There is growing concern about our country’s mental health and the use of social media. For our purposes in this report, we’re focusing our attention on the young men and women who head off to college. In such a major life transition, There are bound to be some students who might withdraw into social media.
But Research has shown that prolonged exposure to social media increases depression in people, especially those prone to negative thinking.
LSUS Counseling Director Kendal Redel includes the subject as one of the issues affecting students – during their casual gatherings with students held every Wednesday. “Bottom line, the goal is to increase student’s self-awareness about why they’re using social media, what’s happening in their brains while they’re using it.” Redel says they will typically see about 100 students overall during the school year.
According to a new study, conducted by the Pew Research Center, 95 percent of teenagers say they have access to a smartphone and 45 of teenagers say they are “almost constantly” on the internet. Many teenagers also worry they use their phone too much. Redel says she sees similar habits in students who visit their counseling office. “The doomscrolling , the constant, just looking for the next dopamine rush. So, we’re identifying those things as not healthy.”
Redel’s use of the word “Doomscrolling” means a person who is mindlessly scrolling through negative news, one after another after another. In extreme cases This behavior can be one clue, out of many, that this person may need some help. “There are generational researchers who have shown that since the advent of the iPhone, and that over usage, that mental health has been, you know, increasingly more distressed, in a state of distress.”
That same Pew research study also found that 69-percent of adults and 81 percent of teenagers use social media Such results would likely not come as a surprise to Redel. “Ultimately, you get on social media or a dating app to like talk and connect and get attention and feel better. And we see people coming away from it feeling worse.”
For more information on LSUS Counseling Service go to:
counseling@lsus.edu or call: (318) 797-5365.