Depression And Social Media Analysis

Depression is a mood disorder that, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, affects 6.7% of the US population. It is a serious illness that can be characterized, and often stereotyped, by perceived laziness, lack of motivation, and loneliness. Those with depression may experience significant changes in their sleeping habits, either sleeping too much or too little. Some depressed people can have suicidal thoughts, but the two are not mutually exclusive. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, states that in order to diagnose major depressive disorder (commonly known as simply depression), 5 or more of the following criteria must be met. The criteria are as follows: 1) depressed mood

Social media use reinforces the rise of depression among adolescents in today’s digital age. This new era of technology has cultivated a fear of missing out among teens. A survey by J. Walter Thompson Intelligence found that about 75% of teenagers and young adults had that fear when thinking of what their peers were doing. (J. Walter Thompson Intelligence, 2011, 2012) The link between the fear of missing out and social media use is apparent. Reciprocal determinism plays a role; those who are afraid to be left out have increased social media use and vice versa. (Przybylski et al., 2013). An additional study by psychologists at the University of Houston determined that those anxious of feeling left out had depressive symptoms. (Baker, Krieger, & LeRoy, 2016) Thus, social media use can result in depressive symptoms and anxiety. (Blease,

Depression may be explained by unhealthy cognitive processes, including distorted thinking and schemas. Those with depression often have many distortions surrounding their personal life. The distortions are demonstrated by depressed people emphasizing their own failure and being overly humble. (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). In addition to the augmented thinking, labelling cognitive processes as distorted thinking can lead one to believe that they themselves are at fault for the way their brain works. This can lead to public stigma and self-blame, neither of which are good for treating clinical depression. (Cook & Wang, 2010). The ‘distorted thinking’ is heavily influenced by cognitive schemas, which frequently originate in childhood. (Young, Klosko, & Weishaar, 2003). Since the schemas are formed in childhood, when one is not fully mature, a person with depression may think of his own failure as the same failure he experienced in elementary school. This concept of failure will result in generalization; the person will believe he will be bullied by his colleagues like in his childhood. (Botha & Dozois,