Tag: youth

Effect Of Social Sites On The Mental Health Of Youth

January 18, 2023
/ Leave a Comment on Effect Of Social Sites On The Mental Health Of Youth

7 min
12 months
1,317 word

Tagged Mental Health, online platform, Psychological, Social Sites, Technology

Effect Of Social Sites On The Mental Health Of Youth

Author: Ruby Sebastian

Keywords:- Mental Health, Social Sites, youth, technology, youngster, online platform, psychological, awareness

Introduction

The use of technology has increased rapidly over years, which makes social media play a major role in the lives of youth. Social media is present everywhere in the daily life of youth. The most used social media platforms among youth are YouTube, Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Telegram, Snapchat, and others. Social media has created a new space of exhilarating opportunities as well as challenges. Social media benefits the younger generation in many ways by building relationships and encouraging creative and innovative thinking. They act as resources in education, providing opportunities for critical thinking and assessment. Developing social and communication skills, acting as a space for exploring creativity, and giving inspiration and support.

Though social sites has many advantages, overuse of such or any electronic items can be a problem. Young people are too much into technology without giving much care to the effects it can cause in their life. The effects of social media can either be positive or negative depending on an individual’s usage of it. Most likely social media tends to create a negative effect on youth unless integrated with a business or professional goal.

Life of Social Media

Youngsters consider social sites a significant part of their life nowadays and they prioritize it over other matters. They enjoy being in the comfort of social sites without much interaction with their family or relatives and without taking responsibility for their daily livelihood. The average time spent by a person a day on social networking sites is 1.72 hours. People in their teens spend at least 27 hours per week on these sites. When a person spends an ample amount of time daily on such platform is associated with poor mental health. Depending on how it is used and how often, social media may make matters worse. Social media is an element that can cause strong temptation in a person. It can lead to addiction in youth and begin to side-track them.

People share their personal information on these social media sites and do not read the privacy policies or are unaware that the information given by them can be seen by advertisers, IRS, and insurance companies. This leads to exposing our identities to governmental and corporate intrusions. People with negative ideas use social media as a platform for bullying and sending toxic messages which creates trauma for others. All the information in social media need not be true, it can lead to misinformation or false propaganda.

Social Sites during the Pandemic

The usage rose to a higher level when it was mandatory to stay at home during the pandemic. It has become the prime source of social connection for tweens and teens during the period of the pandemic when there were no other means to socialize with their friends. Individuals especially youth have benefitted through social media at times of isolation. Social media acted as a means of empowerment, entertainment, and sociality by connecting with people of similar tastes and preferences, being aware of new topics, building identity, appreciating social and political engagements, and getting to know others.

Certain studies conducted on this topic suggested that social media was being used as a survival mechanism. To battle the feelings of confinement or segregation due to long-term social distancing. The youngsters relied on these online platforms or social sites to relieve their tensions in the short term. Later on this reliance resulted in negative feelings which tends to be much worse than in their earlier stage. When people approach social sites to reduce their loneliness it is associated with poor mental health. People expect to receive something from the social platform that they are not getting in their real life. Initially, they can get what they desire because all that appears to them is fresh. But gradually they become bored with it which creates a deteriorating mental situation for them.

Mental effects by usage of social sites

Social platform is considered to be a contributing factor in the recent rise in mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression among young people. Youth is the most defenseless stage in a person’s life, which is why young people have increased exposure to alcohol, drugs, and highly endangered situations.

Research studies conducted in the U.S. found that social media affects the happiness of young people. A recent condition known as a quarter-life crisis is seen in youth which is defined as a state of anxiety and discontent and a sense of failure borne from the perception that you have not made enough of an impact on the world by age of 25. It created negative effects on their self-esteem, and self-image, creating anxiety, loneliness, and depression in young minds. It is accompanied by a lot of risks which include the fear of missing out on things. Exposure to upsetting or traumatic content, cyberbullying, online predators, and getting access to incorrect information. The input during a person’s growth plays a pivotal role in shaping his or her identity. Not only youth, but even adults are also highly influenced by the articles and information on such platforms.

Therefore, there is a high possibility that young people would be more impacted by the messages and images. That have the prospect to influence them unfavorably the impression they have about themselves and how they suit this world.

Social sites usage and impact on women

Studies conducted found that young women aged 16-24 years are more prone to suffer from psychological hardships and disorders than young men of the same age. The idealized lives and beauty notions that are portrayed through social platforms seek the attention of women more than men. They arouse pressure in people to put forward an ideal version of themselves. There is a tendency among youth to compete with people of their age to craft the individuality that helps them become popular.

Women compare themselves with others who are deemed to be desirable, which can cause problems with their self-esteem in them. Constant comparisons result in the participation of unauthentic promotional activities to picturise a fake view of their own lives to get the acceptance of the likeness of others. They are so immersed in their looks, taking lots of pictures until they find the perfect one. And worrying about exhibiting themselves in a certain way that might not even be of their choice. Young women are put through a lot of threatening, violent, sexual, and derogatory personal comments through social media than men which might cause severe damage to their mental health.

Conclusion

Social media has a lot of advantages on its own but the way people use it makes it a bad source which can even disturb our mental health. Adults must take proper care of their children in controlling their usage of social media sites. Parents should monitor the activities of their children on social media without intruding on their privacy. Children should be instructed on how the privacy protections are set by the concerned officials and it is not acknowledgeable to share personal information on social media sites. Adult predators use this information provided in their attempts to captivate and make use of youth.

The most suitable way for parents to impose rules on reducing their children’s screen time. By engaging them in the activities of the physical world. Since it is easy for youth to fall into negative loops of social platform, teachers can take a step to counter such things. From happening by sharing good examples of social media activities that are beneficial for youth. People being aware of ill-effects of social media must make sure that they don’t fall into dangerous side of it. The unified attempt of parents, teachers, and children can turn society into young people with a good mindset.

For any Query

Mail us at edumoundofficial@gmail.com

Article / Lifestyle

April 8, 2022
/ Leave a Comment on Obesity, Depression and Technology

7 min
2 years
1,251 word

Tagged COVID-19, Depression, Health, obesitytechnology, youth

Obesity, Depression and Technology

Keywords:- Obesity, Depression, Technology, Lifestyle

Author – Nikhat Parveen

Introduction

Frequent use of the internet is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, one of the leading causes of obesity worldwide. Most young people, addicted to excessive internet use, are prone to depression. Managing an online lifestyle can be demanding and challenging for most people who cannot do things without using the internet. In modern times, various social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and so on take up a lot of the time. Other online streaming media like YouTube attract most of the people to consume and use them. Depression leads to bad lifestyle habits, such as bad eating habits. These maybe characterized by excessive sugar intake due to sweet tooth and binge eating. Therefore, excessive internet use due to a sedentary lifestyle contributes to obesity. It also leads to depression due to unhealthy eating habits and sleep disorders in most users .

Causes of Obesity

One of the main causes of obesity is a sedentary lifestyle. Over the past decade, the number of social media users has increased tenfold. Unlike before, the majority of the population uses many of these social media platforms on the go. Engaging in this social media platform increases individual sedentary lifestyle. Additionally lack of physical activity on regular occasions deteriorates overall personal health over time. Accessible internet use has established a lack of physical activity and has a serious impact on the population. Most people who use social media live a sedentary lifestyle by sitting most of the time.

When a person uses their energy to boost metabolism, the body begins to store it for later use. This lifestyle is associated with increased metabolic dysfunctions, which contribute to excessive fat in the body leading to obesity. Any individual with a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25 kg/m2 is considered overweight by World Health Organisation (WHO). A BMI above that, in that case, is greater or equal to 30 kg/m2 is obese (WHO). Excessive use of the internet causes high immobility, such as reclining, lying down, or sitting. Some of the common sedentary lifestyles that do not increase individual heart rate are prone to increasing weight, consequently developing obesity.

As soon as people gain weight, they begin to prefer less physical activity. Instead, they prefer spending their time and energy mainly on the internet. At this stage, the lack of an active life leads to the fact that a person gains weight. Studies show that four out of ten teenagers spend more than two hours a day online. For example, they cited research showing that compulsive internet use has an adverse effect on nutritional behaviour patterns such as snacking (particularly breakfast) and occasional meal skipping.

Impact of Netflix and YouTube

Also, when innovation wasn’t so cutting edge, the regular exercises for young people were sports, energy investment on the pitch, and real partnerships with others. Young people see fun as the basic element to complete what they should be doing while relaxing. Before, people invested their energies in the play with their teammates. However, they are currently becoming increasingly internet-attached, investing time with peers who play on the internet. They are also using their time by visiting social media and other web pages, which can often lead to the so-called “chasm” of online media.

The stages, such as Netflix and YouTube, are based on video content. Here, a video could produce the next intriguing video for YouTube and Netflix after the film series. Showing “enchantment” causes less rest because they invest more of their recreational energy and extend it into their rest time. A more modest window of rest could induce a rushed day. It forces people to depend on fast food varieties to supplant an adequate solid breakfast, the most important meal. It can produce weight as there is an expansion in the use of high calorie food varieties. This is observed as the best choices are supplanted by quick and easy food sources.

Internet and Depression

Excessive internet use may become the cause of depression, which is closely related to poor eating habits. Some therapists concluded that there is a significant association between heavy social media use and depression. What can be safely concluded is that social networking sites that attempt to create interpersonal interactions using simulated interaction. They are somehow resulting in increased psychological dysfunction. A surrogate observation showed that young people who do not have mental health problems but who use the internet excessively are more likely to develop depression over time.

Depression and Obesity

Depression and stress from excessive use of the net contribute to poor ingestion habits that lead to obesity. Most people who use social media compare their lives with others, tributary to depression. Once a person is depressed, they consume unhealthy food, exacerbating their depression. The implications of a high-fat meal coincide with the impact of chronic stress, which is mostly attributed to depressive episodes . It highlights why compulsive ingestion, particularly the higher fat, junk meals that people are probably to consume, will contribute to depression.

It shows that overweight individuals with unhealthy eating issues are additionally likely to suffer mental pain, corresponding to depression or anxiety. All conditions are capable of inflicting the other. Binge eating can contribute to avoirdupois and a lack of capability to manage unhealthy ingestion, that will result in depression. Depression also triggers binge eating, as a way of coping. This arises from excessive web use that further worsens with poor dieting.

Sleep Disturbances & Obesity

The internet, on the other hand, can contribute to sleep disturbances. Young people who spend hours on the internet have a higher risk of insomnia, which contributes to obesity. Researchers found that teens whose parents regulate their time online by using the internet had a 40% lower risk of obesity as compared to families which did not restrict their internet use . Additionally, a vital area is the content that some people devour on online networks. Energy consumption is also another important factor contributing to the progression of metabolic disorders related to sleep restriction. People who spend more time using the internet before bed end up falling asleep late and may feel tired and sleepy during the day. This can prevent them from leading an active life during the day and promote obesity .

Conclusion

Moreover, the studies suggest that smartphones’ blue light mildly influences the circadian rhythm, inhibiting individuals from sleeping well. The impact of the devices used for accessing the net is associated with poor dieting, sedentary way of life and despair. These are some of the common reasons that contribute to weight problems. The range of younger humans prone to internet dependency and use is leading to the problem of despair. Learning to deal with a web way of life may be hard for maximum people who can’t stay without the net. Nowadays, social networking websites and online streaming media entice the bulk of the humans into binge intake. This leads them to spend their maximum of the time staying inactive. It leads to despair, consequently, poor way of life decisions, like unhealthy eating habits associated with the intake of junk ingredients that result in weight problems.

1 in 50 of India’s teenagers are obese . Obesity might not seem like a very Indian problem , but to think that would be wrong. India stands to become a home to one of the largest overweight populations in the world in the coming years .

It is Time for a Change!

Edited by: Sompikta Banerjee

For any Query

Who are We?

EduMound is a start-up platform established for young minds aspiring to contribute their skills and knowledge for the growth of the educational fraternity. We are an educational platform that focuses on the co-curricular portfolio development of students.

Stay Connected

Events

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEBSITE!