The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health Essay Example

Every day you walk around and you see teens on their phone. In fact, in  a study by growing wireless.com, it says, “88 percent of teenagers, ages 13 to 17 have or have access to a cell phone”. However the thing about phones is that they cause a ton of mental illnesses. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is warning us about technological advancements and illnesses for the younger generation.  The effects of social media on the developing brain can be alarming because of the effect on a teens’ mental health, academics, and social interactions.

Mental health

Firstly, social media is not vast because of how it impacts a person’s mental health. For example, social media affects mental health because of the amount of time spent on social media. In an article on psycom.com, it says, “Those who spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of eating or body images concerns.” Some eating concerns would be anorexic, bulimia, binge eating, pica and rumination. Those eating concerns happen to be mental illnesses which are caused by social media. Another reason that social media affects mental health is because of how it affects how we value life as a person. For example, in the same article on psycom.com, it says that teens who are on social media have a higher chance of suicidal thoughts. Suicidal thoughts are a mental illness. Suicidal thoughts are mostly caused by social media.

The biggest cause of these thoughts on social media are those perfect pictures that are faked by people in real life. Those pictures make people feel worse about themselves. That causes suicidal thoughts. Finally, another reason that social media causes mental illnesses is how it affects sleep. In an article on the website independent.com, it talks about how the light of our phone affects our ability to sleep. Most teens if not all teens will be on there phone before they sleep. That causes them not to sleep. The cause of not being able to sleep is the light from the phone. Losing sleep can and probably will cause mental illnesses. In conclusion, social media causes a higher risk of mental illnesses because of how it affects sleep, usage, and suicidal thoughts. 

Academics

Secondly, Social media is alarming because of how it affects academics. Social media affects grades because of how much time teens spend on social media. For example, in an article on News 18 it says, “[teenagers] who used social media very frequently did have slightly lower grades.” Because those kids are on there phone so much and on social media, they are spending less time on studying. That means they aren’t getting as good of grades as they should be getting. Another reason why social media affects grades is just is what social media does. In the same article on News 18 it says, “studies report that social media has a negative impact on school performance.” Because kids are focusing on social media, they aren't doing as well in school because social media is degrading. It causes kids to feel like they aren't worth it, so they don't do as well in school. Another reason why social media affects academics is because people think social media is good. But in a study by Dr. Wilfred W. F. Lavi. He says that social media doesn’t help but hurts academics. This means that those people who think social media is helping are actually affecting their grades and aren’t doing as well. That also means that those people are wrong. In conclusion, social media can be bad on academics and grades because of how it affects grades of students.

Social interactions

Lastly, the effects of social media are alarming because of how it affects social interactions with other people. People could have a great relationship with someone, but it could be ruined by social media. For example, in a study by Professor Chetan R. Bhamare, he talks about how social media can ruin relationships. This means that social media is causing a lot of these relationship-break-ups which means that social media is bad. Social media is becoming a replacement for these social interactions. For example in the same study by Professor Chetan R. Bhamare he says, “Social media is becoming a vital tool for social interactions.” That means that social media is ruining them. Without these social interactions, we can't actually tell how someone is trying to say something because we cant tell their tone or how they’re saying the word. Social media also ruins grammar. In fact in the same study by Professor Chetan R. Bhamare, he says, “Shortened version like “k”, “ttyl”, “ur”, “der”, “gr8”, “cu”, “tc”, and so on completely ruins the grammar and syntax.” In a real life conversation, face to face, would people use those shortcuts? No, people wouldn’t. People learn how to speak and use grammar correctly for those situations when people are in a social interaction. Social media is ruining those social interactions because people are using those shortcuts and ruining everybody's grammar which then ruins everybody’s social interactions. In conclusion, social media can be bad because of how it affects a person's social interactions with other people.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, Social media can be a factor of underdevelopment in a teenage brain, because of how it affects mental health, academics, and social interactions. Social media can be quite scary because of how it affects a teen’s sleep. Teens need eight to ten hours of sleep a night in order to function correctly. Without this sleep they won't be able to function. Social media is the leading factor of loss of sleep. There people should delete social media, because social media can be and probably will be dangerous to a person if they use it, so for a person's own sake, they should delete social media. They can be happy and not have all these mental illnesses that all these other people who have social media have. All though it won’t stop mental illnesses, it can help prevent mental illnesses.