How does social media affect our mental/physical health?

HOW MENTAL HEALTH AFFECTS US 

ADDICTIVE 

Studies show that 63% of Americans log on to Facebook daily, and 40% log on multiple times each day. People use the site for many reasons but it usually serves the same basic purposes: distraction and boredom relief. “Likes” and comments are positive reinforcement for posting information, making it difficult for a person to stop. Researchers have found this so common that they created a scale to measure this addiction.   

COMPARING OUR LIVES 

Posts on social media many times present an idealized version of what’s happening, what something looks like, or how things are going. This can lead users to constantly compare themselves to others and think less of their own lives. If things are going particularly well for people in your newsfeed and you’re having a rough day, of course this will likely negatively affect your mood. In fact, in 2012 a team of researchers in the UK surveyed users, 53% of people said social media had changed their behavior and 51% said it was negative behavior because of decline in confidence they felt due to unfair comparisons to others. 

UNHAPPINESS/DEPRESSION. 

A study from the University of Michigan collected data about Facebook users and how it affected their moods. Simply put, they found that the more active users were overall more unhappy than those who used the site less. Over more time, active users also reported lower satisfaction in their lives because they see what other people are doing and feel their life isn't as great. 

STRESS AND PRESSURE 

There are many different ways teenage girls can feel pressured. Pressure to be perfect. To look perfect, act perfect, have the perfect body, have the perfect group of friends, the perfect amount of likes on Instagram. And if you don’t meet these ridiculously high standards, then you lose self esteem or feel that no one likes you. Social media also can also cause stress. Sometimes when you post things you feel stressed about what people are going to think about the way you look or anything like that. 

5 WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA CAN AFFECT PHYSICALLY  

POSTURE 

Numerous medical and scientific studies have shown that people who own more devices and spend more time on social media have developed rounder shoulders, vertebrae disorders, spinal curves and neck pain. This shows that if you spent larger amounts of time on social media your muscles and bones could reflect that.  

EYESIGHT 

Over time the population of people with nearsightedness has gone from the average age of 50 and older to as young as teenagers, this is because younger people are using devices and social media. This affects eyesight because the blue light in screens damages retinas and lead to worsening of a persons eyesight. A study from 2010 showed that people who spent significantly less time on social media others and more time outside, have less eye problems if any. 

DISRUPTED SLEEP  

Satisfactory sleep occurs from the body producing melatonin – a bodily function that regulates sleep and wake. It can do this by adjusting correctly to the darkness and surroundings, if people are in contact with the blue light of screens directly before attempting sleep the melatonin won't be as beneficial as possible resulting in an unrestful sleep. This results in tiredness, bad moods, less energy to do exercise or physical movement. 

DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE 

When on social media we are exposed to many different things, it is popular to follow or keep up with role models or celebrities that a person likes meaning one would see a large section of their life and what they do. A lot of fans of famous people copy things their role model is doing or saying or wearing, if said role model has a vice or frowned upon habitat such as smoking, excessive drinking or drug use, it can seem 'cool' or 'trendy' to do so too. 

A study that explored the relationship between teenagers, social media, and drug use found that 70% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 use social media, and that those who interact with it on a daily basis are five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana. In addition, 40% said they had been exposed to pictures of people under the influence via social media, suggesting correlation between the two factors. This shows that celebrities or famous people on social media can romanticize drug use, alcohol consumption and smoking. 

LACK OF EXERCISE 

Research shows that people who spend time on social media tend to spend long periods of time multiple times a day, this takes over time to do other things such as exercise. This shows that the more people use social media, the less people will get sufficient exercise. This increases lack of health and can cause brain problems, heart problems, body weight problems and lack of energy and motivation.  

 OUR OWN STATISTICS 

As we can tell by the varying responses we were given by the group surveyed (a small portion of year 10 girls), most girls think that social media isn’t good nor bad. They think it’s a thing that is good in small doses, and needs to be limited in order for them to enjoy the real world. 

We had two open questions that were: 

How has social media affected you physically?
How has social media affected you mentally?  

Many of the girls had similar answers to these questions, all along the lines of ‘don’t get to experience the real world as much’ and ‘social media is fun, but I need to have limits.’  

Along with some of the statistics from the other questions, these answers made sense. 46% of the girls we surveyed said they tend to use social media for at least 3-4 hours daily. Along with school, extra-curricular activities, homework and family things, this is a large portion of a teenagers time.   

64% of girls who completed the survey said they had experienced some kind of bullying on social media (including being bullied and being the bully.) They said this affected self esteem, how they see themselves and confidence. Since the girls are on social media so much, this isn’t overly common. 

According to the survey, social media hasn’t affected any of the girls physically. 

Mentally however, the surveyed said their personal views on themselves have changed, their outlooks on others have changed and they are less confident in real life.  

Girls have said they experienced ‘at least one case of a disturbing or inappropriate  theme’ in social media, some of which have affected them.