{"id":34886,"date":"2017-05-26T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T17:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=34886"},"modified":"2017-05-26T06:43:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:43:42","slug":"the-worst-social-media-site-for-mental-health-and-other-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/the-worst-social-media-site-for-mental-health-and-other-news-0526171","title":{"rendered":"The Worst Social Media Site for Mental Health, and Other News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-34889\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Sad-woman-looking-at-phone-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Sad woman looking at phone\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" title=\"\">According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rsph.org.uk\/our-work\/policy\/social-media-and-young-people-s-mental-health-and-wellbeing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">report by the Royal Society for Public Health<\/a>, social media app Instagram is more harmful to young people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health than other social media platforms. The report, which stems from a survey of nearly 1,500 teens and young adults, linked Instagram to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/bullying\">bullying<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/anxiety\">anxiety<\/a>, depression, and fear of missing out.<\/p>\n<p>The report did not, however, find that social media use is universally bad for mental health. Social media sites were linked to self-expression, a sense of community, a sense of identity, and greater social support. Some sites offered other benefits. YouTube, for example, promoted awareness of others\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 experiences, decreased <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/depression\">depression<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/loneliness\">loneliness<\/a>, and offered access to reliable health information.<\/p>\n<p>The report suggests social media platforms can protect users\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mental health by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding pop-up warnings pointing to the risks of heavy use.<\/li>\n<li>Providing methods to identify and support users who experience <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\">mental health issues<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Offering notifications to alert when a photo has been digitally altered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/we-need-more-studies-on-kids-mental-health-1495647795?mg=id-wsj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>We Need More Studies on Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Mental Health<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><div class=\"content-fatwidget align-right\">\n\t<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\" target=\"_blank\">Find a Therapist<\/a><\/h2>\n\t<form action=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/search-redirect.html\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t\t<input required name=\"search[zipcode]\" placeholder=\"Enter ZIP or City\" class=\"inline-input\" type=\"text\" \/>\n\n\n\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"TOS agreement\" value=\" \" class=\"inline-btn\" title=\"Search\" onclick=\"ga('send', 'event', 'FAT Widget', 'Submit Search', 'Sidebar', {nonInteraction: true});\" \/>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/advanced-search.html\" title=\"Advanced Search\" onclick=\"ga(&#039;send&#039;, &#039;event&#039;, &#039;FAT Widget&#039;, &#039;Advanced Search&#039;, &#039;Sidebar&#039;, {nonInteraction: true});\">Advanced Search<\/a>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>Opinion pieces that raise alarm bells about psychological screening in schools often neglect a vital piece of the puzzle: we know little about children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health, and many childhood mental health issues go undetected. Routine mental health screenings could change this, offering better services to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/child-and-adolescent-issues\">children<\/a> with mental health concerns.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2017\/may\/23\/number-university-dropouts-due-to-mental-health-problems-trebles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Number of University Dropouts Due to Mental Health Problems Trebles<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>The number of students leaving universities in the United Kingdom due to mental health issues has increased threefold in recent years. More students are requesting counseling, as schools struggle to keep up with their mental health needs.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/brucejapsen\/2017\/05\/23\/walgreens-mental-health-platform-spurs-follow-up-care\/#2eb56b6961e5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Walgreen&#8217;s Mental Health Initiative Expands Reach<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>With about 1 in 5 Americans experiencing a mental health condition, mental health concerns are more prevalent than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/health-illness-medical-issues\">physical health issues<\/a>. The Walgreens Boots Alliance, now in its second year, expanded mental health access and screenings in an attempt to provide more treatment and more resources. The retailer, which partnered with Mental Health America for the service, says 75% of people who completed mental health screenings are taking steps toward follow-up care.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/health.usnews.com\/health-care\/patient-advice\/articles\/2017-05-23\/how-does-my-social-circle-affect-my-depression-risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>How Does My Social Circle Affect My Depression Risk?<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Loved ones can be both a cause of depression and a support system for fighting depression. Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/relationships\">relationships<\/a> provide relief and social support. Others are a source of depression-triggering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/stress\">stress<\/a>. Some are both. Experts say the key is to recognize and cultivate healthy relationships with others.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2017\/05\/22\/the-climate-crisis-may-be-taking-a-toll-on-your-mental-health_partner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>The Climate Crisis May Be Taking a Toll On Your Mental Health<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Ecoanxiety, the fear of an impending environmental crisis, is increasingly common. A new report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/american-psychological-association\">American Psychological Association (APA)<\/a> suggests this anxiety may directly affect relationships and functioning. For instance, every standard deviation of rainfall and temperature increase is expected to produce a 4% increase in interpersonal conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instagram has been ranked by a new report as the worst social media site for its negative effects on mental health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2555,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[21,161,637],"class_list":["post-34886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-therapy-news","tag-child-and-adolescent-issues","tag-depression","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2555"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}