How over usage of social media is impacting teenage life.

Technology is a true blessing to humanity, but everything has its advantages and drawbacks. With a rapid increase in technology, more and more people are getting drawn towards it. However, it has made our lives easier; it has also made us more dependent and impatient. Social media has occupied a large area in our lives, especially in teenagers of today’s generation. They have been exposed to digital screens at a very young age, making it difficult to live without them.

Social media has many positive advantages. It can be used as a medium of learning, having fun, and earning, but too much and constant use of social media can have a terrible negative impact. According to the research conducted, around 16 out of 24 youth use social media for more than 3 hours a day. This number has rapidly increased in the pandemic due to lockdown and restrictions on outdoor activities.

Social media is becoming more of a routine for teenagers; it’s a habit they cannot let go off and have to visit at least twice a day. As a result, the behavioral pattern of teenagers changes rapidly, and they feel incomplete without their phones; they get very anxious and develop FOMO, i.e., fear of missing out if they don’t check their social media accounts in intervals of time. This overuse of media has drastically led to many mental health problems in teenagers.

Let’s look at some prevalent signs indicating mental health issues in teenagers due to excessive use of social media:

1. Depression

Teenagers and even young adults spend a lot of time on social media; they are more busy connecting to people online than offline. They often drift away from face-to-face physical greetings and chat. They are influenced by people online and isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Due to a lack of reality checks and genuine relationships, they often go into depression and are unaware of it.

2. Anxiety

Teenagers have given a lot of space to social media in their lives. They do not set boundaries in their daily usage and are firmly attached to it. A day without checking phones or staying updated creates a sense of FOMO; they start feeling anxious and get restless very fast.

3. Sleep deprivation

Many teenagers are found using their phones before sleeping at night and are exposed to the blue light, which has impacts physically and mentally. In addition, they often cut on their sleep to spend extra time on social media, which again leads to various physical and mental health issues.

4. Comparing yourself to other people on media

Comparison has always led to low self-confidence and self-esteem. Teenagers are at a very developing stage of their lives; they must feel loved, confident, and strong. But nowadays, due to social media, many teenagers compare their lives to others and develop self-doubt and hate towards themselves.

5. Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a severe crime; it has a terrible impact on teenagers. Many teenagers are targeted and bullied on different social media platforms in several ways. These bullyings leave a terrible effect on teenagers, and they are often traumatized and suffer through depression.

It is essential to set boundaries to everything in our lives. We often don’t realize this but practicing self-love and diverting ourselves to physical surroundings is often helpful.

Teenagers shouldn’t be restricted entirely from social media. Still, they must learn to follow basic steps like spending time with people physically, maintaining balance with media usage, and staying away from phones before sleeping to avoid draining themselves physically and mentally.

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