Is Social Media Causing Childhood Depression? (bbc.com)

General practitioner Rangan Chatterjee says he has seen plenty of evidence of the link between mental ill-health in children and their use of social media. "One 16 year-old boy was referred to him after he self-harmed and ended up in A&E," reports BBC. Dr. Chatterjee was going to put him on anti-depressants, but instead worked with him to help wean him off social media. "He reported a significant improvement in his wellbeing and, after six months, I had a letter from his mother saying he was happier at school and integrated into the local community," says Dr. Chatterjee. That and similar cases have led him to question the role social media plays in the lives of young people. From the report: "Social media is having a negative impact on mental health," he said. "I do think it is a big problem and that we need some rules. How do we educate society to use technology so it helps us rather than harms us?" A 2017 study by The Royal Society of Public Health asked 1,500 young people aged 11-25 to track their moods while using the five most popular social media sites. It suggested Snapchat and Instagram were the most likely to inspire feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. YouTube had the most positive influence. Seven in 10 said Instagram made them feel worse about body image and half of 14-24-year-olds reported Instagram and Facebook exacerbated feelings of anxiety. Two-thirds said Facebook made cyber-bullying worse.

Consultant psychiatrist Louise Theodosiou says one of the clearest indications children are spending too long on their phones is their behavior during a session with a psychiatrist. "Two or three years ago, it was very unusual for a child to answer their phone or text during an appointment. But now it is common," said the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital doctor. She has seen a rise in cases where social media is a contributing factor in teenage depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. These problems are often complex and wide-ranging -- from excessive use of gaming or social media sites to feelings of inadequacy brought on by a constant bombardment of social media images of other people's lives, to cyber-bullying.

Comments

What's going on...?

[Anonymous Coward]

A few generations ago, 16 year olds lied to Army recruiters to be able to parachute into Nazi-occupied Western Europe during WWII.

Could you image all these youtube/emo/facebook kids doing that shit today?

Re:What's going on...?

[Mashiki]

The first job I had was at 9 picking rocks out of a farmers field before planting, that was in the 1980's. In the 90's it was expected that most kids by the age of 14 already had a PT job of some kind, hell at 12 I was already on the 2nd year of my mechanics apprenticeship. Fake ID for a job at 17...no wonder people think kids are coddled.

It enables, not causes

[pablo_max]

When I was growing up, kids were just as shitty as they are now. Bullies were just as prevalent. Of course, kids who got bullied only had to deal with it while at school.
With social media, these asshole kids are able to stock their targets whenever they want. So nowadays the kids who get bullied don't get an escape from the mental bullying.
Of course I know a lot of people no this site do not believe that mental suffering is a real thing and people should just shut up and stop being snowflakes. Naturally, the people who think this way grew up in their middle class white suburbs without a single obstacle in their live.
While I was fortunate enough that I never had to deal with that stuff as a kid, I know a number of people who did. 25 years on, these people are... different than other people today.
I could easily see how social media could drive a person to depression. Constant pressure, constant negative imagery and the kid feels there is not escape. Remember... Kids can be super assholes.

Re: It enables, not causes

[rmdingler]

This is why it's important that kids primarily attach emotionally to emotionally mature and caring adults in their lives. If you care more what your loving parents think about you than about your social standing with people just as immature as yourself, you will be protected from most of the hurt they could otherwise inflict.

Despite protestations to the contrary, nearly every child reaches a point in his/her development where social standing and peer acceptance is more important than the parent/child relationship. The remedy you suggest is reminiscent of the abstinence-only sex education programs to combat teen pregnancy.

It's interesting how few people admit ever being bullied. Everyone outside of a bubble has experienced bullying at some point in their life, generally because there was always a bigger kid, a big brother, cousin, or sister (sometimes a group of them).

No matter how much we would like to protect the next generation of children, particularly our own, the importance of social standing among one's peers and bullying are intertwined... it seems we may not be as evolved as we'd like to believe.