Social Media: Draining People’s Batteries
The Social Media Effect: possibly damaging mental health for approximately 90 percent of teenagers according to northshore.org. With using social media comes the positives and the negatives not only to self-esteem but also to overall health.
Bad Sleep Blues
Not getting enough sleep can lead to crankiness, sluggishness, and being tired all day which then lessens concentration, good decision making, and being able to put your all into the thing you are doing.
Social media makes people experience an information overload which then does not let their mind relax enough to be able to get to sleep, therefore affecting their sleep cycles. Sleep cycles also get affected by being exposed to their phone because of the blue light that interferes with falling asleep.
“The body’s internal body clock uses light to determine if it’s time to be awake or go to sleep,” mclaren.org states.
Some ways to solve your bad sleep cycle are to put all devices away at least 30 minutes before bedtime or have a, what mclaren.org calls, technology curfew. You can replace the devices with books, journaling, and doing art, as long as it does not have to do with a device.
Increased Depression and Anxiety
The suicide rate for girls in the age group of eighth through 12th graders has increased by 65 percent childmind.org says. The rise in depressive symptoms parallels smartphones being introduced in 2007 and 92 percent of teens using them by 2015.
Researchers have found that “[…] using too much internet can cause depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), impulsive disorder, problems with mental functioning, paranoia, and loneliness,” adaa.org states.
There is also something called social media anxiety disorder which is a mental health condition that almost 20 percent of people have adaa.org explains.
Some signs from adaa.org that you could have social media anxiety disorder:
-Interrupting conversations to check social media
-Trying to stop or reduce use of social media more than once without being successful
-Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when not able to access social media
-Spending over six hours per day on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
-Severe nervousness or anxiety when not able to check notifications
There are things that you can try so that you do not feel as much anxiety about not being on social media. One big idea is to remember that most people’s lives are not as perfect as they portray them online and you should not worry if your life does not seem to be as picturesque. That is not real life, but the one outside of your phone is, so spend time there too.
The Social Media Effect is now on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube. Give it a listen!
Addie Azevedo is an RHS senior. She is involved in GSA, academic Block R, and CSF. Her favorite part of journalism is being able to be creative with writing...
