Anxious? Depressed? Do you use social media?

[levnishbar]

Social Media and Mental Health by Luca Braghieri, Roee Levy, Alexey Makarin :: SSRN

The diffusion of social media coincided with a worsening of mental health conditions among adolescents and young adults in the United States, giving rise to speculation that social media might be detrimental to mental health. In this paper, we provide quasi-experimental estimates of the impact of social media on mental health by leveraging a unique natural experiment: the staggered introduction of Facebook across U.S. colleges. Our analysis couples data on student mental health around the years of Facebook's expansion with a generalized difference-in-differences empirical strategy. We find that the roll-out of Facebook at a college increased symptoms of poor mental health, especially depression. We also find that, among students predicted to be most susceptible to mental illness, the introduction of Facebook led to increased utilization of mental healthcare services. Lastly, we find that, after the introduction of Facebook, students were more likely to report experiencing impairments to academic performance resulting from poor mental health. Additional evidence on mechanisms suggests that the results are due to Facebook fostering unfavorable social comparisons.

Perhaps it is time to stop. I never got on the social media bandwagon and am glad I never did!

 

[.Mikha'el.]

Correlation isn't causation.

 

[levnishbar]

Correlation isn't causation.

Correct, but correlation points researchers to examine the relationship further and objectively look for a causal relationship. This is still an area of active research.


https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851

The impact of social media use on incidence of depression, anxiety and psychological distress among adolescents, as examined by this review, is likely to be multifactorial. It is important to distinguish between the terms used for the relationship. It is fair to say that there is an ‘association’ between social media use and mental health problems, on the basis that this means a socially constructed reality. But this is not necessarily scientifically valid. Objective researchers investigate correlations rather than accepting socially assumed truths. Correlation is statistical, not phenomenal. Thirdly, there is causation, which requires directional evidence. The latter has not been adequately investigated in this topic, and we must, therefore, state that the relationship is correlational but not conclusively causative.

Key findings of included studies were classified into four categories of exposure to social media: time spent; activity; investment; and addiction. All these categories were found as correlated with depression, anxiety and psychological distress, with an acknowledgement for the complexity of these relationships. Although there are studies which investigated mediating and moderating factors that may contribute or exacerbate the proposed relationship, there are still several underexplored mediators and moderators, which may explain the direction of this relationship. We also identified gaps in literature in terms of methods, study design and sampling. Causality was unclear due to the cross-sectional study design used in almost all studies and the lack of comparison group in the cohort study. Also, the number of quantitative studies in literature is substantially higher than qualitative studies. Through this systematic review, we hope we contribute to the existing literature in the way of addressing the gaps and highlighting the importance of the phenomenon of the mental health impact of social media use on adolescents.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

Correct, but correlation points researchers to examine the relationship further and objectively look for a causal relationship. This is still an area of active research.


https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851

The impact of social media use on incidence of depression, anxiety and psychological distress among adolescents, as examined by this review, is likely to be multifactorial. It is important to distinguish between the terms used for the relationship. It is fair to say that there is an ‘association’ between social media use and mental health problems, on the basis that this means a socially constructed reality. But this is not necessarily scientifically valid. Objective researchers investigate correlations rather than accepting socially assumed truths. Correlation is statistical, not phenomenal. Thirdly, there is causation, which requires directional evidence. The latter has not been adequately investigated in this topic, and we must, therefore, state that the relationship is correlational but not conclusively causative.

Key findings of included studies were classified into four categories of exposure to social media: time spent; activity; investment; and addiction. All these categories were found as correlated with depression, anxiety and psychological distress, with an acknowledgement for the complexity of these relationships. Although there are studies which investigated mediating and moderating factors that may contribute or exacerbate the proposed relationship, there are still several underexplored mediators and moderators, which may explain the direction of this relationship. We also identified gaps in literature in terms of methods, study design and sampling. Causality was unclear due to the cross-sectional study design used in almost all studies and the lack of comparison group in the cohort study. Also, the number of quantitative studies in literature is substantially higher than qualitative studies. Through this systematic review, we hope we contribute to the existing literature in the way of addressing the gaps and highlighting the importance of the phenomenon of the mental health impact of social media use on adolescents.

The problem with your argument is that there may not be any such causal relationship.

 

[levnishbar]

The problem with your argument is that there may not be any such causal relationship.

‎There may not be, but people make decisions in life based on incomplete information, including statistical correlations without an established causal relationship. Or to just try something and see if it works for you.

In my OP, I said "Perhaps", suggesting that people with anxiety/depression may want to try taking a break from social media and seeing if it helps. A causal relationship was never advanced.

Perhaps it is time to stop.

 

[Lady Bug]

Social Media and Mental Health by Luca Braghieri, Roee Levy, Alexey Makarin :: SSRN

The diffusion of social media coincided with a worsening of mental health conditions among adolescents and young adults in the United States, giving rise to speculation that social media might be detrimental to mental health. In this paper, we provide quasi-experimental estimates of the impact of social media on mental health by leveraging a unique natural experiment: the staggered introduction of Facebook across U.S. colleges. Our analysis couples data on student mental health around the years of Facebook's expansion with a generalized difference-in-differences empirical strategy. We find that the roll-out of Facebook at a college increased symptoms of poor mental health, especially depression. We also find that, among students predicted to be most susceptible to mental illness, the introduction of Facebook led to increased utilization of mental healthcare services. Lastly, we find that, after the introduction of Facebook, students were more likely to report experiencing impairments to academic performance resulting from poor mental health. Additional evidence on mechanisms suggests that the results are due to Facebook fostering unfavorable social comparisons.

Perhaps it is time to stop. I never got on the social media bandwagon and am glad I never did!

I have noticed that I no longer read the Bible anymore or any other spiritual book like I used to. I also have noticed that I no longer can wake up or go to bed on time anymore. I have little motivation to leave the house or take care of overdue tasks in my house anymore. I'm always looking at my phone - as if something will just pop out of it like jack-in-the-box. I used to be better. I notice however that I can sit for at least an hour at a time and mindlessly lurk on social media and realize that I could have done something different with my time and then I feel depressed afterwards. I can't figure out whether my use of social media is a cause or an effect of feeling depressed and anxious. My quality of life has deteriorated with the overuse of social media. I like social media to an extent though. It doesn't always have to be a negative thing but it can make me feel like a zombie beyond a certain point.

 

[levnishbar]

Have you thought about trying to take a social media break?

Try going on for one week without social media - uninstall the apps on your phone. Commit to reading the Bible first thing in the morning when you wake up, and see how you feel after a week.

An interesting talk by a neuroscientist:

 

[Frank Robert]

‎There may not be, but people make decisions in life based on incomplete information, including statistical correlations without an established causal relationship. Or to just try something and see if it works for you.

The thing to look for isdoes social media do more of "something" that would not be encounter as frequently w/o social media." My hypothesis is that social media puts susceptible young people into competitive situations that are there for all their friends and peers to witness.

In my OP, I said "Perhaps", suggesting that people with anxiety/depression may want to try taking a break from social media and seeing if it helps. A causal relationship was never advanced.

A major problem with social media is that it is addictive. My field is addictive psychology so I could be biased.

My suggestion for young people and the not so young is to learn how to manage stress reduction. A good place to start is with Benson's relaxation response. It's both atheist and Christian friendly.

 

[Susie~Q]

Have you thought about trying to take a social media break?

Try going on for one week without social media - uninstall the apps on your phone. Commit to reading the Bible first thing in the morning when you wake up, and see how you feel after a week.

An interesting talk by a neuroscientist:

I use to be on Facebook all the time, morning, noon and evening before bed. I knew it wasn't good to be there that often and I was actually getting irritated with it anyway, so.....I deactivated the account about a month ago, I went back a few days ago and really did not like it at all so I deactivated again, I may even delete the account. I am finding I do more now such as bible reading and devotional reading plus taking walks, playing with my kitties, and be "normal" like I was before Facebook. Facebook is so negative now and a person certainly can't say what they want if they are conservative or Christian without getting a bunch of flack, I don't need it, sure, I miss the cute pictures I posted and some of the friends I had there, but all in all, nope, it isn't for me anymore.

 

[Susie~Q]

I have noticed that I no longer read the Bible anymore or any other spiritual book like I used to. I also have noticed that I no longer can wake up or go to bed on time anymore. I have little motivation to leave the house or take care of overdue tasks in my house anymore. I'm always looking at my phone - as if something will just pop out of it like jack-in-the-box. I used to be better. I notice however that I can sit for at least an hour at a time and mindlessly lurk on social media and realize that I could have done something different with my time and then I feel depressed afterwards. I can't figure out whether my use of social media is a cause or an effect of feeling depressed and anxious. My quality of life has deteriorated with the overuse of social media. I like social media to an extent though. It doesn't always have to be a negative thing but it can make me feel like a zombie beyond a certain point.

I use to be on Facebook all the time, morning, noon and evening before bed. I knew it wasn't good to be there that often and I was actually getting irritated with it anyway, so.....I deactivated the account about a month ago, I went back a few days ago and really did not like it at all so I deactivated again, I may even delete the account. I am finding I do more now such as reading inspiration books by some of my favorite authors and devotional reading plus taking walks, playing with my kitties, and be "normal" like I was before Facebook. Facebook is so negative now and a person certainly can't say what they want if they are conservative or Christian without getting a bunch of flack, I don't need it, sure, I miss the cute pictures I posted and some of the friends I had there, but all in all, nope, it isn't for me anymore.

I truly think that people can get addicted to it, like anything else. I think over-use of it (or anything for that matter) is not healthy and can definitely cause depression and that "zombie" feeling you are having. I use to "lurk" on FB for hours and I now realize what a waste of time it was, what benefits did I get from it, NONE, in fact, it would depress more when I would see posts about wives getting things from their husbands and how happy they were, or folks bragging about their happy life, etc. I did enjoy the Christian pages, but even they were getting more "secular" I don't know, it just isn't the same for me anymore. Oh, and lately no one was commenting or even "liking" what I posted and on some of them, I took a lot of time to make them good. My husband, Steve, works for hours making very informative posts to share on FB, they are excellent, but no one ever mentions them or "likes" them, it really is upsetting, he could do so much more with his time, I am glad that now he is taking up wood working and making cute furniture, he is outside more and I think may seem happier.

I think if you "deactivate" for a while and do as Levnishbar has suggested, you might be happier and some of the feelings you have may leave, it is sure worth a try.

 

[Lady Bug]

I use to be on Facebook all the time, morning, noon and evening before bed. I knew it wasn't good to be there that often and I was actually getting irritated with it anyway, so.....I deactivated the account about a month ago, I went back a few days ago and really did not like it at all so I deactivated again, I may even delete the account. I am finding I do more now such as reading inspiration books by some of my favorite authors and devotional reading plus taking walks, playing with my kitties, and be "normal" like I was before Facebook. Facebook is so negative now and a person certainly can't say what they want if they are conservative or Christian without getting a bunch of flack, I don't need it, sure, I miss the cute pictures I posted and some of the friends I had there, but all in all, nope, it isn't for me anymore.

I truly think that people can get addicted to it, like anything else. I think over-use of it (or anything for that matter) is not healthy and can definitely cause depression and that "zombie" feeling you are having. I use to "lurk" on FB for hours and I now realize what a waste of time it was, what benefits did I get from it, NONE, in fact, it would depress more when I would see posts about wives getting things from their husbands and how happy they were, or folks bragging about their happy life, etc. I did enjoy the Christian pages, but even they were getting more "secular" I don't know, it just isn't the same for me anymore. Oh, and lately no one was commenting or even "liking" what I posted and on some of them, I took a lot of time to make them good. My husband, Steve, works for hours making very informative posts to share on FB, they are excellent, but no one ever mentions them or "likes" them, it really is upsetting, he could do so much more with his time, I am glad that now he is taking up wood working and making cute furniture, he is outside more and I think may seem happier.

I think if you "deactivate" for a while and do as Levnishbar has suggested, you might be happier and some of the feelings you have may leave, it is sure worth a try.

I agree with everything you have posted. I think that social media is not just making us feel like depressed zombies, it is doing this to others too even though they may not be aware of the cause. Like you I have been on it morning, day, and evening, mindlessly lurking, posting adorable cats (they are adorable no doubt, probably the only good thing about FB) but I can completely relate to you in the sense that no one "likes" the cat posts. I don't think I'd delete my FB account because I have accumulated so many Liked cat pages; they're too cute IMHO but posting the cats hasn't provided me any tangible benefits. I still haven't gotten out of posting them because they're cute, but yeah - what is it yielding?

I don't have FB friends where I have to worry about seeing pics of them and their spouses/significant others, but I'm lucky. I also don't put anyone from high school on there. When I used to, I never felt more depressed in my entire life. Not just because of me comparing myself to them, but because it was all the same grandstanding, posturing, and cliques. It makes me wonder if any of them changed. It was mindboggling. I deleted that account a long time ago.

That being said, I still feel a sense of emptiness and pointlessness on my current account. My FB friends are way better on this account than they were on previous ones though. I'm thankful for them, but I can't always spend time on FB and feel sane.

 

[Susie~Q]

"Lady Bug, post: 76922323, member: 200265"]I agree with everything you have posted. I think that social media is not just making us feel like depressed zombies, it is doing this to others too even though they may not be aware of the cause. Like you I have been on it morning, day, and evening, mindlessly lurking, posting adorable cats (they are adorable no doubt, probably the only good thing about FB) but I can completely relate to you in the sense that no one "likes" the cat posts. I don't think I'd delete my FB account because I have accumulated so many Liked cat pages; they're too cute IMHO but posting the cats hasn't provided me any tangible benefits. I still haven't gotten out of posting them because they're cute, but yeah - what is it yielding?
I even saw something on the news a while back that said things similar to what you and I have said. They also said that Instagram was causing a lot of teen girls to want to commit suicide because the photos would say they should look like the models and of course, that is almost impossible. I love the kitty cats too, they always made me smile and I also loved the lovely pictures I would post of lovely scenery and of course cats, some are beautiful artwork. I probably won't go so far as to "delete" I like all my pictures and some "like" pages, but even now, I do not miss them. I know sometimes that when I would log out after being on for a long period of time, I would feel sort of vague in the brain and it would take a while to get back to normality.
I don't have FB friends where I have to worry about seeing pics of them and their spouses/significant others, but I'm lucky. I also don't put anyone from high school on there. When I used to, I never felt more depressed in my entire life. Not just because of me comparing myself to them, but because it was all the same grandstanding, posturing, and cliques. It makes me wonder if any of them changed. It was mind-boggling. I deleted that account a long time ago.
Most of the "friends" I have are married, and many are fortunate in the fact that they have money and can do things, one of which is the husband giving his wife nice things. The ones that don't have a lot have husbands that at least give them nice little notes at times, I feel so unloved when I see these things, so, I am best not even seeing them. I have no friends from high school, I actually only went to Freshman year then we moved and I would have been way behind in the studies in the high school in the new place we moved too, so, I finished my schooling via correspondence course. I don't think I would have had any of the ones I did know as a "friend" anyway, I never really got along with any of them, I didn't have the same interests that they did, I was a loner.
That being said, I still feel a sense of emptiness and pointlessness on my current account. My FB friends are way better on this account than they were on previous ones though. I'm thankful for them, but I can't always spend time on FB and feel sane
It certainly does make a person feel empty, it does me as well, it is fun for awhile, but after that, I do not see much point in it. I am glad that your friends are nicer than then ones you had on your other account, I did not know you then. I had, at one time, told my friends on my list that I was leaving and if they wanted to get a hold of me and talk, I would give them my email address, I was hurt that only a few did, the rest didn't, so, that tells me that they really are not "friends" at all, just acquaintances. [/QUOTE]