Social media has drastically developed our ability to communicate, and offered many young people a sense of community. However, it has exposed young people to a culture of comparison and low self-esteem, diminishing their mental health state. Depression and anxiety are the most widespread mental health disorders, with a total of 6 million sufferers in the UK alone. Michaela Watson has experienced both in her 19 years of life, “I have suffered from depression from the age of 14, but I never really felt anxious until I became more and more intertwined with Instagram.” Michaela has “used social media at least an hour a day since the age of 15,” and while the feelings of anxiousness were generated, her depression continued to develop due to social media engagement.
“I have always denied that social media impacted my mental health but when I think about it, social media has triggered me to feel anxious about how the world sees me and if the thousands of people who follow me, like.” She continued to say, “Social media timelines are filled with posts of people with perfect lives. Over time it became so common that I began to believe that I was doing everything wrong, causing me to worry all the time.”
Based on the fact that social media became the catalyst for her anxiety, it became intriguing to explore whether or not this was common amongst other young people, “I think that’s hard to comment on as everyone has their own personal experience.”
“There’s so much shit young people have to deal with nowadays that it’s really hard to tell what the real problem at hand is. I definitely don’t think it helps, and maybe even magnifies and amplifies depression or anxiety in young people,” says Watson.
Although it was clear to see that despite the negative influence social media has had on Michaela’s mental health, it was clear to see that she remained fond of it, as she continuously checked her Instagram feed throughout the course of the interview. When asked about the positive impacts of social media, she went on to say that it has allowed people to feel “included and connected more than before.” Controversially, it has “spread awareness about things like depression and meant that those suffering know they’re not alone,” says Michaela.
A lot of research into the relationship between social media and mental health problems revealed that mental health disorders have become glamorised through social media. Anxiety and depression have almost developed into an online trend. According to Michaela, “In some cases, I feel like social media glamorises anxiety and depression by making people feel ‘entitled’ that they feel a certain way.”
“By ‘entitled’ I mean the way people would go about, thinking that they are almost worthy of more and deserve better than others because they experience mental health problems. Entitlement leads to the sense of feeling like you’re above everyone else, when instead, no one is above anyone, we should be in this together and combat this epidemic as a unity.”
Social media has assimilated itself into our everyday lives to such an extent that there is no way of getting rid of it. However, for the good of our younger generations, we must think of an effective way in order to tackle the issue at hand and prevent further development of mental health disorders amongst young people as a cause of social media.
When asked what the best possible solution, Michaela simply said, “Use social media as a tool and not and as a guide. I say this as someone who still doesn’t take their own advice.”
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