Florida State University Impacts of Social Media use on Mental Health Essay

Write a full-length persuasive essay that establishes a position in the debate: A few articles that we read in this segment focused on the effects of social media on our collective mental health (articles attached).  Many people today, in fact, insist that the proliferation of social media is largely to blame for the uptick in depression and other mental disorders that we have seen in recent years – particularly within younger generations.  Does this seem reasonable and accurate?  Does increased social media usage seem to be the primary driver of the growth in mental afflictions today, or are there other/multiple factors causing this?  If you choose the latter, you will need identify at least a few of these other factors throughout your essay, but regardless of which way you choose to argue this point, you will again need to supply evidence from the readings and/or other sources of your own to support your position.

 

 

 

 

Title: “Beware, Facebook or Social Media Addiction Can Trigger Cocaine-Like High”

By: Nishant Arora

Source: Indo-Asian News Service. (Feb. 24, 2016): From Health Reference Center Academic.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Athena Information Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Full Text:

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) Can spending excessive time on Facebook or other social media be as

dangerous as addiction to cocaine or gambling?

Well, yes, if researchers from California State University-Fullerton are to be believed.

They say social media obsession may lead to something akin to classical addiction. Such use triggers two

key parts of the brain associated with rewards: The amygdala which is the integrative place for

emotions, behaviour and motivation and the striatum — part of the forebrain and a critical component

of the reward system.

The findings, recently published in the journal Psychological Reports: Disability and Trauma showed that

social media-related “addictions” share some neural features with substance and gambling addictions.

Since the meteoric rise of the internet usage and emergence of various social media platforms, many

young Indians have been left socially isolated and lonely.

It’s time for a reality check in our backyard.

Take Krishnan (name changed), a 15-year-old social media addict in the capital, who recently visited Dr.

Sameer Malhotra, director, mental health and behavioural sciences at Max Healthcare.

Hooked on to Facebook for nearly 16 hours a day, he had developed an obsessive personality profile and

was neglecting priorities of life, including education.

“I have been seeing many youngsters who are in the grip of social media addiction. In the case of

Krishnan, I treated him through both counselling and medication which helped channelise his energy in

positive work,” Dr. Malhotra told IANS.

“Facebook addiction is similar to cocaine addiction to a certain level as there are certain neurochemicals like dopamine which operate across brain reward pathways and are responsible for

maintaining addictive behaviour,” he said.

According to Dr. Malhotra, teenagers with Facebook addiction-like symptoms may “have a hyperactive

amygdala-striatal system, which makes this ‘addiction’ similar to many other addictions.”

For Dr. Samir Parikh, director at department of mental health and behavioural Science, Fortis

Healthcare, excessive use of social media is a common trend today and such preoccupation leads to an

interference in one’s social, occupational as well as other areas of functioning.

“Yes, it could be considered similar to drug addiction to a certain level though it is not exactly the same.

The difference is more in terms of the physiological manifestations involved in the influence of a

substance,” Dr. Parikh told IANS.

Addiction is defined as repetitive habit pattern that increases the risk of diseases or associated personal

and social problems. It is a subjective experience of “loss of control”.

Addiction connotes dependence because there are common neurochemical and neuroanatomical

pathways found among all addictions — whether it is substance, gambling, sex, eating, internet use or

Facebook obsession.

“They all display similar patterns of behaviour like inability to abstain, impairment in behaviour control,

craving, diminished recognition of significant behaviourial problems, interpersonal issues and a

dysfunctional emotional response,” says Dr. Birendra Yadav, psychology clinical operations at telehealth

venture-Poccare, Healthenablr.

Experts say Facebook addiction can lead to impulse-control disorders, especially among adolescents

where it has led to high prevalence of depression, aggressive behaviour and psychiatric symptoms.

The social media has also been found to have affected lifestyles, resulting in irregular dietary habits,

decreased physical activity, short duration of sleep and increased use of alcohol and tobacco.

Is it true that getting out of Facebook addiction is easier than that of substance abuse?

“This is subjective and depends on the context, personality and state of mind of the individual

concerned and you need to build the will power of the person through both counselling and

medication,” Dr. Malhotra says.

“Overcoming any kind of addiction is possible with adequate professional interventions,” Dr. Parikh said.

The bottom line: use social media, but do not let it take over your life. Investing time in “real”

relationships rather than in the cyberworld can lead to improved mental health, say experts.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)

Copyright 2016 IANS, distributed by Contify.com

Nishant Arora

 

 

 

 

Title: “Are Our Teens Hooked?: Social Media Addiction”

By: Sharon Blumberg

Source: Voice of Youth Advocates. 35.6 (Feb. 2013): p528. From General OneFile.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC

Full Text:

Dr. Gregory Jantz, addiction specialist and mental health counselor, is the author of #Hooked: The

Pitfalls of Media, Technology, and Social Networking, and more than twenty books on topics from

depression to eating disorders. Jantz has more than twenty-five years of experience in mental health

counseling and is the founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources near Seattle,

Washington. At the center, the treatment team addresses the physical and psychological factors

involved in recovery from addiction.

In Jantz’s article, “Is Facebook Addiction Similar to Alcohol & Drug Addiction?” he shares his views on

how prevalent social media addiction is with today’s users. Jantz says that technology continues at an

accelerating pace, and we are in unchartered territory. He advises that as social networking infiltrates

our lives, we must remember that it is here to serve us positively. Studies, however, reveal an inverse

link with online social media connections and social relationships.

Norwegian researchers created the Bergen Facebook Addiction scale, a test to determine addiction to

social networking sites. The creators compared great amounts of time users spend on social networking

sites to drug and alcohol abuse. This scale reveals how often people use the site, and if using the site

affects users’ lives in an adverse way.

According to researchers, the following groups of people are most likely to be at risk for social

networking addiction: socially insecure people, young people who are high-tech, and women. Jantz

states people grow less social and productive in their real lives the more time they spend on social sites.

He compares overuse of social sites to drug and alcohol abuse: although users feel better for the time

they are indulging in these substances or activities, the family structure suffers. Jantz suggests that

parents monitor their own time online, so that it does not further decrease the amount of time they

spend with their families.

Social media usage can be one of the major distractions from homework. According to a Kaiser Family

Foundation study, the more time spent with media, the lower a child’s academic performance. This is a

logical consequence due to a decrease in time available for study and school work preparation at home.

Also, the less time that is spent with human interaction, the more likely an addiction problem could

prevail. Parents are advised to be familiar with how their child’s devices work to know and understand

their habits. Parents need to be aware of the positive and negative consequences of the whole family’s

use of technology.

We can be certain that Internet addiction is serious when the people whose job it is to get us addicted

to Internet usage are concerned, according to “Step away from the Computers, Says Silicon Valley” July

29, 2012, by Kristina Chew. Stuart Crabb, a director in one of Facebook’s executive offices, oversees

learning and development, urges users to log off, turn off the computer, and do something else. Have

fun in the real world, interacting with real people, face to face, he suggests. Other leaders from the tech

community have similar views, including Padmasree Warrior, the chief technology and strategy officer

and former head of engineering at Cisco. Warrior says she meditates every night and spends her

Saturdays painting and writing poetry. She turns off her phone or leaves it in another room. It is “almost

like a reboot for your brain and soul.”

Wisdom 2.0 holds an annual conference regarding balance in the digital age, and at the conference last

February, amid sessions on yoga and similar activities, leaders from Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Zynga,

Paypal, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco pondered if technology firms had a responsibility to consider their

collective power to lure consumers to technological activities that take up their time. They are now

thinking about the ethical outcomes that could result from overuse. Some compare a company’s lack of

reaction to this overuse or addiction to tobacco companies that disassociate themselves from tobacco

addiction. Eric Schiermeyer, co-founder of Zynga, states that Silicon Valley is no more responsible for

creating irresistible technologies than fast-food restaurants and soft drink manufacturers are for the

consumption of their products. They are creating products for their businesses and it is up to consumers

to use the products responsibly. Other people from the tech community realize that people spend about

28 percent of office time on email. This means workers and employers should be mindful of the

addictive properties of this kind of technology.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the reference book for psychiatric disorders,

will include “Internet Use Disorder” in its next edition. However, the American Psychiatric Association

feels that this condition merits further study. Tori DeAngelis, in her article, “Is Internet Addiction Real?”

from the American Psychological Association, states that many psychologists doubt addiction is the

correct term to describe what happens to people who spend a lot of time online. Yet, more

psychologists are looking into this premise of Internet addiction.

Even so, the side effects of long-term usage of the Internet and the tech-work that it accompanies

includes poor nutrition, “cyber shakes,” headaches, and other symptoms. Chew further explains that

schools should understand how modern technology can enhance young people’s lives, while at the same

time, teach young adults how to maintain a healthy balance. Schools should take on the added

responsibility of teaching future generations about the drawbacks, as much as the benefits, of Internet

use. They should make sure students are aware of the wonders and values of the real, physical world.

Steve Williams poses interesting questions in an October 6, 2012 Care 2 Causes article, “Does Someone

You Know Have Internet Use Disorder?” Do you or does someone you know spend too much time on the

Internet playing online games? Do you check specific sites, Internet headliners, or email at regular

intervals? If you do, then you may be suffering from this addiction. Williams suggests that the test for

too much is when use becomes obsessive or detrimental to other areas of our lives and our

relationships.

Recent studies have demonstrated there are physical changes in the brains of adolescents suffering

from what could be termed an Internet or online gaming additicon. These changes are similar to those

present in the brains of drug users. Evidence also shows that Internet addiction could impact dopamine

receptors in the brain.

How can parents spot when someone in their family has had too much Internet, social networking, or

gaming? There are, of course, legitimate reasons for using the Internet. For homebound, elderly

individuals, the Internet might be a means through which they connect with loved ones, pay their bills,

do their shopping, and connect with the world in a way from which they would normally be cut off.

Young people may use the Internet for school work or to communicate with friends. If, however, the

lack of usage within a short time period creates a desperate void, that could signify a serious addiction.

Parents and educators can encourage their children to maintain a healthy balance between Internet use

and face-to-face interactions in a positive climate by engaging them with questions that stimulate good

conversations.

Several Illinois school librarians and teachers were questioned about this topic and responded

collectively: “Social media addiction is an area that needs to be monitored more by parents.” When a

few Illinois school librarians and junior high teachers stumbled upon the Twitter site of some schoolaged students chatting with one another, the teachers and school librarians discovered that they

tweeted hourly and daily about their classmates, friends, teachers, and parents.

Heath Rezabek, teen services coordinator from the Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas, shared: “The

subject is a difficult one, and I would only be able to represent my own opinions, as I haven’t conducted

any research in this area. But within the public library, we do provide access to tools and technologies

such as Facebook, but also to a far wider range of resources and experiences. I think the chance to have

hybrid experiences, where you can explore your world in a setting that provides a diversity of options–

that is important. Libraries continue to fulfill this role in society, regardless of any single platform or

service that might come along. Breaking up focused activities with other interests remains as important

as ever. That creates a healthy balance.”

We are indeed navigating through unchartered waters as we encounter new technologies and teach

safe use to our youth. Encouraging a balance between using technology wisely and engaging in real life

will help our teens and their families find their way.

BERGEN FACEBOOK ADDICTION SCALE

This scale has six basic criteria asking for one of five responses to each statement: (1) Very rarely, (2)

Rarely, (3) Sometimes, (4) Often, and (5) Very often.

1. You spend a lot of time thinking about Facebook or planning how to use it.

2. You feel an urge to use Facebook more and more.

3. You use Facebook in order to forget about personal problems.

4. You have tried to cut down on the use of Facebook without success.

5. You become restless or troubled if you are prohibited from using Facebook.

6. You use Facebook so much that it has had a negative impact on your job/studies. Scoring “often” or

“very often” on at least four of the six items may suggest addiction.

The symptoms of Internet Use Disorder include, but are not limited to, the following:

* A preoccupation with the use of the Internet

* Withdrawal symptoms when no longer able to access the Internet

* An increasing tolerance to the stimuli, requiring more time and Internet use in order to achieve the

same high

* A loss of other interests

* Using the Internet to replace or make up for a lack of human relationships

* Failed attempts at quitting Internet use

* Using the Internet as a tool to escape or improve general sadness

RESOURCES

Chew, Kristina. “Step away from the Computers, Says Silicon Valley,” http://

www.care2.com/causes/internet-addiction-alarms-the-tech-world.html. July 29, 2012.

DeAngelis, Tori. “Is Internet Addiction Real?” The American Psychological Association. April 2000, Vol.

31, No. 4. http://www.apa.org/monitor/aprO0/ addiction.aspx.

Dr. Gregory Jantz. http://www.drgregoryjantz.com.

Interview with Heath Rezabek, teen services coordinator of Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas.

October 15, 2012.

Interview with school librarians and junior high teachers in Illinois, October 2012.

Jantz, Gregory. “Social Media Addictions,” http://www.us.mg206.mail.yahoo. com/dc/launch

?.partner=sbc.

Williams, Steve. “Does Someone You Know Have Internet Use Disorder?” Care 2 Causes.

http://www.care2.com/causes/causes/does-someone-you-know-haveinternet-use-disorder.html.

Sharon Blumberg resides in Munster, Indiana, with her husband. She has two grown children. She has

been a junior high teacher and writer for about twenty years. In her spare time, she loves to go for long

walks with her husband, read, write, travel, and watch movies.

Blumberg, Sharon