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How does social media affect your mental health?

Katie Teague
person using social media on a phone
Spending too much time on social media can affect your mental health. (Getty Images) (Sompong Lekhawattana via Getty Images)

Ever find yourself lost in the TikTok rabbit hole, scrolling for hours like it’s a time warp? I’ve been there, only to realize later that my mood has taken a nosedive. It’s surprising how easy it is to compare my life to people I don't even know, leaving me feeling deflated and anxious after a night of mindless scrolling. Recently, I decided to break the cycle and swap my phone for a book in the evenings. This simple switch has worked wonders, lifting my spirits and bringing a sense of contentment I didn’t realize I was missing. And guess what? I’m not alone. Research from the National Center for Health Research (NCHR) links social media use among teens and young adults to rising anxiety and depression. The challenge, of course, is that with smartphones, we have unlimited access to social media right at our fingertips.

If you don't want to give up using your favorite apps completely, there are ways to balance your (or your kids') social media use while keeping your mental health in check. That said, if you suspect that you or someone in your household is experiencing social media addiction that's contributing to anxiety, depression or other mental health concerns, there are online therapy services available for a range of needs, including online therapy services for anxiety or those looking for culturally sensitive support.

Content concerning mental health is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical or health advice. Consult a medical professional for questions about your health. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, call 911, local emergency services, or 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline).

"Social media can certainly harm one’s mental health," Zach Rausch, an associate research scientist at NYU Stern School of Business and lead researcher in The Anxious Generation tells Yahoo. "It's the completely unfettered 24/7 access to smartphones and social media that appears to be most harmful."

Between 2010 and 2015, he says social lives moved largely online and away from in-person interaction. "When the social lives of American teens moved onto smartphones loaded with social media apps, the adolescent mental health crisis set in."

The NCHR says the "increase in mental illness is, at least in part, connected to the rise of social media use among adolescents and young adults." While the Department of Human and Health Services reports that "adolescents who spent more than three hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes including symptoms of depression and anxiety" citing that "social media use is predictive of a subsequent decrease in life satisfaction for certain developmental stages."

While social networking sites may not be solely to blame, they are disruptive to activities that are essential to our well-being, like sleep and physical activity. Both sleep and exercise are proven to boost your mood when feeling depressed.

A novel MIT Sloan School of Management study was able to connect Facebook's early 2000s rollout at specific universities to a decline in the mental health of students at these same institutions. The study found that when students gained university-wide access to Facebook, there was a corresponding increase in severe depression by 7% and anxiety disorder by 20%.

While there's a clear correlation between social media use and anxiety and depression, it's important to acknowledge that correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. The NCHR points out that it's unclear if social media use itself is to blame or if "people who are already more depressed or more anxious use social media more than their peers do."

Even so, the NCHR also notes that in one 2020 study, those who deactivated their Facebook accounts for a month had lower levels of depression and anxiety, and felt happier with their lives. More studies may be needed to pinpoint the specific underlying cause of the link between social media use and negative mental health outcomes, but if you're feeling the effects, it may be worthwhile to take a break from your go-to apps.

When you scroll Instagram or open Snapchat dozens of times a day, you may not realize how it's actually affecting your brain.

A 2017 study published in Scientific Reports found that addiction to social networking sites can lead to alterations in brain anatomy. Researchers found that the grey matter volumes of the amygdala — the part of your brain responsible for processing emotional responses — is negatively associated with social media addiction. This can also lead to strong impulsive behaviors.

The study says that social media addiction is "similar to other types of substance and behavioral addictions, in which case addicts present reduced grey matter volumes of the amygdala."

Another 2023 study found that when teens between the ages of 12 and 13 persistently checked their social media (more than 15 times per day), it was "associated with changes in how their brains develop over a three-year period," making them more sensitive to social feedback than those who checked social media less frequently.

While social media sites have been around for a couple of decades, you couldn't always access them from a phone. Instead, you had to sign in on your computer which means you couldn't check your feed while waiting at the dentist, working out at the gym or when you first wake up in the morning. The blame may lie in the social media and smartphone combo.

"What separates the Millennials from Gen Z, for instance, is not access to phones, but access to smartphones filled with hundreds of apps designed to hook them during their most vulnerable periods of psychological development," Rausch says.

And it's not necessarily all screen time that's problematic, he says. "It's the apps that are designed to keep you scrolling for hours on end that can pose problems."

For instance, think about how long you or your teenager scrolls through TikTok videos or Facebook Reels each day versus time spent researching something you're interested in.

It's activities like posting and scrolling on social media, he says, that "sucks kids in and keeps them from real-world interactions that are crucial for their social development."

Social media can negatively affect anyone of any age, but its effects on adolescents are particularly concerning. According to the Surgeon General's 2023 advisory on social media use in youth, negative mental health outcomes are particularly elevated for those who spend more than three hours per day on social media. Here are some of the outcomes you may experience if you spend too much time scrolling.

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Fear of missing out (FOMO)

  • Disordered eating

  • Social comparison

  • Low self-esteem

  • Body-image issues

  • Relationship problems

  • Sleep difficulties

  • Addiction to checking your phone

  • Exposure to hate-based content

According to the American Psychological Association, teens spend almost five hours a day on social media, a trend that significantly increases the likelihood that they'll experience these negative outcomes.

For adults, social media use also has the ability to impact mental health by contributing to anxiety and depression. For instance, scrolling through political discourse on Facebook can cause anxiety about social issues. Or maybe you see an acquaintance sharing photos from their latest trip and, as a result, you start feeling like a bad parent because your family hasn't vacationed in years. Take stock of how much time and when you find yourself clicking on your social media apps. If you notice yourself feeling anxious or down, follow the same rules you'd put in place for your kids and limit how much time you spend on these apps.

Girl in her bedroom looking at her phone
Avoid letting your kids use their phones at bedtime. (Getty Images) (martin-dm via Getty Images)

If your kid is glued to their phone from the time they wake up until they go to sleep, it's likely a sign of an addiction to their device.

Rausch says you may start to notice "unexpected and major behavioral changes when they can't use their phone," and that's a huge indicator that it's time for an intervention.

"If your child's devices are interfering with school, in-person friendships, sleep or family life, it's another clear indicator that this discussion is needed," he says. "Trust your parental instincts. Boundary setting around technology is crucial."

If you're noticing that your kid wants to spend less time with friends and family because they're more concerned about what's happening on social media, you may need to step in and help them.

"Expecting children without fully formed executive functions to manage their time on a platform designed to hook them is setting them up to fail," Rausch says. "This is why we recommend delaying smartphones until high school and social media until 16."

He also says you can encourage your child's school to go phone-free if they haven't already, and to encourage your child to get involved in other activities outside of their phones. For instance, you can set up playdates for younger kids or encourage your teens to hang out with their friends. "Independence and real-world interactions are just as important as limiting time on phones," he says.

So what if you've already given your kids access to smartphones and let them set up social media profiles? Rausch says there's still a lot you can do, such as setting up a structure around their screen time usage. For example, you can set a policy of no phones in the bedroom at night and no phones during meals.

"If families work together to delay smartphones and social media, there can be much more in-person socialization and play, and no more FOMO," he says.

If you feel like your mental health is suffering every time you endlessly scroll on your phone, think about setting time limits for those apps.

"Parents and teens are stuck in a trap where we all use platforms we don’t necessarily like because everyone else is using them," Rausch says, "and this is precisely why we need to coordinate together to delay smartphones and social media."

He recommends building self-awareness and asking yourself these questions: How often are you checking your phones? How much is it impacting your mental health, your sleep and your relationships?

If you find that it's significantly impacting your life, try making some changes. For instance, he says leave your phone outside of your bedroom at night for better sleep, consider disabling your notifications from those apps and only check social media on a laptop instead of your phone.

You can also do a purge and remove any accounts you're following if they make you feel uncomfortable or bad about your lifestyle.

If you feel your mental health is suffering, it may also be time to talk to a professional. Signing up for in-person therapy is always a good choice, but if it feels overwhelming to seek out a local therapist, there are also affordable online therapy services and psychiatry services you can utilize.

After learning about how using apps like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram can affect your mental health, you may be tempted to do an immediate purge and disconnect yourself and your kids from these sites. That said, it's important to know there are some benefits as well, even for your kids.

For instance, social sites provide a great way to express yourself, especially if you're an introvert, and they're a good way to stay connected with friends and family. They can also provide you with access to a variety of people and communities with common interests that you otherwise would likely never meet.

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