The Brian Mudd Show

The Brian Mudd Show

There are two sides to stories and one side to facts. That's Brian's mantra and what drives him to get beyond the headlines.Full Bio

 

The social media platform that's the worst for your mental health:

The social media platform that's the worst for your mental health: 

Bottom Line: There's no shortage of research on the, generally negative, mental health effects of frequently using social media. Nevertheless we continue to use it ever more frequently (according to recent research from the Royal Society for Public Health it's more addictive than "cigarettes and alcohol"). While most of us can handle the good, the bad and the ugly (that occurs while engaging our platforms of choice), we know all too well that many can't. The recent controversies involving Facebook Live suicides tell the story as clearly as any. But it's not Facebook that's the riskiest platform for your, or especially your children's, mental health. 

The Royal Society for Public Health studied 1,500 users across all major social media platforms and found Instagram to be the most negative platform for one's mental well being. It's stands to reason that all of the pictures of people seemingly having better lives than you (which is potentially every angst ridden teen at some point), would have the most negative impact of any platform. The study also found that overall anxiety is up 70% over the past 25 years with social platforms playing a key role in that statistic. In other words, justified or not, kids today really do have a tougher time dealing with all of the challenges that peer pressure can bring on. For that reason it's important to pay extra consideration to someone who really does seem to be suffering from signs of depression - at any age. 


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