Social Media and Symptoms of Anxiety

Katie Hurley, LCSW, makes a persuasive argument that there is a downside of social media use by teens.  While teens use social media to join groups and make new friends, they also experience cyberbullying, trolls, toxic comparisons, sleep deprivation, and less frequent face-to-face interactions.  According to Hurley (Hurley, 2019), “Too much time spent scrolling through social media can result in symptoms of anxiety and/or depression”. Hurley explains how social media can be destructive:

• Focusing on likes: The need to gain “likes” on social media can cause teens to make choices they would otherwise not make, including altering their appearance, engaging in negative behaviors, and accepting risky social media challenges.
• Cyberbullying: Teens girls in particular are at risk of cyberbullying through use of social media, but teen boys are not immune. Cyberbullying is associated with depression, anxiety, and an elevated risk of suicidal thoughts.
• Making comparisons: Though many teens know that their peers share only their highlight reels on social media, it’s very difficult to avoid making comparisons. Everything from physical appearance to life circumstances to perceived successes and failures are under a microscope on social media.
• Having too many fake friends: Even with privacy settings in place, teens can collect thousands of friends through friends of friends on social media. The more people on the friend list, the more people have access to screenshot photos, Snaps, and updates and use them for other purposes. There is no privacy on social media.
• Less face time: Social interaction skills require daily practice, even for teens. It’s difficult to build empathy and compassion (our best weapons in the war on bullying) when teens spend more time “engaging” online than they do in person. Human connection is a powerful tool and builds skills that last a lifetime (Hurley, 2019).