This study was published in Nov 2023, and conclusions suggest that internet (including social media) has not had a negative impact on the mental health of the population.
The study points out, that there is a lack of information available on this topic, as large tech companies have not made their own internal studies and results available to the public. Studies specific to social media platforms (for example), may yield very different results.
This study is incredibly broad, and aimed to make a connection between the number of individuals using the internet in various countries, and changes in their subjective reporting of wellness and statistics on rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm from 2000-2019. For example, looking to see if as more and more households gained access to the internet over those decades, their rates of mental illness increased.
As a mental health provider, my concern has never been that patients may be negatively impacted by checking the weather, sending an email, making a dinner reservation or streaming a sports program online. Although this study looks at data from a large number of countries and a large number of individuals, I would argue that the use of social media was incredibly low (compared to today) for the majority of the time analyzed. Instagram was launched in 2010 and tik tok in 2016. Both have had exponential growth since the very tail-end of this study. Even facebook was not made available to the general public until 2006 (a third of the way through the data analyzed). Example w/ instagram.
I’d also like to discuss, that mental illness and mental disorders are medical conditions. Rates of major depressive disorder, bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia for example, do not wildly fluctuate over-time, as they have significant genetic components, just like many other general medical conditions. However, I believe, that the degree to which some individuals suffer from these illnesses, HAS substantially increased in the last 5-10 years, due to certain aspects of internet usage. Frankly, I see it with my patients. 20 years ago, if a child was bullied at school, they could come home, have dinner with their families and try to forget about the way that they were treated earlier in the day by classmates. In the last 5-10 years (again, this has become substantially worse, only in the last 25% or so of when this study analyzed data from), when children come home from school, those same bullies that gave them a difficult time earlier that day can continue to text, post derogatory images or videos, dislike posts etc. It’s incredibly difficult for children to get a break from being bullied, if their internet & cellular usage isn’t limited at home.
Algorithms with many social media platforms are becoming more and more effective at showing content, that is applicable to previous searches or specific to the individual. For example, if a patient is concerned about their weight, and they are looking at youtube or instagram videos on weight loss, they will likely be inundated with a feed that is re-enforcing their research and focus on weight. If this same individual is depressed or suffers from an eating disorder, it’s easy to see that this can become incredibly problematic.
Finally, I’ve had many patients contact our office specifically for addictions to the internet. Again, their concerns are typically not related to “general” internet usage (like checking email, reading the news, or streaming a sports event) but tend to be incredibly specific (as opposed to this very broad study). Netflix binging may be a problem for one. Another, may have difficulty “going down rabbit holes” on reddit and losing significant chunks of their day. Another, w/ researching distressing political topics or world events, and the 24-7 news feed. And another, a decrease in sexual attraction to their partner, related to pornography use. I’ve actually treated about a half-dozen men in recent years, who could no longer perform or achieve climax with their spouses, and when I worked with them to stop viewing pornography for 2-3 months, their function and satisfaction with their partner returned completely back to their baseline.
Frankly, I do not believe that there is anything inherently wrong with the adoption of the internet. However, I do know that if someone is struggling with compulsive social media use, pornography use, news watching or other difficulties, they should know, that cutting back on their screen time, getting outside or engaging family or friends may go a long way. Seeking help by a mental health specialist may also be incredibly fruitful, and despite the conclusions of this study, I can confidently say that you are not alone in your struggles with the internet age.