Understanding Social Media and It’s Impact on Individuals Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on COVID-19, social media, or its affects on an individuals mental health. If you’re seeking help, please visit mn.gov/covid19 or visit your local state government web-page.
On Wednesday, March 11th of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. The COVID-19 virus would completely shut down the United States and nearly every part of the world around us. Leaving people to stay inside for months to come.
In response to the pandemic and lockdown, most, if not all of us, turned to our phones to stay connected to people. Using social media to keep us updated on news and information that we all wanted to know. Popular social media apps included Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Reddit, Youtube, Zoom, FaceTime and more.
In general, there is no doubt that social media is beneficial for connecting with friends and family, mindless entertainment, and sharing non-stop news in the span of one tap. However, when talking about the COVID-19 pandemic, social media had some of the opposite affects and became very harmful for many peoples mental health.
While social media is usually a positive experience for a variety of reasons, during the COVID-19 pandemic individuals experienced it to be causing poor mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and panic disorders.
Pre-Pandemic Social Media Use
Let’s briefly talk about life pre-pandemic. Many of us were just beginning to grasp the idea of social media, its rapid growth, and popularity over the decade. There have always been studies linked to social media and its affects on mental health, but we as humans have not experienced a worldwide pandemic in the age of the internet. To understand the effects of social media on individuals during a worldwide pandemic, research is needed.
Pandemic Social Media Use
To understand the change of social media use when the pandemic began, it’s important to show global data reports of the increase in online and digital activities. According to Data Reportal, the average daily use of social media is two hours and twenty-five minutes and a little over half of the world is currently using social media, social networking platforms, or streaming services online.
In March of 2020 when individuals were ordered to stay inside until notified otherwise, the state of social media became the, “first-stop for news, entertainment, information, and human interaction”, according to Power Digital. The adoption of social media soon became a natural way for connecting with friends and family while remaining inside and avoiding getting exposed to the COVID-19 virus. The growth of social media use and online activities around the world became the new normal way of staying in touch.
The popular app TikTok alone saw downloads nearly double between the end of 2019 and April of 2020. Facebook and Instagram Live Streams were being scheduled and held on a regular daily-basis. According to Rival IQ, “In mid-April, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter reached it’s all-time highs for the year.” This normally doesn’t happen at the beginning of the year.
According to Science Direct, six hundred and sixty-eight users participated in a questionnaire survey that summarizes the changes in the effects of social media use due to the pandemic. Science Direct found that, “Social Media use during the COVID-19 pandemic shows differences than normal time usage.”
Social Media & Mental Health Affects
Due to the lengthly amount of time waiting for the vaccines to roll in, most people had to stay in quarantine to limit the spread of the virus. Social media became our “friend”. Especially for those who were living alone during the pandemic and had to socially distance by themselves.
Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers suggests that, “Several studies connect heavy social media use to mental health issues, and limiting this social media use decreases feelings of loneliness and anxiety.” Media use among individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic is a coping mechanism used to self-regulate with the current situation.
Studies show that both adolescents and adults experienced social media affecting their mental health during the pandemic lockdown. Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers also states, “Given the social isolation and anxiety during the COVID-19 lockdown, adolescents especially may self-regulate their emotions using social media.”
It’s important to address the exact reasons why social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting peoples mental health. When an individual is informed of a worldwide pandemic that could potentially kill millions, the feeling of anxiety, fear, and panic is already a given. On top of that, knowing that there is a chance you could contract the virus or already have it is extremely nerve-wrecking and scary.
In March of 2020, when the CDC first issued for everyone to stay inside, while trying to avoid getting the virus, most of us had no idea what was going on, what the virus was, where it came from, or how it even ended up in the United States. People were left feeling confused, wanting answers, and a calendar date to jot down when this was all going to end. Unfortunately, for many, it felt like there was no end in sight. Information was coming from all different angles on newspapers, websites, channels, pages, magazines, etc. Overwhelming was one word to describe this scary time.
According to Nature online, “These remarkable levels of usage have had undeniable psychological impacts.” The constant feeling of fear, anxiety, and panic matched with scrolling, refreshing, and then scrolling again would make it hard for anyone to stay sane while being inside for months during a worldwide pandemic. Many reported that their daily use of screen time and technology went up when staying at home during quarantine.
Avoid Overusing Social Media
Over-using anything can become a problem if you are unaware of it and it’s affecting your health. Considering the excessive use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the leading causes for mental health issues in 2020, cutting back on your time using it would be a beneficial option. Detaching yourself from the internet and limiting yourself to accessing social media 24/7 is proven to be healthier for the mind.
How To Break The Habit?
Overusing social media can not only negatively affect your mental health, but can also lead to affecting your physical health as well.
How can you try to break the habit of always checking social media, specifically during a global pandemic?
It’s important to start by turning off your notifications and limiting yourself from your phone. Try a hobby, call your friends and family to keep yourself busy and distracted, set screen time limits in settings, leave your phone our of sight and out of mind, delete apps and social media accounts that you don’t use or feel the need to use anymore. Another option that many people decide to try is going “cold-turkey” — or leaving social media for a while.
Although, social media in general provides us informational and emotional peer support through the pandemic, it was also known to cause mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.
Coping With The Pandemic, Social Media + It’s Affects
There is no “easy-fix” to people’s mental health or stress disorders during a pandemic, so you adapt and make the best out of what is happening. It’s important to understand that you are not alone in how you are feeling. There are practical, healthy ways to cope with your emotions. There is not one specific way for us all to cope with what the pandemic has brought into our lives. However, less social media use is proven to be a healthy option to cope.
“The trade-off between self-knowledge and threat perception is systematically impacted by social media use. This trade-off effect is also evidenced by the way the evolution curves of the ‘coping’ and ‘anxiety’ semantic clusters mirror each other closely.” — Nature Articles
While coping and anxiety go hand-in-hand, the effects of the “semantic clusters mirroring each other closely”, can be very difficult for people to bare. Cutting back on social media use can be beneficial for the mind, body, and soul and is also known to be less harmful for your mental health during a pandemic.
Social media use is fine in moderation, however, it is important to acknowledge that overuse can lead to higher chance of anxiety, depression, panic disorders or other mental health diagnosis’s.
If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800–273-TALK (8255) any time day or night or chat online. For help and support in dealing with a mental illness, please call 800–950-NAMI (6284) or email info@nami.org.
