Social Media Effects On Anxiety

Social Media’s Effect on Anxiety Disorders The average American teen is more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than ever before. Social media has caused a spike in anxiety disorders in teens. Although is it is only one of many more reasons that anxiety cases are on the rise, social media makes one of the largest impacts on the adolescent brain. Social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder are caused by chemical imbalances in the human brain that cause the individual to feel worried and overly anxious in everyday situations. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and many other sites have created a world for teens to lose real-world communication skills and visualize themselves in negative ways by constantly comparing their bodies and thoughts to others through a screen. Although social media has brought great new features of advertising and quick communication to today’s society, it has also contributed to an increase in the number of anxiety cases in teens.
In the article “How Social Media Affects Teenagers”, the author states that experts are worried that social media is promoting anxiety and self-esteem issues in teens. Many people worry that technology is going to affect the toddler drastically and commonly forget that the
“Feelings of self-consciousness or a need for perfectionism can arise, which often manifests itself into social anxiety or pervasive thoughts indicative of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder”(Is your Online Addiction Making you Anxious? 2016). In “Am I Pretty or Ugly?”, Lisa Naylor explains how the body image of adolescents in specific is being affected by social media. For example, girls will post pictures of themselves online hoping for responses from anyone to tell them they are pretty so that they feel noticed (Naylor