Post No.: 0969
Furrywisepuppy says:
Social media can be both helpful and harmful for our mental health. It seems to depend on what sorts of posts we generally see or gravitate towards and how much we ourselves post and what we post about. It’s obviously better to see far more posts that make us feel happy and secure than inferior or fearful of the world. And being more active in posting is better than being passive because this can help us to connect and feel a sense of belonging; to feel loved and to express our love.
Meanwhile, social comparisons and the fear of missing out can be negative habits, along with spending too much time on social media. Social media influencers often present unrealistic ideals because of their carefully curated public images, which can make some people feel depressed about their own bodies or lives in comparison. Adolescence is a particularly intense time when one’s perceived image compared to one’s peers matters greatly.
And young, impressionable minds will especially think they must copy and do what these influencers promote – not always being aware that these influencers are being paid to promote certain diet or cosmetic products, for instance, which can in turn promote eating disorders or bodily insecurities. There has been a worrying growth in the number of young children (mostly girls) attempting calorie-restriction diets despite their healthy or low weight.
Peer feedback on social media (such as via what receives the most ‘likes’) will influence our opinions – so if others think that a thin person looks normal then we will gradually culturally believe that thin is normal too. Even if one uses a beautifying filter or edits one’s own picture until it looks ‘just right’, and then compares that result to one’s real face or body in the mirror, one can suddenly see oneself as far from ‘perfect’ – which usually leaves one feeling incredibly insecure. It’s not just about the direct effects on our mental health but it feeds into real practical effects like the ‘beauty bias’, whereby subjectively attractive (for the immediate culture in time and place) candidates are, all else being loosely equal, more likely to be given jobs and be voted for.
The average user carefully curates their own social media profile and images too – taking dozens of shots before being happy with one, then editing them to look more ‘perfect’ (and for some it’s not just about brushing out pimples but even changing the sizes of their own eyes, nose, chin, skin tone and more), which may make them think they ought to look like their edited forms in reality (e.g. by taking fillers or Botox).
So the average user is essentially part of the problem too – by wishing to emulate their idols, they perpetuate and exacerbate this culture of insecurity for each other. People didn’t evolve to have thousands of other people judging their appearance 24/7, but modern social media has facilitated this kind of environmental stressor. And gaining approval from strangers is being conflated with one’s value and truth.
Regarding body dysmorphia or eating disorders – telling someone that they’re actually beautiful or handsome doesn’t usually work. So it’s better to say (to anyone whether they have body insecurities or not) that you’re uninterested in how they look as long as they’re considerate, kind and nice people. Woof!
Sufferers of self-harm and suicide ideation being recommended to follow other sufferers on social media could feed and encourage an echo chamber that reinforces and escalates views of self-harm and suicide ideation. Yet totally blocking them might further stigmatise those who self-harm or think about suicide, and some do receive help and support through social media. Overall, it seems to be the case that images and messages of self-harm and suicide on social media do more harm than good, but there’s a balancing act. They might also just jump onto another social media platform instead, which means that concerted web-wide regulations are required, although this’ll be difficult to police.
These social media platforms have a conflict of interest between maximising the number of active users on their platforms and blocking users and activity. The bulk of moderation is automated via algorithms, but these must get much smarter and more refined to recognise the differences between positive and negative interactions and influences on various subjects like mental health. Human moderators train these AIs, but this is a tough job for the mental health of these workers because they routinely witness harrowing content.
Offline help should be improved so that these online echo chambers aren’t the first, main or only port of call for people who wish to keep their problems private from those physically around them – and this starts with all of us striking sensitive conversations about mental health with those whom we think are vulnerable. There are invaluable sources of information online for people suffering from depression, anxiety and so forth, and they offer enormous support for those who seek them – but not all sources of information are equal.
‘Sadfishing’ (pretending to have an emotional problem on social media in order to hook an audience and perhaps gain sympathy from them) can mean that those who genuinely have mental health issues aren’t taken seriously and may even be bullied for it, which will make their condition worse and they won’t get the help they need.
Those who seek attention and sympathy online might also become vulnerable to online groomers, who’ll give them attention and sympathy in order to gain their trust… only to exploit it later.
A small minority of sufferers will auto-troll, digitally self-harm or self-cyber-bully – as in anonymously send themselves online abusive messages. This seems to always be correlated with depression but its purpose can be to either seek sympathy from others or as another way of beating oneself up.
Post No.: 0865 discussed free speech on social media. Being bullied, like via online trolling, and being made to feel incredibly socially self-conscious, can make one more susceptible to experiencing major depression. Experiencing enough extreme social embarrassment in front of one’s peers and close persons – some may even feel pushed to take their own life. (It’s related to how most people dread public speaking as if it’s life-or-death – one’s public reputation is perceived to be one’s life.) So if you want someone to commit suicide – make them feel like a failure, humiliated or unwanted i.e. don’t!
Resilience to embarrassment or having a lower sense of self-consciousness (almost not concerning oneself with what other people think) is therefore protective. But self-consciousness and embarrassment evolved to encourage us to do the socially right things – those who don’t care about what others think can be obnoxiously antisocial! (Good, conscientious people will therefore arguably suffer the most, while people who only care about themselves will offend others without feeling guilt or shame.) So it’s about understanding that we, or others, can do embarrassing things but we, or they, are not embarrassments ourselves, or themselves i.e. label the behaviour, not the person.
It’s difficult to ignore the constant negative judgements of others especially if one is an adolescent, which is a time when the opinions of one’s peers matter significantly; and especially if such abuse is severe, including comments that overtly tell vulnerable victims of abuse (or of anything else) to take their own life.
Adolescents can be particularly intolerant of any peers who don’t appear to fit in with their expectations, like students who don’t wish to go socialising and partying. Some can therefore feel, or are made to feel, like outcasts just for preferring different things. Yet social media can make it easier for people to find other likeminded souls, like others who’d rather stay in and play videogames during the weekends than go out drinking. If you feel like you don’t fit in then understand that it’s a feeling that plenty of us have in common. If you feel alone – you’re not alone!
Social media can be incredibly beneficial for connecting those who have mental health issues with people who have empathy for those with problems of any kind, which therefore includes mental health issues. It can offer a support network, as well as demonstrate that one isn’t alone with one’s experiences. But it’s incredibly baffling and low for anyone to goad someone to commit suicide on social media or in any other context. Many of those who do such goading perhaps need just as much mental health help as those who are being goaded. There are also cases of mutual goading in the context of eating disorders – pushing ‘ana buddies’ into ever more extreme eating behaviours. Social media regulations thus need to get tighter, via either internal and/or external pressure.
Modern adolescents arguably face pressures that generations before didn’t in such an amplified way – from social comparisons exacerbated by online social media, expectations due to the easy accessibility of pornography, to a more uncertain future when it comes to jobs and climate change, for instance. The gene pool of members of this generation isn’t notably different to that of a couple of generations ago thus it’s down to environmental changes i.e. if you’re not from this generation but you call people from this generation ‘snowflakes’ then if you had been born a bit later then you’d likely have become a ‘snowflake’ too.
Well even those who vociferously accuse others of being sensitive ‘snowflakes’ can walk off a morning TV programme because they don’t want to hear other people’s critical opinions about them!
So there’s something about modern life; and indeed studies conducted in western countries at least show that cohorts born more recently have a progressively higher prevalence of depression than earlier generations. In more detail, people – particularly women – who become depressed are seemingly staying depressed for longer, for the prevalence of depression has been increasing (the percentage of the population who are depressed) but the incidence rate has been pretty stable (the number of new cases of depression per year). Possible reasons could be the decline of quality social connections, family meals and get-togethers, fewer people getting involved in community associations, volunteering, club meetings, and the rise in divorce rates i.e. the decline in quality social networks, support, connectedness and physical interactions – all of which would substantially help those with depression to recover, and recover sooner. Therefore healthy online social groups are better than nothing, but they don’t seem to be a completely effective substitute for quality physical connections and interactions.
Traditional media isn’t without its problems regarding the treatment of mental health either. The Jeremy Kyle Show was a show that ran from 2005 to 2019 in the UK. On many episodes, it prodded guests – many with mental health problems – for the sake of TV entertainment. It was also a part of the contemporary ‘poverty porn’ culture that influenced, and was influenced by, stereotypes of the poor and how people who claimed state benefits were perceived and treated. The show picked the extreme examples of those in hardships, addictions and relationship conflicts, then wound them up into becoming artificial caricatures of themselves in order to stoke on-air altercations and make emotionally-charged, compulsive-viewing television. Much of the viewing public then thought that all poor people were like that (but we must remember that the entertainment industry isn’t the education industry). We see a stranger on TV for a few minutes then presume we know them – so we judge them with confident, supercilious opinions as if we know their background and circumstances, or believe these factors don’t matter.
After this show got axed, Jeremy Kyle himself later experienced anxiety firsthand and learnt that the phrase ‘get a grip’ – a phrase he had used copiously when patronising those on his show – is naïve and unhelpful. Can’t people show empathy or learn before they suffer themselves?
Attitudes are gradually changing though. Cultures are evolving. Mental health awareness and education are improving. Let’s hope this continues until empathy and compassion are the default behaviours.
Woof.
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