15 May Why is Instagram contributing towards mental health in young people?
A report has proven that Instagram, the app which is best used for self-expression and creativity, is partly responsible for the rise in young peoples mental health.
Over the years, the well-loved social media app, Instagram, has contributed towards the rise in mental health issues. The platform gives individuals the ability to show off their creative side, but many use it in a personal way, by sharing images of their everyday lives to the world. According to Statista, Instagram has a total of 800 million users worldwide and has now become an essential part of people’s online routine. Although created with the positive intention of globally connecting by sharing photos, the app has quickly become a place where young people have developed mental health issues – but why is this the case?
A recent study by the University of Pittsburgh suggests that heavy social media users are three times more likely to be depressed than occasional users. Whilst there are 16.7 million monthly Instagram users in the UK, it is interesting to see that the figure is very similar to the 16 million people in the UK that experience mental health issues. According to The Guardian, these mental health issues include anxiety, body-image, depression, and loneliness – attributes that Instagram has been linked to causing.
As a young Fashion and Lifestyle Blogger, Yasmina Blackwell has limited the time that she spends on Instagram a day. With Social Media being a big part of her job, Yasmina tends to follow other influencers and Celebrities and finds that her mental health becomes worse off, particularly when she sees images posted by the accounts that she follows. “The models and celebrity influencers that I follow, somehow manage to look good in every photo. It makes me feel very insecure about myself.”
According to Fstoppers, 68% of users create a manipulated sense of reality, by editing their photos before sharing them online. With young people being handed over the power to change their images at ease, it’s not difficult to see why a consistent newsfeed of filtered images can have an effect on the mental well-being of young people. Yasmin tells me that falling into this trap has affected her relationship with her body image: “I feel a pressure to put in the same amount of effort as they do to look good. I don’t feel pretty enough to post a picture of myself without a filter anymore, so I use three different photo editing apps before posting them on Instagram.”
Claire Mysko, an expert on body image and media literacy, explains why she believes Instagram has mentally contributed towards low self-esteem and body image: ‘Instagram’s elements ticks all of the boxes that could lead towards mental health issues. Because young people have the opportunity to enhance and filter images, the reality is ignored and instead, is replaced with a world of a distorted figure of real life.”
The concept of being able to distort images has led to an even wider issue in the social media and mental health spectrum – the opportunity to create a false persona. Jennifer, a 25-year-old freelance writer, and Yoga teacher has suffered from depression and anxiety since she was a teenager. She explains to me why Instagram has become problematic for her mental health. “When I’m feeling low, which happens to be from time to time, I have to be very careful when I choose to scroll through Instagram. I have even deactivated the app a few times because it seems to be a place where everyone’s lives are perfect and it makes me feel horrifying.”
Three years ago, Jennifer encountered an experience with severe depression and tried to force herself into happiness through the photo-sharing app. From the food that she ate to her heavily edited selfies, it didn’t take long for Jennifer to develop an obsession with posting content in a false persona. “I felt that if I made my Instagram profile a good spirited place, I would feel better about myself, so I used to post pictures pretending to be happy and made it look like I was living an exciting life when that was not the case at all.”
It appears that Jennifer is not the only one to have created a false persona, in a bid for happiness. In 2015, the Guardian reported that Australian Instagram personality Essa O’Neill, who had gained her half a million followers by sharing photos of herself, had quit Instagram, describing it as “contrived perfection made to get attention”.
We have become captivated with how our lives are perceived on Instagram, especially because there is a power that we hold over what content we want to show off. Although we have the choice to control how others view ourselves to try and make us feel somewhat better, having such power can actually have a negative effect on our mental health.
Tom Madders, director of campaigns and communications at YoungMinds, says: “People who use the platform usually gain a thrive out of seeking approval from others and because of this, may not form a secure sense of self-worth. This type of behavior can meddle with a young person mind, as they may begin to feel unsure of their value and can occur other worries such as their appearance.”
Body Image and fake personas are not the only mental health issues that Instagram has had an impact on. In 2017, The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) carried out a UK-wide survey on 1,479 young people to look at how different Social Media apps and may have an impact on their Mental health. The results concluded that Instagram is the worst app for causing mental health issues, ranking high in producing problems such as loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
The report found that one of the main mental issues that Instagram has caused in young people is the fear of missing out (FOMO). The consistency of seeing other users sharing photos and videos on Instagram means that they are experiencing an ongoing series of events. The problem here is that it may promote feelings of a fear that they are missing out on life and develop into an inclination to compare their own life with another’s. According to the report, the act of a young person comparing their life causes distress in form of anxiety and feelings of inadequacy.
I discussed the report with two students who have both agreed that they have experienced negative feelings in relation to comparing and FOMO. Eleanor Gray, soon to be a third-year Drama student, informs me that her friends have already graduated and are now either traveling or beginning their careers. “My friends are always posting pictures (on Instagram) which includes stuff like the countries that they have visited, or how much they are enjoying their jobs. I can’t help but compare my student life to theirs, and it makes me feel down because I’m not in the same position as them.” However, Daisy Hayward, a History Graduate says that the idea of FOMO doesn’t mentally affect her as much, but is guilty of comparing her appearance and lifestyle to others. “I’m obsessed with Instagram and I love to follow celebrities and beauty influencers. Constantly looking into their lifestyle and how they appear in photos, can sometimes have a negative impact on the way I feel about myself. I know it’s all photoshopped and staged but it makes me feel insecure because I will never look like that”
Hope Virgo, Author, and Mental Health advocate describes Instagram as a comparing tool for the young people. “What most people forget, is that the nature of Instagram demonstrates a place where individuals only show the highlights of their lives and therefore it appears to be the norm in society.” She makes the valid point that young people tend to post when they are feeling happy and are on a high, but in contrast, find themselves looking at other profiles when they are down. “The difference between real life and the ideal life that’s portrayed on Instagram means that young people feel like they are missing out on the non-existent life that they crave, which could impact their mental well-being.”
The unfortunate truth is that young people have become ‘dependent’ on the photo-sharing app and no matter how dangerous it can mentally be, it is here to stay. Maybe one day there will be a solution to decrease Instagrams contribution to the rise of Mental health – Hopefully, before the new generation sign up.
