Media and Mental Health

Social media is one of the most widely used forms of media that plays a major role especially in the lives of teenagers and young adults who are on these sites constantly for some reason or the other. Humans are social beings. We need the companionship of others to succeed in life, and the quality of our relationships has an immense effect on our mental health and happiness. Being socially connected to others can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, enhance self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to your life. On the other hand, a lack of close social links can present a significant risk to your mental and emotional health.

A person’s involvement in media happens through various platforms. We all use multiple media platforms like social media apps, news channels, various online and offline sites, and other forms of print media daily to review articles, for entertainment purposes, etc. Communication is the primary objective of the media, with the goal of educating, informing, and entertaining the public. Media serves as a mirror of culture which, in effect, influences the understanding which actions of individuals. Media and mental health interact with each other in many complex ways. Media may serve as the primary source of knowledge on issues that can influence the beliefs and attitudes of people about various events and situations. Press coverage can stigmatize people as well as serve as a means of minimizing inaccurate expectations. Media can act as risk factors for inducing certain types of perceptions, behaviors, and thoughts. Media, therefore, has now become an integral part of our lives.

Social media has undeniably changed the world, putting people together across the globe. It has long been known that social media have a negative effect on mental health and stress, but multiple studies have recently shown this. Three billion people, approximately 40% of the world’s population, use social media, especially young people, and use it for an average of 61 minutes per day, affecting a vast portion of humanity. We may be sacrificing our mental health as well as our time by overusing social media and inflicting unnecessary stress on ourselves and therefore it becomes really important to limit its usage.

Media can have the following effects on a person’s mental health:

1. Research at the University of Pennsylvania found that heavy usage of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram really raises feelings of isolation. Conversely, the study found that the use of social media would potentially make you feel less depressed and disconnected and increase your overall well-being.
2. Women’s exposure to glamorously thin photographs in the media has been suggested to contribute to discontent with body representation and low self-esteem. This has been proposed to lead to a desire for thinness and a search for food, which may lead to eating disorders. It is difficult to determine whether the media plays a causal role, serves as a catalyst, or is yet another confounder to those who are otherwise predisposed. It is likely that only those individuals with pre-existing anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or parental obligation are vulnerable to cultural demand and develop symptoms of eating disorders. This can further lead to distorted body image among people and can make them believe in the non-existent standards.
3. Many factors have been assessed as risk factors for imitative suicidal behaviors. It has been shown that imitative suicides are more likely within 2 weeks of the first incident, with increased media attention, repeated reporting, and high-impact reports. This can be seen through various songs and movies romanticizing mental illnesses and glorifying suicide. It has been shown that the introduction of the Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicides on the Vienna Subway has led to a reduction in the suicide rate. Correspondence with newspaper editors has led to a marked change in the way suicides have been reported in the press.
4. Media portrayal can influence people who have psychiatric disorders. Approximately half of the patients with mental health disorders reported that media coverage had a negative impact on their lives, about one-third reported an increase in anxiety and depression, and one-fourth reported that their neighbors had hostile behaviors based on newspaper reports.

Being alert and reviewing each activity based on our belief system, therefore, becomes important. While reading an article or viewing a case, it becomes really important to check its reliability and source. Nothing on the internet can be trusted blindly. For example, let’s take the recent ‘Manav Singh’ case where a 17 years old boy was falsely accused of rape which led to him committing suicide just because of the tremendous amount of hate comments and threat calls he received. Not only this, but this episode also led to various other boys feeling threatened if they could also fall victim to such incidents. Everything that is shown on any of the media platforms needs to be reviewed before trusting on it or else it can have hazardous consequences where people can take extreme steps because of the pressure it puts on their mental health.

Some other measures that can be taken are:

• Using the app to track how much time you spend on social media every day and set a target for how much you want to reduce it.
• Switch off your phone at a certain time of the day.
• Don’t take your phone or laptop to bed. Switch off the machines and leave them overnight in another room to charge.
• Disable updates on social media. Removing alerts will help you regain control of your time and attention.
• Limit checks. If you have to check your phone every few minutes, divest yourself off by restricting your checks to once every 15 minutes. Then once every 30 minutes, then once in an hour.
• Try to remove social media apps from your phone so that you can only access them from your tablet or computer.

Media is a tool that can be effectively used to increase knowledge, create positive attitudes, and change overt behavior. When used correctly, the media can have significant positive impacts on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to health. The way in which media are reported can also have a significant impact on people’s behavior.

Active Internet and social media users are 63% less likely to experience serious psychological distress, depression, or other mood and anxiety disorders. When bits of information pop up on a mobile phone and Facebook or Instagram feed, the on-going interaction there can be related to things like mental health. This can promote positive interaction among users on a particular topic. Healthy discussions, relevant and authentic pieces of information, and larger user interaction can actually promote a more positive environment. Therefore it becomes necessary to be aware of the topics going around and be open to views before forming one’s own rigid opinions and blaming anyone.