Social Media is creating teenagers with mental health issues. A lot of teenagers use it. “In spring of 2023, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, released an advisory called “Social Media and Youth Mental Health,” stating there is growing evidence that social media is causing harm to young people’s mental health.

Social Media causes young girls to start having body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among teen and adolescent girls, and it can also lead to serious mental health issues, including suicidal behavior. “The issues we faced now when television came out,” says Linda Mayes, MD, she is at the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC). 

Teens shouldn’t believe everything they see on social media; it brings a lot of negative effects on young teenagers like cyberbullying, Age-inappropriate content, withdrawal from family and friends and physical health problems.

Could you add here about the lessons you learn in Intro class about fake news and media and how that contributes to problems.

This topic doesn’t get brought up a lot in conversation especially from teenagers. While teens are all mindlessly staring at their screens, something else is happening to that generation. Anxiety and depression rates among teens have risen by 25% and even suciced rates for people age to 10 to 25 have surged by 57% since the launch of social media.

Teenage girls use social media more than boys use it. Girls are on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat; these platforms are showing body images. Teenage girls will be looking at these girls on social media saying “I wish I looked like her” or “she is prettier than me.” 

I struggle with mental health, and I’m friends with/know a lot of people who struggle with mental health issues who don’t like talking about it. They need to know others feel the same way they do and limiting social media could help.