Social media addiction can affect 5-10% of Americans and is characterized by an uncontrollable urge to use social media that impairs other areas of life. The constant notifications and feedback on social media activate the brain's reward system in similar ways as drugs or gambling. This causes people to desire more likes and feedback as the brain associates social media use with feelings of pleasure and reward. Excessive social media use can increase risks of mental health issues like anxiety and depression as people often compare their real lives to the idealized versions others portray online. Treatment may involve reducing screen time or seeking professional help for severe cases.
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Social Media Addiction
Social media addiction can affect 5-10% of Americans and is characterized by an uncontrollable urge to use social media that impairs other areas of life. The constant notifications and feedback on social media activate the brain's reward system in similar ways as drugs or gambling. This causes people to desire more likes and feedback as the brain associates social media use with feelings of pleasure and reward. Excessive social media use can increase risks of mental health issues like anxiety and depression as people often compare their real lives to the idealized versions others portray online. Treatment may involve reducing screen time or seeking professional help for severe cases.
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Social media addiction
What Is Social Media Addiction?
• Checking and scrolling through social media has become an increasingly popular activity over the last decade. In fact, psychologists estimate that as many as 5 to 10% of Americans meet the criteria for social media addiction today. Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction that is characterized as being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media, and devoting so much time and effort to social media that it impairs other important life areas. • The phenomena of social media addiction can largely be contributed to the dopamine-inducing social environments that social networking sites provide. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram produce the same neural circuitry that is caused by gambling and recreational drugs to keep consumers using their products as much as possible. How Social Media Affects the Brain? • Due to the effect that it has on the brain, social media is addictive both physically and psychologically. According to a new study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance. The reward area in the brain and its chemical messenger pathways affect decisions and sensations. When someone experiences something rewarding, or uses an addictive substance, neurons in the principal dopamine-producing areas in the brain are activated, causing dopamine levels to rise. Therefore, the brain receives a “reward” and associates the drug or activity with positive reinforcement. • This is observable in social media usage; when an individual gets a notification, such as a like or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing him or her to feel pleasure. Social media provides an endless amount of immediate rewards in the form of attention from others for relatively minimal effort. Therefore, the brain rewires itself through this positive reinforcement, making people desire likes, retweets, and emoticon reactions. • Another perpetuating factor of social media addiction is the fact that the reward centers of the brain are most active when people are talking about themselves. In real life, it’s estimated that people talk about themselves around 30 to 40% of the time; however, social media is all about showing off one’s life and accomplishments, so people talk about themselves a staggering 80% of the time. When a person posts a picture and gets positive social feedback, it stimulates the brain to release dopamine, which again rewards that behavior and perpetuates the social media habit. Social Media and Mental Health • Recent studies have found that frequent social network users believe that other users are happier and more successful than they are, especially when they do not know them very well in real life. Social media facilitates an environment in which people are comparing their realistic offline selves to the flawless, filtered, and edited online versions of others, which can be detrimental to mental well-being and perception of self. Excessive social media use can not only cause unhappiness and a general dissatisfaction with life in users, but also increase the risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Constantly comparing oneself to others can lead to feelings of self- consciousness or a need for perfectionism and order, which often manifests itself into social anxiety disorder. How to find treatment? • While many people are able to use social media on a daily basis with no problem, those suffering from a social media addiction are consumed by their need to use and engage on social networking sites. Luckily, the condition is very treatable and many have successfully recovered. One of the best ways to break an addiction to social media is to set boundaries and reduce screen-time; however, if the addiction is too severe you may require professional help. Teacher: Ariana Arifi Student: Nisa Shaqiri