Social media impact

1. Social Media and
Mental Health
Dr. Regi Pamugas
HAHR and ASMPH
Silang, Cavite
November 24, 2022

2. Objectives
• Illustrate the correlation of social media and mental health
• Demonstrate areas of the brain affected with mental illness
• Analyze the impact of social media in mental health

3. What is Social Media?
• A way to communicate and share content through various
technological platforms (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010) such as Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, etc.
• Research on the growing popularity of social media use has found
that nearly 8 in 10 Americans use social media, which amounts to a
total population basis of 68% on Facebook, 21% on Twitter, 25% on
Pinterest, and 26% on Instagram (Greenwood et al, 2018).
• On average, 28% of the time spent using the internet is for social
media interaction (Huang, 2018).

5. Social Media in the Philippines
• 16 M – social media users in the Philippines through 2020
• 98.7% -- access social media through mobile devices
• 18 – 24 years old – the most targeted age demographic on soc med
• 25 – 34 years old – largest share of users for both Google and FB
• 45 M – FB messengers in the Philippines
• 786 M – FB visits in the Philippines across 46.4 M users monthly
• According to Facebook’s self-service reporting, almost 65% of ad
targeting on Instagram is to women, and a mere 35% to men.

6. The Philippines
• The social media capital of
the world (2020)
• Using FB, IG, Twitter, etc.

7. • In 2020, there are an estimated 3.8 billion social media users
worldwide, representing half the global population (We Are Social 2020).

8. Adolescence (10 – 19 years old)
• Cultivating a sense of identity, and with a significant proportion of
adolescents' socializing occurring online, feedback within this domain
can help shape identity (Price et al, 2016).
• Peer relationships begin to assume more importance over family
relationships in early adolescence (Antheunis, Schouten & Krahmer, 2014).
• Boys and girls of this age can be acutely aware of how they appear to
others, thus public evaluations on social media sites can affect their
self esteem (Valkenburg, Peter & Schouten, 2006).

9. During adolescence:
• Adolescents go through significant emotional, hormonal, and
behavioral changes, with a heightened responsiveness of the brain’s
socio-emotional system, which typically affects the capacities of their
still maturing self-regulatory system (Steinberg, 2013).
• Vulnerable phase for the development of mental disorders, and these
occur at the highest rates in people aged 10 to 29 (Wei et al, 2016).

10. Is Social Media good or bad for our health?
• Social media has reinvented our way of life anew — for good or for
bad
• Literature contains several studies that link social media use with
several psychiatric disorders, including depressive symptoms, anxiety,
and low self-esteem (Lin et al., 2016; Pantic, 2014).
• Can also serve as a positive outlet to reduce the potential barriers
individuals of all backgrounds face when living with a mental health
diagnosis (Andrews et al., 2018).  Awareness and destigmatizing mental
health problems

11. Contrasting results on the impact of Soc Med
• Emerging research also shows that young people with moderate to
severe depressive symptoms appear to prefer communicating on
social media rather than in-person (Rideout and Fox 2018), while other
studies have found that some individuals may prefer to seek help for
mental health concerns online rather than through in-person
encounters (Batterham and Calear 2017).

12. During covid19 pandemic
• Some show that social media provides social support and a sense of
community for marginalized populations, who otherwise cannot find
support groups in their offline network (e.g., Han et al., 2019).
• However, critics note that social media force
young adults to constantly compare their
lifestyles and body shapes with others’,
causing deteriorating self-confidence and
mental health problems (e.g., Vogel et al., 2014; Pasko
and Arigo, 2021).

13. MH in young adults during covid19 pandemic
• They have experienced disruption of college plans, family life, or
employment (Perlis et al., 2021).
• Pew Research Center reports that young adults aged 18–29 exhibited
higher levels of psychological distress than other age groups (Keeter, 2021).
• Another survey shows that 47.3% of participants aged 18 – 24
experienced at least moderate depression symptoms (Perlis et al., 2021).

14. Social media use during covid19 pandemic
• Extant literature on Use and Gratification Theory research suggests
two main motives for social media use: (Russo and Amnå, 2016).
• The information acquisition motive illustrates the information-seeking
behaviors of those who visit different social media platforms to find
the information they need.
• The social interaction motive explains communication-related
activities that motivate people to maintain and expand their social
circle, by engaging in social activities on social media.

15. Social media use during covid19 pandemic
• During the covid-19 stay-at-home orders, such motives would
predictably increase young adults’ use of social media.
• In the public health crisis, people are eager to search for more
information about the disease and preventative measures.
• Forced isolation increases the need for social interaction online, but
this does not yet fully address how such motives are linked to mental
health among young adults.

16. Social media gadgets
• Technology and social media are used as an unhealthy coping
mechanism which in turn is lessening adolescents’ emotional
regulation in both online activity and in-person interactions.
• The overuse of internet and smartphones affecting mental health in
ways of depression, anxiety, and general psychological stress.
• Surveys conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project
indicate that 87 per cent students go online every day.
 It is not the technology itself that causes mental health problem, but
how it is use changes our behavior patterns, leading to chronic stress.

17. • In line with poor mental health, the lessening of emotional regulation
and positive face to face interactions are also a symptom of unhealthy
overuse of social media.

18. Potential benefits and challenges with social
media for mental health
Benefits Challenges
Facilitate social interaction Impact on symptoms
Access to peer support network Facing hostile interactions
Promote engagement and
retention in services
Consequences for daily life

19. My life story on social media
• In a survey of social media users with mental illness, respondents
reported that sharing personal experiences about living with mental
illness and opportunities to learn about strategies for coping with
mental illness from others were important reasons for using social
media (Naslund et al. 2017).
• A computational study of mental health awareness campaigns on
Twitter provides further support with inspirational posts and tips
being the most shared (Saha et al. 2019).

20. My life’s story on social media
• A pilot study of the HORYZONS online psychosocial intervention
demonstrated significant reductions in depression among patients
with first episode psychosis (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2013).
• The majority of participants (95%) in the study engaged with the
peer-to-peer networking feature of the program, with many reporting
increases in perceived social connectedness and empowerment in
their recovery process (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2013)

21. Impact on mental condition
• Recent studies have reported negative effects of social media use on
mental health of young people, including social comparison pressure
with others and greater feeling of social isolation after being rejected
by others on social media (Rideout and Fox 2018).
• Report on negative effects were an increased exposure to harm,
social isolation, depressive symptoms, and bullying (Best et al. 2014)

22. Social Media and Stress
• Increased usage of social media and once an individual gets on, it is
difficult to refrain from its use.
• Comments and likes acts as positive reinforcement and making it
more difficult to stop it.
• Certain people compare their lives with the immaculate lives of their
friends. Dick (2013) reported with the use of free social networking
services (Facebook & Twitter) people remain connected with friends
and read productive content but the same time lose a lot of
discretion and privacy.

23. Social Media and Anxiety
• Link between social media and compulsive behavior has been
reported by various studies.
• It has been found that 45% of British adults feel restlessness when
they are not able to access their social networking sites (Anxiety
2012).
• In Rosen et al. (2013), it is reported virtual generation (Net & iGeneration)
often check the message on their social networking application. It is
also found that younger generation feels restlessness when they were
not able to access messages of their social networking applications
apart from their counterparts, giving rise to Phantom vibration
syndrome (PVS).

24. Devastating effect of soc med on mental health
• Survey of US adolescents found that among respondents who
reported more time accessing social media platforms or smartphone
devices, there were significantly greater depressive symptoms and
increased risk of suicide when compared with adolescents who
reported spending more time on non-screen activities, such as in-
person social interaction or sports and recreation activities (Twenge et al.
2018).

25. Social media and Depression
• Excessive use of social media leads an individual to disastrous results that
starts with anxiety and leads to the depression.
• In (Pantic et al., 2012) it is revealed that depression and time spent on
Facebook by adolescents is positively correlated.
• Rosen et al., (2013), mirrored these findings and revealed that symptoms
of major depression has been found among the individuals who spent
most of their time in online activities and performing image management
on social networking sites.
• Similarly (Lou et al., 2012) asserted that students who use Facebook
intensely reports enhanced loneliness. It is also found that social media
usage also enhances the psycho-social problems like adjustment& self-
esteem (Kalpidou et al., 2011).

26. Social media and Depression
• Research conducted by Davila (2012) reflected severe depression
symptoms among younger generation are associated with less
positive and more negative social interactions.
• In contrary evidence of inverse relation between depression and
internet usage has been reported by the Kraut et al., (1998) and Shah
& Grant (2002), they further suggest that various social forms like
gaming & chatting diminish the depression risk.

27. Facing hostile interaction
• Cyberbullying represents a form of online aggression directed
towards specific individuals, such as peers or acquaintances, which is
perceived to be most harmful when compared with random hostile
comments posted online (Hamm et al. 2015).
• 56% of young people said that they
have seen others bullied online
and 42% have felt unsafe.

28. Cyberbullying are common in women
• Cyberbullying disproportionately impacts females as reflected in a
national survey of adolescents in the USA, where females were twice
as likely to be victims of cyberbullying compared with males (Alhajji et al.
2019).

29. Bullying and mental illness
• Children who are bullied can develop anxiety, depression, and other
mental health issues later in life.
• Bullying has also been linked to self-harm behaviors and even suicide.
• It’s a problem that schools, doctors, and scientists take very seriously.

30. Bullying can lead to changes in the brain
• Structural differences in the brain in areas like the putamen and
caudate, both linked to anxiety disorders.
• Chronic bullying is also linked to white matter changes in the brain,
which may make the person more susceptible to depression.
• Stress hormones (cortisol) released during bullying can also affect the
immune system. Those hormones can lead to increased
inflammation, which has been linked to both depression and anxiety
disorders, as well as medical conditions such as hypertension and
obesity.

31. Stress and Brain functions
• Pressures from a crisis can trigger physical reactions capable of
distorting perceptions, decisions and outcomes, including the
activation of “fight, flight and freeze reactions” in our amygdala.
Release of cortisol (Activation of HPA axis)
• Amygdala – part of the limbic system;
the emotion center of our brain
• Hippocampus – part of the limbic system;
the memory and learning center of our brain
• Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) – the thinking brain;
the executive function of our brain
(Plan and Organize, Problem-solving,
Impulse control, etc)

32. Who is the Bully?
• Any unwanted physical contact
• Any act that causes damage to a victim’s psyche and/or emotional well-
being;
• Any slanderous statement or accusation that causes the victim undue
emotional distress
• Cyber-bullying or any bullying done through the use of technology or any
electronic means.
• Social bullying, or any deliberate, repetitive, and aggressive social behavior
• Gender-based bullying, or any act that humiliates or excludes a person on
the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation and gender identity.

33. Therapy for both the bully and the bullied
• It is important to consider the emotions driving the bullying - they
may be very deep and need support.
• It is not just the bullied that need help to overcome their emotional
turmoil; everybody involved needs to be connected with.
• Therapy works alongside both the bully and bullied in order to
understand and meet the underlying emotional needs of both sides.
• Only when we help everyone involved, can we shift behaviour and
find true resolution, preventing long term damage.

34. People with mental illness are prone to
bullying
• For youth ages 10 to 17 who reported major depressive
symptomatology, there were over 3 times greater odds of facing
online harassment in the last year compared with youth who
reported mild or no depressive symptoms (Ybarra 2004).

35. Dangerous online challenge
• A computational study of mental health awareness campaigns on
Twitter reported that while stigmatizing content was rare, it was
actually the most spread (re-tweeted) demonstrating that harmful
content can travel quickly on social media (Saha et al. 2019).
• Another study was able to map the spread of social media posts
about the Blue Whale Challenge, an alleged game promoting suicide,
over Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, and other forums across 127
countries (Sumner et al. 2019). These findings show that it is critical to
monitor the actual content of social media posts, such as determining
whether content is hostile or promotes harm to self or others.

36. Fake news or information
• Poor quality or misleading health information shared on social media
and that social media users may not be aware of misleading
information or conflicts of interest especially when the platforms
promote popular content regardless of whether it is from a
trustworthy source (Moorhead et al. 2013; Ventola 2014).

37. Other related effects on the landscape of
social media
• Online gambling
• Sleep deprivation
• Latest trends on celebrities and politicians
• Online pornography

38. Consequences for daily life
• The reported risks of social media use were directly related to many
aspects of everyday life, including concerns about threats to
employment, fear of stigma and being judged, impact on personal
relationships, and facing hostility or being hurt (Naslund and Aschbrenner 2019).

39. Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)
• Through social media, adolescents can maintain their contacts,
extend their system of knowledge, or find and exchange information
and materials; it also contributes to the structure of their social
identity in relation to peer groups, especially in terms of popularity
and, therefore, acceptance and sense of belonging (Fabris, Marengo,
Longobardi, & Settanni, 2020).

40. Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)
• The sense of popularity and belonging to certain social groups are
labels that adolescents and children at younger ages are starting to
have more awareness of and the worry if they fit into that box.
• This is where the term Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) starts becoming
more of a concern.
• Evidence seems to indicate that adolescents with high levels of FoMO
tend to use social media more to compensate for these psychological
needs.

41. Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)
• For adolescents showing a higher state of FoMO, they could be more
sensitive and prone to distress due to experiencing neglect and
negative reactions by peers on social media sites.
• With the increase of being on social media sites due to not wanting to
miss anything, comes the fear of not receiving comments or likes or
the fear of receiving negative reactions to their posts.
• This would then trigger compulsive use of social media in order to
fulfill their unsatisfied need to connect with others and maintain a
positive online social status (Fabris et al., 2020).

42. Social Media Addiction (SMA)
• SMA in adolescents has been found to be associated with depressive
symptoms, anxiety, low self-esteem, and general psychological
distress.
• Fabris and team hypothesized that FoMo might be positively
associated with emotional symptoms in adolescents, both directly
and indirectly.
• Their findings also support the link between FoMO and SMA and
identifies a heightened sensitivity to stress, along with neglect by
online peers.

43. Smartphone Addiction
• The clinical cataloging of social media and smartphone addiction are
still debated and not currently classified as disorders in the DSM-V as
it is stated that further studies are needed.
• However, numerous studies in recent years have linked compulsive or
“addiction-like” social media and smartphone behaviors to numerous
behavioral, emotional, social, and academic struggles among
adolescents in North America, Europe, and Asia (Hawk et al., 2019).

44. Internet addiction
• The two most notable tests from their research were The Internet
Addiction Test and The Compulsive Internet Use Scale with the note
that more research and studies need to be completed (Laconi et al., 2014).
• Four components were found that characterized Internet addiction:
excessive use, withdrawal symptoms, low tolerance, and negative
repercussions (Rosenthal et al., 2018).

45. Online stigma
• Reports have described risks of social media use pertaining to privacy,
confidentiality, and unintended consequences of disclosing personal
health information online (Torous and Keshavan 2016).

46. Legal implications of Cyberbullying/libel
• Freedom of speech must not be infringed but this right is not without
any limitations.

47. The Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (RA 10627)
• “Bullying”, as defined, refers to any severe or repeated use by one or
more students of a written, verbal or electronic expression, or a
physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof, directed at
another student that has the effect of actually causing or placing the
latter in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to
his property; creating a hostile environment at school; infringing on
the rights of another; or materially or substantially disrupting the
education process. (Sec. 2, RA 10627)
• These acts are collectively called “cyber bullying” when committed
online. (Sec. 2-D, RA 10627)

48. The Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime
Prevention Act
• Cyberlibel holds liable only the original author of the post (Sec. 5(3),
Implementing Rules of RA 10175).
• Likers or sharers of a post cannot be held liable under this law.

49. The Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime
Prevention Act
• Slander may also be applicable to one who, in heat of anger, utters
statements that are highly defamatory in character. (Art. 358, RPC)
• Intriguing Against Honour may also find applicability when the
principal purpose is to blemish the honour or reputation of a person.
(Art. 364, RPC)
• The requirement is that the post be directed to a specific person.
Hence, a blind item is not as actionable as a named-post in social
media.

50. The Labour Code on Just Causes for
Termination
• An employee who spreads rumors or intrigues against a co-worker or
his superior or vice versa, or who does any act similar to cyberlibel,
slander, intriguing against honour or even prying into the privacy of
another may be a just cause for termination if embodied in the
company policy in addition to all other causes of action available to
him under the laws mentioned. (Sec. 5.2(g), D.O 147-15)
• However, all these will only be a valid cause of action to one who is
the subject of the post and who is aware of the post directed to him.

51. Think before you post.
• The pen is mightier than the sword…
• But the power of our minds should be mightier than any sword there
is.

52. Social media and people with mental illness
• Studies have reported that individuals living with a range of mental
disorders, including depression, psychotic disorders, or other severe
mental illnesses, use social media platforms at comparable rates as
the general population, with use ranging from about 70% among
middle-age and older individuals to upwards of 97% among younger
individuals (Aschbrenner et al. 2018b; Birnbaum et al. 2017b; Brunette et al. 2019; Naslund et al.
2016).

53. Digital phenotyping
• There is an emerging field of research referred to as “digital
phenotyping” aimed at capturing how individuals interact with their
digital devices, including social media platforms, in order to study
patterns of illness and identify optimal time points for intervention
(Jain et al. 2015; Onnela and Rauch 2016).
• The “moment-by-moment quantification of the individual-level
human phenotype in-situ using data from smartphones and other
personal digital devices”

54. Digital phenotyping
• Conversations on Twitter have been analyzed to characterize the
onset of depression (De Choudhury et al. 2013) as well as detecting users’
mood and affective states (De Choudhury et al. 2012), while photos posted to
Instagram can yield insights for predicting depression (Reece and Danforth
2017).
• The intersection of social media and digital phenotyping will likely add
new levels of context to social media use in the near future.

55. Sharing the experiences in social media
• Individuals with mental illness appear to turn to social media to share
their personal experiences, seek information about their mental
health and treatment options, and give and receive support from
others facing similar mental health challenges (Bucci et al. 2019; Naslund et al.
2016b).

56. How to manage the negative effects of social
media for the children.
• “We don’t recommend young people join social media before the
recommended age, typically 13, but we know that lots of young
people join before that, with or without their parents' knowledge,”
• “Rather than saying 'don’t let them', which drives behaviours under
the parent radar, we explain why it is unsafe to allow it and advise on
strategies to co-inhabit and manage social media,”

57. How to handle kids in time of social media
• Talk to them about rules and when they can join social media sites.
• Use privacy settings to keep personal information private.
• Teach your children to think before posting and ask permission from their
friends or family.
• Inform them about the risks of being online, including cyberbullying,
sexting and strangers making contact.
• Don’t be afraid to talk about peer pressure and how they should not be
persuaded to post inappropriate content, and being uncomfortable.
• Consider parental controls and filtering software.
• Set down rules around screen time.

58. Social media and Emotion Regulation
• When children and adolescents fail to implement positive strategies
to help regulate their emotions, increased rates of peer rejection,
aggression, antisocial behavior, cyberbully or bullying and social
media stress can occur (McLoughlin, Spears, & Taddeo, 2018).
• Young people have a limited capacity for self-regulation and can be
persuaded easily by peers to engage in deviant behaviors.
• Young people may be at greater risk online when they experiment
with social media compared to face-to-face context (McLoughlin et al., 2018).

59. Social media and Emotion Regulation
• Adolescents that use negative emotion regulation strategies to cope
with their anger tend to lean into cyberbullying behaviors to cope.
• With this increase of internet use as an addition to a coping
mechanism, it shows how easily cyberbullying can happen (McLoughlin et
al., 2018)

60. Cognitive empathy
• Human beings know how to regulate their emotions.
• They can process how other individuals can affect different emotions,
timing, and intensity of emotion, and how to express those emotions
(Baillien et al., 2018).
• Without empathy, bullying and cyberbullying may arise.
• Empathy is linked to reduced aggression and more prosocial conduct,
perhaps because it helps control emotions

61. Social media and the Journalist
• Many journalists now write stories about what happens on social
media.
• Journalists have to adjust to the fast-paced world of gadgets and
social media, but how has this affected conventional journalism?
• Journalists no longer have to write lengthy stories; instead, they can
emphasize the main details of a story in a tweet, Instagram post, or
Facebook post.

62. Social media and the Journalist
• The art of storytelling is no longer necessary; readers want a quick
read as they go about their day; people rarely sit down and read an
entire newspaper; the reader wants to read something specific
without having to flip through eight or so pages, and social media
allows them to read a story in minutes, if not seconds.

63. Social media and the Journalist
• Jennifer Alejandro, a Singaporean journalist of more than 15 years’
experience and currently a news anchor at Channel News Asia, in her
paper, called Journalism in the Age of Social Media --
• The main risks they identified were concerns regarding accuracy, the
need for verification and the loss of control over the information.

64. Social media and Journalist
• Although social media has had a negative impact on journalism, it has
also brought about some positive improvements for journalists.
• Journalists have unrestricted access to research and can discover
connections that might not have been made otherwise, the constant
buzz of information on social media makes it a breeding ground for
news.

65. Maraming Salamat po.

66. References
• The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health: A mixed methods
research of service providers Awareness; Sarah Nichole Koehler and
Bobbie Rose Parrell; June 2020
• Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities
for Research and Practice. John A. Naslund1 & Ameya Bondre & John
Torous & Kelly A. Aschbrenner; Published online: 20 April 2020
• Social Media Awareness: The Impact of Social Media on Mental
Health. Megan Beattie; May 14, 2021