The US surgeon general will promote the placement of warnings like those on tobacco and alcoholic beverages to warn about the harm from social media in adolescent mental health.
The doctor Vivek Murthy rated the effects of platforms on children and adolescents as public health riskand cited recent studies showing that teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on these platforms are at significantly higher risk of suffering from depression problems. mental health.
Additionally, 46% said social media made them feel worse about their body.
“The platforms are designed to maximize the time we spend on them,” the US official highlighted. It is one thing to do it to an adult and another to a child, whose impulse control is still developingwhose brain is in a sensitive phase of development.”
consulted by UNICEFthe clinical psychologist specialized in adolescents at the Yale University, Lisa Damourpointed out that “the most worrying thing about the use of social networks occurs when young people displace activities that are essential for healthy development, such as getting enough sleep, being physically active, doing schoolwork with focus, spending time in person with friends, and helping at home or in the community.”
“I am also concerned when teenagers are involved in conflicts between peers that develop online or on the side of giving or receiving cyberbullying,” he highlighted.
As analyzed for Infobae the child and adolescent psychiatrist and head of the Pediatric Mental Health Service of the Italian Hospital from Buenos Aires Gisela Rotblat (MN 111,628), “children and adolescents acquire their first devices at increasingly younger ages, on average in Argentina at nine years old, and this, added to the lack of parental control, the wide range of content and non-existent regulation implies a exposure to a vulnerable population per se”.
“If we add to this that This type of content generates immediate satisfactiongreat attraction and credulity towards what is published there, we find ourselves immersed in a society in which our reality is crossed by virtuality,” said the expert, who highlighted that “although many children and adolescents experience sensations of joy, accompaniment and “real” connection with other people, many others experience feelings of anguish, anxiety, frustration and sadness” because of the overexposure to social media.
As he warned Jennifer Lira Mandujanoresearcher at the Iztacala Faculty of Higher Studies dependent on the National Autonomous University of Mexico“social media addiction is becoming a serious mental health problemwhich is seriously affecting the personal and emotional relationships of young people.”
This, in his view, responds to the “excessive and uncontrolled use of these digital tools,” which in many cases “could require the help of psychologists or psychiatrists to initiate professional intervention.”
The specialist in Psychology and health considered in a publication from the study house that “excessive connection on social networks has evolved into a behavioral addiction, showing symptoms comparable to those of addictive substances such as tobacco or alcohol. Mainly among young people, once they immerse themselves in digital platforms, they dedicate almost all their attention and energy to this activity.”
“They constantly check their mobile devices and maintain constant interaction with platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram or WhatsApp,” he described. This becomes the center of your daily life, inadvertently developing an addictive habit that influences all your thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Experts warn that young people who spend a lot of time on the social network may present symptoms similar to those produced by narcolepsya sleep disorder that affects the brain’s ability to regulate sleep-wake cycles.
In the opinion of the psychiatrist and neurologist Enrique De Rosa (MN 63406), “spending long hours watching videos on TikTok, which only requires swiping to go to the next post, also models the stimulus-reward system of the younger generations.”
According to the specialist told Infobae, “the famous pleasure circuit is changing; “More intense, faster, immediate and brief stimuli are now required.”
What effect does immediate gratification have on the brain? Experts agree that “over time, the stimulus wears out; Things no longer attract as much attention. Instant gratification provides an immediate reward, but it also leads to a decrease in its effect. Therefore, the next reward is needed much more quickly”.
At this point, the Mexican specialist highlighted that there are some very specific signs that allow us to identify when a person could have behavioral or mental effects as a result of staying connected for long periods of time on social networks. In that sense, he listed:
- Satisfaction. The person feels the growing need to spend more time on devices to interact with others and consult information on networks.
- Involuntary abstinence. When internet access is interrupted, whether due to a lack of signal or low battery, people may experience physical and emotional discomfort, including signs of irritability, anxiety and headaches.
- Relapse. Even if schedules are established for the use of social networks, at the end of these periods they may feel overwhelmed by disconnection, which leads to opening the applications again and losing control.
- Conflict. The person addicted to social networks often experiences significant difficulties in communicating with their environment, which implies neglecting essential activities such as studies, domestic tasks or work responsibilities.
- Change of mood. The more actively they participate in social networks, the moods of addicted people fluctuate widely: they find satisfaction, joy and excitement when consuming content, but they can also feel frustration, anger, despair and anxiety when they do not achieve their goals or expectations on the platform. .
To finish, Rotblat gave some Recommendations for parents of teenagers:
- Expand communication channels with adolescents respecting individual interests
- Getting closer to them to know them, to share, not to judge what they do or what they like
- Be willing to understand your world
- Do not leave credit cards and/or personal passwords available to the teenager.
- Promote limited and responsible use of technologywith access to other activities that promote social ties, sports activity and motivate self-care
- Discuss about risks and anticipating consequences
- Look for replace networking with other activities and motivate moments of play
- Avoid “all or nothing” with punishments and build a balance
