How Looking At Bikini Models And Pretty Boys All Day Messes Up Our Mental Health

Social media has nasty consequences. Let me tell you exactly how nasty.

Mental health is in a crisis. Especially that of young people as evidenced by this article about research from the American Psychological Association.

The percentage of young Americans experiencing certain types of mental health disorders has risen significantly over the past decade, with no corresponding increase in older adults, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

While in 2005, 8.7% of adolescents and 8.1% of young adults (ages 18–25) showed symptoms of major depression, by 2017, the rate had risen to 13.2% in both age groups, an increase of 52% and 63%, respectively.

Is This Due To Social Media?

During this period, social media has changed most people’s lives a lot. There is definitely a correlation to be seen. But is this correlation also causal? Are social media really the reason for this mental health crisis?

A study conducted in Canada with Ontario Students in Grades 7–12 shows that the relationship is most likely indeed causal. Social media seems to be toxic for mental health.

Within the study, students had to report both how much time they spend on social media and the state of their mental health.

That’s how much time students reported spending on social media:

• 15% of students reported not using social media at all or not using it daily.
• 21% of students spend less than an hour a day on social media.
• Based on their own statements, 44% of the students spent 2–4 hours a day on the platforms.
• 20% of students reported being online on social media for more than 5 hours a day. It was noticeable that girls in particular tended to spend an extremely large amount of time on social media. As many as 26% spent more than 5 hours a day on the platforms, compared with only 15% of the boys.

Among the total sample of students, those who report spending two or more hours per day on social media — and especially those spending five or more hours per day — are significantly more likely to rate their mental health as “poor” or fair” (Figure 3), to indicate moderate-to-serious psychological distress (Figure 4), and to report suicidal ideation (Figure 5) compared with students who spend less time on social media or none at all.

This is how the negative impact of social media on mental health is described in the study. These figures also illustrate this fact.

Why Is Social Media So Harmful?

As humans, we have the tendency to constantly compare ourselves with others. Our self-esteem is strongly related to this comparison. This is exactly why social media is so harmful.

Here is an excerpt from an article by Psychology Today that sums it up well.

People constantly evaluate themselves, and others, in domains like attractiveness, wealth, intelligence, and success. According to some studies, as much as 10 percent of our thoughts involve comparisons of some kind. Social comparison theory is the idea that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others.

Of course, we also compare ourselves with the people we see on social media. Besides our friends, these are usually successful, very attractive people who can be seen in perfect light, with makeup on, or in edited pictures.

It is almost inevitable that we feel shitty about ourselves when we are constantly exposed to these unrealistic ideals of beauty.

Besides the fact that social media can make us feel like we’re not pretty enough, it can make you feel like your life is boring and not cool enough.

Since 99% of people on social media only show the highlights of their lives, we are constantly confronted on social media with the beautiful, exciting things that others are doing.

Besides, it can be said that social media are not that social. If you are online more than 5 hours a day, you are likely to neglect social relationships and/or physical activity, which can also lead to mental problems.

Probably most of us should spend a little more time offline for the sake of our mental health.

Thanks for reading!

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