Social Medi Addiction, Anxiety, And Depression

Social media has clearly become an omnipresent part of social life in these times, to the point that most people may not even be able to any longer imagine what life was like before these technologies were invented. Social media use, however, has a well-documented dark side by now: people can become addicted to social media, and suffer from a wide range of psychological afflictions as a result.

The essay will begin with a description of metrics regarding the breadth of social media usage. Then, it will proceed to consider three of the main psychological problems that can emerge from the use of social media: these are addiction, anxiety, and depression. Finally, the essay will reflect on what could perhaps be done in order to help people address

This is an inherently anxiety-generating situation, insofar as one of the main causes of anxiety is the realization that is one being seen as an object by others, and that one must take care to make the right impression at all times. Of course, this is a dynamic that is a natural part of social interactions in general. However, the dynamic is heightened exponentially on social media platforms, due to the fact not only that one is never entirely sure who is watching one's performance, but also that it is so easy to make a serious faux pas at any time, and often due to simply technical

Among other things, the fact that people are becoming increasingly invested in social media would seem to be indicative of the growing poverty of actual social experiences within the real, physical world. That is, if people felt a greater sense of community or belongingness over the course of their everyday lives, then they would perhaps be less likely to addictively look to social media for their "fix" in this regard.

Moreover, it is worth pointing out that the kinds of virtual interactions that characterize social media are strongly antithetical to human nature from an evolutionary biological perspective: people have always interacted with each other through the media of their bodies, within the context of small groups and communities. Seen from this angle, it is not surprising that social media usage can produce a host of negative psychological consequences: perhaps this is simply because the human brain is not really wired for this kind of interaction to become the foremost way of people socially relating to each