Re-Evaluating Our Approach To Social Media and Depression

Searching for actionable advice

If you’ve scrolled through the Mental Health section of Medium lately, you will have stumbled across a wave of anti-social media articles. More specifically, the repercussions of social media on the mind. Even more specifically, how Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc. are the devil’s spawn for depression.

The relationship between social media and mental health is everywhere. The BBC covers it, the Telegraph features it, the Daily Mail has a go, and Refinery29 talks about it.

Raising Awareness

Talking is good. It encourages us to explore a historically taboo subject (the mind, not social media), and we raise awareness. It allows us to consider that perhaps our recent bout of low self-esteem isn’t some sort of genetic mutation, but rather a reversible issue associated with excessive thumb-scrolling. Talking creates context, and it gets the ball rolling for action.

But there comes a time when talking reaches saturation point, we begin to hear things on repeat, and those same things become much less poignant. Repetition induces numbness, meaning becomes meaningless.

Recently, we’ve seen big brands do the above. PepsiCo, for example, represents the hundreds of brands keen to jump on the charitable bandwagon, without a solid history to back that brand up. Companies seek the rewards of purpose-led marketing, but lack the action behind the very purpose they claim to support.

Because of this, I suspect we’ll start to see a lot more ‘tangible’ action on the part of big companies. Either that, or the few[er] authentic brands will continue to set themselves apart from the rest; those with a real history of action, those helping the niche community or the wider cause, those who will feel the benefits of the first-mover advantage they never knew they had.

I digress.

The Current Situation

Articles tell us we’re the most depressed generation to have lived. We’re mentally distressed, we don’t get our 8 hours, we’re obese, we work too hard. Oh, and we spend a crazy number of hours writing emails to people we’ll never meet.

Thanks to the above, we’re lonely. Unfortunately, loneliness doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. Loneliness goes under the radar, in the face of society’s more ‘obvious’ pain points.

So hyper-connectedness induces hyper-depression.

Re-evaluating Our Approach

Articles everyday. They tell us to:

• Put your phone in your drawer for one whole week
• Practise meditation for one whole week
• Socially detox for one whole week
• Put your elephant pants on, and surround yourself with Yogis… for one whole week

The above will not work alone. A temporary detox cannot break the strong correlation between social media usage and poor mental health. Our solution to the problem is not to purge all signs of digital device on a temporary basis.

At the same time, a permanent detox is not realistic. What we need is actionable advice; practical suggestions that work in real life. Answers that come from first-hand experience. Truths.

Our aim?

To juggle both a strong mind and a strong digital profile.

Why not achieve both?

Need I remind you of social media’s greatest benefits?

Need I remind you that social media is still relatively new as a concept?

What appears to be ingrained in society is in fact only the beginning. Recent AI-related posts hint at what’s to come. We’re still adjusting, so it’s OK to find it challenging.

Instead, let’s change our outlook. Let’s adjust our question from:

‘How can we rid ourselves of social media?’

TO

‘How can we minimise mental health issues, while continuing the live a digitally social life?

In other words:

How can we have both?

Exploring Education

Education targets the root of the problem; it is one of our strongest preventative measures. But for education to work, it’s vital to consider demographic tendencies.

The Baby Boomer. With only 1% of over 65s active on Instagram, the Boomer is less likely to face the pressure of social media. Yet, the Boomer’s activity on Facebook suggests potential for problem.

The Millennial, Gen Z. Both vulnerable to the mental implications of social media, these two generations don’t know life without tech. As a result, they suffer inter-peer comparison, low body image, and ‘depression’. Nine out of ten under-35s are on social media. That says it all.

Post-Gen Z. The toddlers you see in front of an iPad in a fancy restaurant. Next to their parents.

Analysis of the above will dictate whether the role of education lies with parents, school, peers, the media, big corporations, small corporations, publishers… to name a few.

And at the same time, the above will shape the content of education. Is social media to talk to friends? Is it to post images? Is it to spy on kids? Or be visually creative? How about to network? Brag? Advocate values? Or just to beat your casual boredom?

Much discussion on education still to be had.

Acceptance

Alongside education, we have acceptance. By accepting the role of social media in today’s world, we stop resisting. We stop pretending that we can reverse the irreversible; a trend that shows no signs of slowing.

The key here is to make sure that social media doesn’t mean everything. That it’s possible to reserve thumb-scrolling for specific times of the day.

Remember, social media is relatively new. Humans don’t like change. We must try to accept. Eventually we will.

The Role of Social Networks

And what about the social network itself? Does corporate social responsibility (CSR) exist?

We hear about it from thought-leaders. Those who encourage the involvement of social networks. Those who ask Facebook to step up and contribute to our country’s mental health and technology funds.

But, the moment a social network contributes, it risks public obliteration. It risks increasing the clarity of currently blurred lines; lines that cannot fully connect depression to social media. As long as this relationship remains hazy, platforms will refrain from entering a complex web of CSR.

Final Remarks

Currently, we lack actionable advice. Advice rooted in experience; in tried and tested measures. Unfortunately, we’re unlikely to have those truths for a while. Social media is new. It’s unfamiliar.

But the sooner we tackle its roots, the sooner we reduce the likelihood of long-term mental health weakness. Our future generations adjust to the digital rate of change and they don’t fall victim to it so easily.

Social media is our newest form of addiction; one that goes far too often unnoticed. For now, we can envisage a world of both online and offline. If such balance proves unachievable, we may need to reconsider.

But rather than solely talk about it, let’s aim to find (and share) ways to prevent the escalation of this growing epidemic. Actionable advice is what’s needed.

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