Mental Health Vs Social Media Essay

Social Media V.S. Addictive Behaviors and Mental Health Issues Public Health has many different sections of information regarding the community and individuals; the first two sections that I have examined are the Principles of Population Health and the Tools of Population Health. Within the two sections I was able to gather an understanding of both, but after reading I was left with a question. In regards to public health, can excessive use of social media contribute to addictive behaviors or mental health issues? As I look back on my notes I realized that there are many possibilities that can link what I have read and what I have experienced in my life together to this problem. In the reading I found that I was intrigued by how much information

Karrie Lager, a child psychologist practicing in Los Angeles, says. “However, excessive internet use can have serious negative consequences,” she explains in response to a survey published by CASA Columbia (Stein, 2014). Dr. Lager has a great point, she believes that the use of technology for communication is a great thing for children, but she also agrees that using it to excess can be harmful and dangerous to a child. A lot of children, as well as adults use social media as fuel to their self-esteem and their self-worth, by doing so they become addicted wanting to use it more and more to never feel less than they should. Unfortunately because of this the addictive tendencies are becoming more apparent “Social media is simply providing a quicker peeling of the onion, however in most cases the problems were already there,” Dr. Sophy says, “Many people are genetically predisposed to use excessive amounts of potentially harmful tools (sex, substances, food, social media, etc.) to self soothe. And yet there are others who learn these behaviors due to life circumstances and events” (Stein, 2014). As you look closer to the problem one can understand that there are beneficial factors to social media but they can also see that there are factors that are harmful. If children are using social media more and more there is naturally going to be

It would be helpful because it would open their eyes up to what their problems with their usage is, as well as help them find time to be away from their social media accounts and enjoy life around them. Not only will this help their mood, and their possibility to slowly lessen their addiction but in the long run it will help them be healthier in the realm of the community. Having a balance of time on social media and time off, it will help their health literacy increase by understanding when enough time, is enough time instead of using until their eyes hurt or until they have to go to sleep and ended up getting nothing done all day. If my siblings could understand what health communications are and how they can be implemented for the good, I believe that their public health knowledge would benefit greatly. If my siblings were to become more rounded with the things they do they would be less likely to have risk-taking attitudes and not find themselves in situation where they do not know what to