Social media is very popular nowadays, and people are making great memories through social media interactions, but research says it could be a source of depression. Researchers have established that constant use of social media might lead to the development of depression in six months, irrespective of their personality.
Social media users have a great incidence of depression.
Although social media users tend to have a greater incidence of depression, the researchers state that some personal qualities had a marginally reduced risk relative to others. For example, more agreeable individuals are less likely to experience depression in the next six months. In contrast hand, people who are more neurotic and utilize social media have a higher chance of depression.
The group examined data from more than 1,000 adults, ages 18 to 30, from a different 2018 study. These individuals responded to inquiries regarding their use of social media, including how many hours they spend on the most popular applications. Additionally, they answered a personality test. The study’s participants were divided into five groups: neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness.
Social networking platforms’ use raises the likelihood of later depression diagnoses, irrespective of personality type. Nevertheless, those who scored highly on the agreeableness scale were 49% less likely to experience depression than those who scored poorly on it. In addition, individuals with high neuroticism, who frequently experience unpleasant or anxious emotions, were much more likely to experience sadness than others when they used more than five hours (300 minutes) on social media.
Comparing one’s life to others can lead to depression
When individuals compare themselves to others on social media, leading their best lives they are likely to fall into depression. As a result of the comparison, individuals feel frustrated and their esteem drops and the more social media they use the more they are likely to be depressed.
Additionally, since the number of people on social media continues to increase daily, that could be why there is a link to the increasing number of cases of depression. Time spent scrolling videos and photos can make individuals feel lonely.
