Social media impacts youth mental health

National Agenda

Social media impacts youth mental health

Almost two thirds of young Aussies say their mental health is deteriorating. They believe social media is contributing more to the problem than drugs and alcohol.

A survey conducted by Headspace found young people believe online activity has greater mental health impact than drugs and alcohol.
The data also one third of young people in Australia were experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress, with half dealing with these problems on their own.

Takeout

As the first generation growing up with social media, today’s young people really are the guinea pigs for whether the use of these platforms impact the mental health of users. Instagram is getting ahead of the curve by implementing tools for users to track and limit their social media usage, and other platforms look to follow suit as they struggle to convince us that they’re more good than harm.

Source: Herald Sun - Social media hurting kids more than alcohol, drugs