Four Ways Social Media Hurts Your Mental Health

By Refiloe Phoku, additional reporting by Thandile Nkoyi

South Africans spend an average of 9 hours daily on the internet, among the highest globally. While the internet (and social media) has undeniably transformed lives, new studies increasingly show how inappropriate internet and social media use is on mental health, body image, rest and sleep as well as our relationships.

This two-part series explores social media’s problematic influences on youth mental health, self-image, and relationships.

Poor mental health outcomes

With over a billion users worldwide spending an average of 30 minutes a day on the platform, Instagram has been linked to poor mental health, especially among teens.

This does not mean that spending time on Insta is inherently or entirely bad. It depends on how people use the platforms.

The American Psychology Association (APA) reported “Instagram users who engage in digital status-seeking (looking for popularity online) and social comparison (evaluating oneself with others) tend to experience negative psychological outcomes”.

Comparing your lifestyle to others and posting for ‘likes’ or to show off have been linked to increases in depression, social anxiety and body image concerns, as well as decreases in self-esteem across age groups.

In addition, comparing yourself to some influencers’ filtered ‘glamorous’ lifestyles may cause feelings of self-doubt in some users. This may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction with your own life or progress, which can contribute to depression and anxiety.

It’s no wonder that some mental health professionals advise young people to abstain from using social media, smartphones or streaming devices when they present with mental health challenges.

Social media, insomnia and depression

If users spend nine hours daily on the internet, what are they cutting out? Some say the answer is sleep. During sleep, melatonin (a sleep hormone) is released and cannot be released in light, in this case, from the phone or other devices. So, at night most social media users cannot sleep because they are entertained by the content they are seeing on their phones and also melatonin cannot be released, which may lead to irregular sleeping patterns and insomnia.

Doctor of Psychology, Bei Bei, from the Monash School of Psychological Sciences in Clayton, Australia, stated in research on the link between depression and insomnia that “if a person does not currently have depression but goes through extended periods with sleep disturbances or insomnia, the sleep disturbances can potentially contribute to a mood disturbance or even more severe depression”.

Negative self-esteem 

Upward social comparison happens when you compare yourself to other people based on how you look, how wealthy or mobile you are, your class status, or your relationships and achievements. In online spaces, it happens when users evaluate their own lives alongside curated images of others.

These ‘others’ are usually idolised online personalities or celebrities like Boity or Somizi.

This can spiral quickly, leading to false social comparisons when users compare themselves with what they see on their news feeds.

Marketing professor Adam Alter from New York University’s Stern School of Business told APA that Instagram “is designed to be bottomless, and you don’t have to do much to access that bottomless content. Just keep scrolling”.

But if people did stop and think, they would notice the careful work that goes into producing most of the content they see, from specifically selected poses, the perfect lighting environments not visible in the frame, and the heavy editing of the images that involves the digital removal of blemishes, spots, and other facial features considered to make influencer images more Instagrammable.

To be clear, digital retouching and filters are not inherently bad, but the issue lies in how some use them without disclosing their artificiality, misleading many people in the process.

Some social media influencers whose online careers depend on their appearance heavily edit their images to get the perfect look that fits their social media aesthetic, and this is hardly disclosed to the audience.

One example is an American social media personality Kim Kardashian, who has been accused of editing her images. US Weekly magazine has more examples of celebrities and online personalities editing their images online.

It can cause self-image and esteem issues when impressionable users compare themselves with these altered images, which are unrealistic. These effects can be even more severe with younger audiences.

One-way relationships

Writing for The Guardian, author and journalist Otegha Uwagba tells a story about when she had to block a fan on her social media platforms. This followed weeks and weeks of constant texts, invites to meet-ups, and random chats from the fan, which got a tad too much for her. She did not consider it as harassment, but for someone she had never met, practically a stranger, it got a bit suffocating and excessive.

This is one example of a parasocial relationship. This term describes “people forming intense – and crucially, one-sided – attachments to celebrities or public figures”.

Now, as with most things in life, moderation is key. There is nothing wrong with having someone to look up to who happens to be a popular public figure. So, where do we draw the line then?

Well, given the nature and one-sidedness of such “relationships”, the fans making these advances can get frustrated when their efforts are not reciprocated. Things can get toxic rather quickly.

“I, too, have experienced fans whose mood turns sour when they consider themselves spurned – one minute sending congratulations on the publication of my book, the next suggesting that I am ‘full of shit’ ”, wrote Otegha.

This phenomenon, mostly intensified by the advent of social media and unlimited access to public figures, is more complex than discussed here.

The bottom line is that social media can lead to people developing attachments and one-sided relations with people online. This can affect the users’ mental states and can put the public figures at risk of cyberbullying, or worse.

Alone in an online crowd

Face-to-face communication, either with friends, family, or just in general, is essential for our well-being.

In Interpersonal Media and Face-to-Face Communication: Relationship with Life Satisfaction and Loneliness, Jeffery A. Hall found that “life satisfaction was positively associated with both having more friends and family and frequent Face-to-face (FtF) communication with them”. But this is not the whole story.

The same study found that “voice calls are most similar to FtF communication for in-the-moment affective well-being, connection, and lower loneliness” and that “video chat frequency was positively associated and text/DM frequency was negatively associated with life satisfaction”.

While learning to self-regulate is a good strategy, seeking professional help from experts is equally important. Prof Noluxolo Gcaza, Associate Professor at Mandela University and founder of the CyberCulture Foundation shares some important advice for people dealing with problematic social media use.

“If you believe you are experiencing poor mental health outcomes from problematic social media use, the first step is to consult with a mental health professional. They have the expertise to provide the necessary tools and support tailored to your situation”.

Prof Gcaza has expertise in IT and Cybersecurity Governance and focuses her research on cybersecurity awareness, strategy development for fostering cybersecurity culture, and IT governance.

“It is equally beneficial to take a proactive approach by regularly assessing your social media habits and setting boundaries around your usage, such as limiting time spent on certain platforms or unfollowing accounts that contribute to negative feelings”, says Prof Gcaza. She advises that engaging in offline activities, such as spending time with loved ones or pursuing hobbies, can also help improve your mental well-being.

Over-reliance on text-based social media for communication and socialisation can negatively impact one’s social life and mental well-being.

Moreover, the easy and round-the-clock access to people afforded by social media, causes some to value face-to-face interaction less.

However, social media can be a good stand-in mode of communication when Ftf is not feasible. Moderation is key.

This article was originally published by Khulani!, a youth media project by the Department of Media and Communication of Nelson Mandela University, based in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.