The Conflicting Science of Social Media and Mental Health
Here's the current state of science, and a powerful tool to protect yourself.
Updated October 25, 2023 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan
As of 2023, there are almost 250 million social media users in the United States. That number climbs to almost 5 billion people around the world and is expected to approach 6 billion by 2027. The average person spends an astonishing two and half hours of their time on social media each day. To put that into perspective, if you started using social media at age 10 and continued till age 80, you’d have spent over seven years of your life on these apps.
With statistics like these, we all need to be asking about the long-term risks to our health, including our mental health. But what does the science actually tell us about the links between mental health and social media use? Here’s the latest science, and steps we should all consider taking today.
Google “social media” and “mental health,” and you’re sure to get a lot of hits. Prominent themes in news stories include higher rates of depression , anxiety and stress especially in younger people. Yet the actual scientific research tends to be more split on the topic. So what does the research say? Let’s review some of the largest analyses looking at the links between social media use and mental health published in the last few years:
As you can probably tell, even the most comprehensive journal articles on this topic have rather conflicting messages. Yet there are some key stable themes that we can extract from all this work that can help guide us towards safer social media use for our brain health.
What does this mean for how we might approach social media use?
With most people on Earth participating in at least one social media platform, it’s unlikely that the social media genie is headed back into the bottle anytime soon. Some have argued for large-scale restrictions on social media use for children and adolescents while others propose an outright ban . How and when a person engages with social media will always be unique to the individual, but when looking at a personal approach to use, most will benefit from asking if their use passes the test of T.I.M.E. (adapted from Brain Wash ).
Is your time spent on social media time restricted? If not, can you set a time limit that you feel comfortable dedicating to social media?
Is your social media use intentional, or are you falling prey to doomscrolling, social comparison, or the plans of the app developer that’s trying to steal your attention?
Is your social media time mindful or mindless? Do you find yourself losing large chunks of your day to scrolling? If so, consider reevaluating your use.
Does your social media use enrich your life? Does it educate you? Connect you with others? Provide an opportunity to grow your business? If it’s hard to answer yes, it’s likely that your apps are extracting more from you than you’re getting in return.
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Austin Perlmutter, M.D. , is an MD, New York Times bestselling author, researcher, podcaster, and health entrepreneur on a mission to help millions better their brains through lifestyle medicine. His work has been featured in PBS, Rolling Stone , Newsweek , NPR, Fox, and other top media outlets.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.