Does Social Media Cause Depression?
Picture it: You’re killing time before running an errand, waiting in a restaurant for a friend to show up, or just relaxing before bed. Without even thinking you pull out your phone and scroll through Instagram or TikTok just hoping to pass the time with a few funny videos or see what your friends are doing. Suddenly you look up and half an hour (or more!) has gone by and you’re feeling some type of way. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s certainly not good.
If this sounds familiar, you are certainly not alone. With 4.62 billion people engaging with some type of social media platform, more and more people are reporting that they feel disconnected, empty, or depressed after using it. Despite touting that they promote connection and social interaction, these apps actually sow isolation. There is so much attention focused on growing your own social media presence, that real-life relationships and hobbies can crumble.
A Brief History of Social Media Platforms
Online social media platforms have been around to some degree since the late 1990s and early 2000s. The internet became more accessible to younger kids who craved spaces to express themselves and connect with like-minded folks. Blogs became all the rage, and people started to feel increasingly comfortable sharing intimate details of their daily life with perfect strangers. Sites like LiveJournal and Diaryland normalized the idea of putting your inner thoughts and opinions out there for the world to absorb. Then MySpace came along, and we started to see how toxic social media could be; if you are an elder-Millennial like myself you might remember or even participated in the drama involved with ranking all your MySpace Friends in one of those coveted top-8 spots on your front page. Honestly, we should have seen how toxic social media could be from the start.
With Facebook debuting to the world around 2005-2006, social media leveled up to a form of social networking that was almost intoxicating. Sites like Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, and TikTok followed over the next few years. In 2007 the first iPhone dropped; for the first time people were no longer chained to a computer to access social media sites. Very quickly mobile apps hit the scene. Now social media was accessible 24/7 with just a few swipes of your thumb. Technology improved, cameras for posting best pictures improved, and most importantly, investors and advertisers began understanding just how much money could be made in the space. The key, of course, was to make as many people as possible engage with social media for as long as possible. App developers, therefore, made sure that every upgrade and new feature they rolled out would make the platform that much more addictive to the user. The how and why of social media addiction is too much for this post, so I will definitely cover it in the very near future!
Why Social Media Makes You Feel Bad
Since social media is still a relatively new technology, we are still just learning about the impact it has on our mental health. Research is still investigating all of the nuances that are at play, but the preliminary reports are pretty discouraging. Most of the early data shows a definite link between social media and its impact on mental health.
Social media taps into our primal need to compare ourselves to our peers. When we were primitive beings, being accepted by peers increased chances of survival by sharing food, resources, and offering protection from predators. It is a deep-seeded drive of ours to continuously assess what our peers are doing and alter our behavior so that we are accepted by the “popular” group, the group that has the most to offer and is in the best position for survival. It doesn’t matter if the social group is the strongest and fastest males in the village whose friends will get first dibs on the antelope they hunted, or the cool kids sitting at the cool table in the high school cafeteria deciding who gets to each lunch with them. It is part of the human DNA to crave being part of social groups, and ideally those social groups that are considered strong or powerful.
What does this have to do with social media? When we see so many of our friends or influencers of a similar age on social media and they seem to be living it up, living their best life, it triggers that primal anxiety in us. When we see our friends at a party that we were not invited to, we wonder what is wrong with us. If kept unchecked, it can quickly spiral into full blown depression or anxiety. This mentality can lead to poor body image, poor financial decisions, low self-esteem, even thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Any mental health disorders that may have been rumbling around in the background of someone’s life can be significantly exacerbated by social media.
And we know that social media is not real. Logically we know that friends and influencers alike will spend hours taking the perfect picture with the best filter, along with some inspirational (but simultaneously gag-inducing) caption about manifesting one’s best life. We know that when someone posts lovey-dovey photos of their relationship they are also not highlighting the genuinely hard work and navigating conflict that relationships also require. So we know that photos, posts, and videos are fake. But when we’re scrolling for hours and seeing endless posts of social media influencers’ outfits, vacations, cars, accessories, or lifestyle, it is difficult to access that rational part of our brain. In fact, our brains are doing what they are designed to do, which is build narratives. Our brains will naturally fill in the blanks and create stories when given small bits of information. So if we see someone taking a picture on a Bali beach, we naturally assume they are having a great life, full of traveling and enviable adventures. Then we look around at our own life and feel inadequate in comparison. Cue the mental health spiral.
Effect of Social Media on Our Brains
Social struggles aside, research is showing that social media is absolutely impacting our brains and affecting its neurochemistry. Our brains are programmed to release dopamine when we have successful social interactions, meaning every time we engage with people and they respond positively, with smiles or laughter or words of affirmation, our brains release dopamine. This again goes back to our brains original purpose, which was simply to keep us alive. And if the brain could make it so that we enjoy social interactions and want to be part of the group, that would increase our chances of not getting eaten by a lion.
Fast forward to 2023, and social media designers have figured out how to tap into this primal instinct that we all have. Push notifications, “likes,” and messages activate the same neural pathways that release dopamine as traditional social interactions do. The notifications can be so intense from social media that our brain floods with dopamine. To compensate, and because our brain is constantly trying to keep us in a state of balance, the brain will produce less dopamine over time. Eventually this leads to a dopamine deficit in our brain, making us feel down, irritable, angry, or sad. Experience and habit formation has taught us that opening social media apps will trigger another bout of dopamine, and so the cycle continues and strengthens. Eventually we stay on social media for hours, because we dread the moment of putting the phone away. Essentially, social media has become a type of drug that we are consuming.
Social Media and Disconnection
Social media sites pretend that their purpose is to foster connections and networking among people. And maybe, if done in a very deliberate, specific, and intentional way, one can be successful at this. According to the research, however, there is a direct link between increased social media use and increased feelings of loneliness and disconnect. Maybe you feel like all your friends are having fun without you, which makes you less inclined to reach out. Or maybe social media is so easy and enticing that you spend more time scrolling through TikTok than hanging out with friends and talking face to face or engaging in a favorite. The reality is that the more time you spend on your phone, the less likely it is that you will cultivate other aspects of your life that foster growth, joy, and genuine connection.
Next Steps
So what to do? The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to give up social media completely. When used in a deliberate and mindful way, social media can absolutely help families stay in touch across long distances, or can connect like-minded individuals who might otherwise struggle to find acceptance.
The key is, as usual, moderation. Use social media in a way that remains aligned with your values, meaning unfollow any person or account that makes you feel badly about yourself. Set time limits to avoid doomscrolling. Make it a point to connect and engage with friends in face-to-face situations. Find hobbies you like and want to dedicate energy toward. When you’re with friends, or family, or your partner, be mindful of “phubbing” (phone snubbing) behavior and avoid using the phone around them. Recognize that social media is a tool, and it is up to you to determine how to use that too.
References
Primack BA, Shensa A, Sidani JE, Whaite EO, Lin LY, Rosen D, Colditz JB, Radovic A, Miller E. Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jul;53(1):1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010. Epub 2017 Mar 6. PMID: 28279545; PMCID: PMC5722463.
Hunt, Melissa G., Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson, and Jordyn Young. “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 37, no. 10 (December 2018): 751–68.
Haynes, T. (2021, February 4). Dopamine, smartphones & you: A battle for your time. Science in the News. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time
Miller, C. (2020). Does social media cause depression?. Child Mind Institute, 11.