually get the feeling that they're older people still struggling with the shock of expanded access to society. Social media, the core of it, is really just other people.

[Northendzone]

to me it seems that too much exposure combined with limited life experience could really cause a young person to go into a depression if they follow a bunch of these people that are influencers and who seemingly have thier life fully organized and they are going cool places and doing cool things if you just look at the influencers social media footprint and forget that they are pushing thier brand.

but also life has become more complicated and rigid for kids relative to when we were all younger.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

to me it seems that too much exposure combined with limited life experience could really cause a young person to go into a depression

You reading posts by certain influencers will change someone's brain chemistry?

Please, do not equate depression - an illness that indicates that someone's brain is working differently than yours is - with sadness or malaise - a condition that anyone can and will experience at some point.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

to me it seems that too much exposure combined with limited life experience could really cause a young person to go into a depression if they follow a bunch of these people that are influencers and who seemingly have thier life fully organized and they are going cool places and doing cool things if you just look at the influencers social media footprint and forget that they are pushing thier brand.

but also life has become more complicated and rigid for kids relative to when we were all younger.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Your first error here was to create a big basket called "mental issues" and lump all mental illness in together as if they have the same causes. This is like someone saying they took a flight full of sick people and caught a cold, so that's probably how you developed lung cancer.

Your second error is to confuse a very well known symptom of depression and anxiety - inconsistent sleeping patterns - with a cause.


This does sound intuitively plausible, but that isn't how neuroscience works. We understand very little about the brain, and cannot reason by inference about how it will work and what stimuli will have what results. So speculation of this type attempting to link illnesses to he efficiency of the lymphatic system is basically alchemy. It does no good and likely only produces more confusion about a topic that is already fraught with misinformation and confusion.

I specifically said I don't know whether that's cause or effect in the post you quoted. I agree mental health isn't well understood, which is why it's interesting to discuss. Not too many threads on "what causes the common cold?" I think it's entirely plausible that sleep issues could be a symptom of one type of mental illness and a cause of another.

I'm not a neuroscientist, but I did post a scientific paper. I agree that mental illnesses are caused by brain chemistry, which you assert in a subsequent post. There appears to be scientific evidence that lack of sleep can affect brain chemistry. While I never claimed this was "the answer" it seems at least as likely as the social media idea in the OP.

I think it has potential as a place for further research, because maybe some mental illness is caused by a separate underlying condition causing insomnia. Again, not a neuroscientist, just a guy on a hockey forum. But if even some mental illnesses could have effective treatments, I would be pretty excited about the potential for life improvement in the people I care about. YMMV.

I think it'd quite likely that mental illness will end up like cancer. That different types will have wildly different treatments and/or cures. I'm certainly not advocating that there is a silver bullet or that mental illnesses are in any way the fault of those who have them.

[calumniate]

Interesting, I'd just read an article in the Times which depicted human interaction as becoming a luxury good:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/s...y-screens.html

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

think it has potential as a place for further research, because maybe some mental illness is caused by a separate underlying condition causing insomnia. Again, not a neuroscientist, just a guy on a hockey forum.

This is more or less my point, though. Why do we have guys (nowhere near just you) on hockey forums speculating about the scientific causes and instantiations of non-specified mental illnesses? As you yourself admit, you're not qualified to wonder whether "folks are checking facebook/instagram on their phones in bed instead of sleeping", thus somehow producing mental illness in some form or other. It'd be a lot easier to dispel myths about this topic, and thereby decrease the surrounding stigma, if there was less nonsense floating about.

There is considerably less reliable data, less scientific understanding of (for example) depression than there is cancer. Yet you'd probably agree with me that you would be hard pressed to find threads in online forums like Calgarypuck, filled with amateur oncologists speculating about the causes and effects of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. That would be seen as a misleading waste of time and in somewhat bad taste given that there are actual people living with cancer, and those who know them, who aren't any more interested in reading armchair diagnoses and speculation about it. I swear, if I have to read one more meme or facebook status about how someone's homeopathic remedy does wonders for "feelings of depression" I'm going to burn down a health food store. Insert joke about social media causing violent outbursts here.

This complaint is, of course, a very different thing from talking about living with the illness and empathizing with people affected by it, which we see plenty of on this board and can only be appreciated. The amateur musings about the nature of the illness itself are, for me, frustrating, because they contribute to the broad misunderstandings and erroneous information that are the norm in the public discourse. Speaking for myself, I wish people would do a lot less pondering aloud on this subject.

[Northendzone]

do you not think that perhaps following a bunch of these people could add another log on the fire so to speak for someone who is already struggling?

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

You reading posts by certain influencers will change someone's brain chemistry?

Please, do not equate depression - an illness that indicates that someone's brain is working differently than yours is - with sadness or malaise - a condition that anyone can and will experience at some point.

[tvp2003]

Don't have anything to add to the "brain chemistry" debate, but I was forwarded a link to this website and plan to spend some time reading up on it: https://www.commonsense.org/

In the meantime, I did watch this video: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/vid...as-kids-hooked

With kids not yet in their teenage years, it was eye opening to say the least.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

The link could also be attributed to the fact that with social media, you have access to a much wider array of people sharing experiences, and thus you are able to compare them to your own. This might come with a greater realisation of "this thing I thought was just being sad, actually sounds like depression, I should talk to someone."

It also comes with a gnawing anxiety that you don't measure up. Because the images people present on social media are curated. Older adults usually recognize that their friends' Facebook pages are self-aggrandising bull####. But teens are often naive enough to think those Instagram pics are an accurate depiction of the awesome life everyone else has, which is why heavy use correlates with anxiety and depression - everyone else is having fun all the time, why aren't I?

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I'll never really understand why people demonize social media as an all-encompassing entity, but I usually get the feeling that they're older people still struggling with the shock of expanded access to society.

I know you enjoy your Old vs Young narrative, but it's experts raising the alarms bells here, not Olds. Again, why do you think the elite, especially the tech elite, are pulling back severely on social media use by their children? They have the expertise to understand what this stuff is doing to young minds, and the discipline to try to protect their kids from it (just as the educated elites were the first to stop smoking in front of their kids and feeding them count chocula every morning for breakfast).

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Social media, the core of it, is really just other people.

Sorry, but it really isn't. Social media is facile, largely fabricated, and has perverse incentives baked into it. It's simply no substitute for close proximity to real, breathing people who care about you. That's not old man yelling at clouds stuff, but substantiated science.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...1005080109.htm

We're social animals. Apes. We get sick without regular physical contact with other humans.