How Does Social Media Affect Adolescent Mental Health?

Most teens today have several social media accounts. From TikTok to Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and more, there is a wide range of social media apps that can significantly impact a teen’s mental health in more ways than one. In this article, you’ll learn more about how does social media affect adolescent mental health.

At Nashville Child & Family Wellness, we offer a wide range of personalized treatment services to help clients reach their unique health and wellness goals. From treating mood disorders to learning challenges to speech and language difficulties, and more, we help children, teens, and adults live a healthier life. Call our office today to learn more about how we can help you improve your health. 

5 Ways Social Media Affects Mental Health

Many people may wonder “how does social media affect adolescent mental health, anyways?” Although healthy social media use can help connect teens to friends and family members online, more often than not social media use overwhelmingly harms teens’ mental health. Below are five ways social media affects mental health. 

Social Comparison

On social media, teens are constantly flooded with images, videos, and other content that is not just from their peers but from virtually anyone who has access to a smartphone across the world. While social media is a great place to learn and gain perspective from other parts of the world that may be different from your own, social media fuels this toxic sense of comparison. 

Many teens compare factors like their physical appearance, status, etc., to both peers online and other social media influencers they may see online. This comparison can ultimately make a teen feel “less than” or decrease their sense of self-confidence or self-esteem, wrongfully thinking that because they don’t look a certain way, or have certain things, they are not good enough.

Cyberbullying

Although social media can be a great way to share and connect with friends and family, teens are extremely vulnerable to cyberbullying online. This is especially given the ability to remain (for the most part) anonymous online. Cyberbullying can inevitably hurt a teen’s self-confidence and self-esteem, and unfortunately, it’s difficult to stop cyberbullying from occurring.

Lack of Sleep

Social media also negatively impacts many teens’ sleep schedule. Many teens spend hours at night on social media, which sacrifices time that could have been spent getting quality sleep. And, a lack of getting consistent quality sleep negatively impacts a person’s overall health and well-being.

Addiction

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 1 in 5 teens report using YouTube “almost constantly”. And YouTube isn’t the only social media platform that is highly addictive to teens. Other platforms like Instagram and TikTok are not only time wasters, but many teens spend hours each day using these social media platforms. 

All this time each and every day, constantly using social media isn’t just bad for teens’ overall mental health, but this social media addiction takes time away from teens to build relationships with friends and family members. Or the opportunity to learn more about themselves and trying new hobbies and activities that could positively build up their sense of self-confidence. 

Unrealistic Expectations

Last but not least, social media is filled with photoshopped and heavily edited images. Unfortunately, many adolescents assume these edited videos and images are real and set unrealistic expectations that if that’s what they see online, then that content must be true and reality. This can be extremely harmful to a teen’s body image as they may then strive to achieve certain unrealistic expectations that are either unachievable or are only achievable through cosmetic surgery.

Improve Your Health & Well-Being Today

Now you know more about how does social media affect adolescent mental health. There’s no denying that social media can negatively impact many users’ mental health and well-being, not just adolescents! Social media is more than just a time sucker, social media is highly addictive and can expose teens to all sorts of content that can be harmful and negatively impact their self-confidence, body image, self-esteem, and more.

Looking to improve your overall health and well-being? Nashville Child and Family Wellness Center offers a variety of specialty programs to target your exact mental and behavioral challenges so you can live a happier, healthier life. Call our office to learn more about how we can help you overcome these challenges and live a healthier life.