The cost of being active on social media

Discussions of sensitive topics, while provoking conversations, is taking a toll on mental health

Archit Meher, a popular social media influencer with over 54,000 followers is famous for his humorous reels on Instagram, and lifestyle vlogs on YouTube revently opened up on how social media contributed to his mental health issues. While he desperately tried to distance himself from the apps, he found himself coming back to them.

"I used to love making content and videos but believe it or not, it feels like a burden to me: to the point where I’ve started hating it and every person that I met through this app," wrote the influencer.

In a world where a retweet starts petitions with millions of signatures to reform a law and a social media post triggers protests across geographical borders, the cost of such social media activism is significant. While social media is a platform for important conversations, it also limits its safety. Besides the rampant trolling and verbal abuse, sensitive topics also act as psychological triggers for people.

"The camaraderie which drew us to social media is now posing a big challenge to our mental well-being," said Garima Jain, assistant professor at the Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling.

"FOMO, cyber-bullying, relentless scrolling and lack of privacy are some of the challenges posed by the apps," she added.

According to a research study by NCBI, social media usage has been shown to contribute to hysteria, anxiety, and depression.

"Social media platforms like Instagram trap teenagers into endless scrolling," the professor said.

"It can lead to social comparison. When presented with the curated feeds of other people, teens are vulnerable to ‘frequent and extreme upward social comparison,’ which can lead to a number of negative side effects such as erosion of self-esteem, depressed mood, and decreased life satisfaction. Some people try to cope with eroded self-esteem by attacking other people’s sense of self, which can lead to cyber-bullying," the professor

McLean Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School conducted a study tying social media use to decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and poor academic performance. Another study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. show a decline in mental health in the US, with a 37 per cent increase in the likelihood of major depressive episodes among adolescents.

"Many companies have turned to AI as a method for classifying comments with negative sentiment and filtering them or prompting commenters to pause and reconsider their actions. Apps such as Pinterest will present information on hotlines and support resources as a response to search queries for self-harm, suicide, depression, and eating disorder-related content," said Jain.