In the modern world, social media is an essential part of every day life. Waking up and grabbing your phone for a Facebook or Twitter timeline scroll is the new coffee and newspaper read. The US consists of approximately 325 million people in population, and just under 75% of the population uses at least one online platform. The anxiety rate in the US is just under 20% and rising each year, with more than half suffering from social anxieties.
What could be the cause? New friend requests, follows or likes on social profiles actually trigger the feel good hormone dopamine to release, offering a rewarding sensation in the brain. Feeling that reward encourages further desire for that reward sensation and subconscious monitoring of new positive interactions on social platforms.
With typical social anxiety, fear of and anxiety over judgment sets in and causes discomfort. Adding in this new social media gratification, anxiety and self perception is inevitably influenced. Likes on social media or the lack of, can leave individuals evaluating their self worth, lowering self-esteem and enhancing anxiety. With all the new Instagram models, influencers and celebrities, the feeling of not meeting those same standards will likely cause persistent comparison of oneself and others on these social platforms.
Hopelessness theory describes two conditions likely to influence ones mental health, one being vulnerability, and the other negative environmental circumstances. Being vulnerable to FOMO, or low self-esteem in general added with the appearance of others living a lavish life and attending fun events and activities that oneself cannot will likely over time deteriorate ones self-esteem, leading to mental health disorders like social anxiety disorder, anxiety and depression.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.).
Liu, R. T., Kleiman, E. M., Nestor, B. A., & Cheek, S. M. (2015). The Hopelessness Theory of Depression: A Quarter Century in Review. Clinical psychology : a publication of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association, 22(4), 345–365. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12125