The Impact Of �Social Media� On Depression, Anxiety, And Psychological Wellbeing In Young People In The Uk

Understanding Curriculum Development In Primary And Early Primary Education

Introduction -Understanding Curriculum Development In Primary And Early Primary Education

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“Social Media” refers to the general online community. “Social Media” are some websites or applications that people use to share and create content. However, several studies suggest that people who use “Social Media” are happier than those who do not use “Social Media”. However, there are many negative impacts of “Social Media” that can also be seen. Sometimes, “Social Media” causes anxiety, depression, and other psychological problems (Foster, et al, 2020). Depression refers to the continuous feeling of sadness. In this situation, the individual does not enjoy those activities that they enjoyed once. People with depression may feel worthless and sometimes commit suicide. Mental health nurses can play a major role in this situation. Mental health nurses provide care regarding the psychological problems of the patients. The tasks of mental nurses may include, diagnosis of the psychological issues, psychotherapy, providing medication and so on. Hence, the mental health nurses provide mental and physical needs of the patients.

Literature review

The role of “Social Media” in mental health

Humans are social beings and cannot live alone. If a person is socially connected, depression and stress can be reduced. Hence, it can be said that “Social Media” can play a very important role in this. However, it can also be said that “Social Media” cannot replace real-world society and real interaction with people. Sometimes, the in-person connection is important to release hormones that make one feel happier and reduce stress. In these cases, “Social Media” cannot be very effective (Evans, et al. 2019). However, the fact is, sometimes, “Social Media” is the reason for the loneliness and depression of people. However, spending an excessive amount of time on “Social Media” can be very harmful to psychological well-beings.

The positive aspects of “Social Media”

“Social Media” provides a virtual interaction, which is not the same as face-to-face interaction. However, it has some positive impacts on human society, those are,

• Connection with friends and family is very easy on “Social Media”. Besides, people can find new people who share similar interests. This can be very helpful for psychological well-being.
• “Social Media” promotes heterogeneous contacts.
• It promotes social support, such as bonding, trust, acceptance, reciprocity and so on.
• “Social Media” is very important to spread awareness on a particular topic (Jones, et al. 2022).
• Emotional support can be found on “Social Media” during tough times.
• It improves social connection to the remote area
• “Social Media” can play a very important role for marginalized groups to build connections. Hence, it can reduce the depression of marginalized groups.
• It is a platform to express creativity. Hence, it is very helpful for self-expression.
• It can also be used as a learning platform.

The negative aspects of “Social Media”

“Social Media” is a new technology. Hence, it is very important to discuss the impact of “Social Media” use on human psychology,

• “Inadequacy about one’s life”: manipulated images can be posted on “Social Media”. These pictures have a negative impact on human psychology. Even if the person knows that the picture is manipulated, they can still feel insecure. Besides, on “Social Media” the people generally show the highlight of their life; however, they do not focus on the low points of life or rarely focus on it. However, it may cause depression in those who are going through some tough times.
• “Fear of missing out” or FOMO: in “Social Media”, maximum people think that other people are having more fun in their lives. Sometimes, people think that other people are living better lives than others are. However, according to Coyne et al. (2020) due to FOMO, people are tending to pick their phones up and check their “Social Media” updates very frequently. Besides, people may sleep less at night as they use “Social Media” excessively. This can be harmful to the physical as well as the mental health of the person.

Figure 1: Negative aspects of “Social Media”

(Source: Coyne et al. 2020)

• Isolation: Some studies suggested that excessive use of “Social Media” does not decrease the feeling of loneliness rather it may increase loneliness. Hence, it has a negative impact on human psychology.
• “Depression and anxiety”: Face-to-face interaction may reduce the stress of the person. Eye-to-eye contact with beloved ones can reduce the depression of a person. However, using “Social Media” may cause anxiety and depression in people (O’Reilly, et al. 2018).
• Cyber bullying: Cyber bullying is one of the most important factors related to depression of a person. In “Social Media”, the spread of jokes, rumours, and lies can spread easily and at a very fast pace. Hence, many people face the problem of Cyber bullying on “Social Media” and it causes depression.

Signs of the impact of “Social Media” on mental health

There are some signs that can be indications of the impact of “Social Media” on the mental health of a person. These have been discussed below,

• If a person uses excessive “Social Media” and spends more time on it, then it can be defined as social-media addition as they rarely interact with real world. When a person is with friends, and checking “Social Media”, it might be an indication of “Social Media” addiction.
• Sometimes, people start comparing themselves with others on “Social Media”. This is the main reason for their depression.
• Cyber bullying can bring the most negative impact on psychology and mental health. Children and young adults are mostly affected by this. Having no control over the post, on “Social Media” can be depressing sometimes (Keles et al. 2020). One cannot control what others post on “Social Media” about a person.
• People who spend excessive time on “Social Media” do not have time for themselves. This may cause an interruption in self-reflection. Self-reflection is very important for mental health.
• If a person is facing a sleep problem, “Social Media” can be the reason for this. There is a tendency for people to be more active on “Social Media” at night. Hence, it can be said that this is the major reason for less sleep at night. However, this problem may lead to several other psychological problems.

Theories of development

“Bandura's Social Learning Theory”: Bandura proposed four “meditational processes”. Those are,

• Attention: according to this theory, the individual has to pay attention to the behaviour and behavioural consequences. This is very helpful to create a “mental perception” of that behaviour. On a regular basis, one can observe his or her behaviour that may not be noteworthy. Hence, young people must be aware of their behaviour related to “Social Media” use.
• Retention: it indicates the memory of the behaviour. The memory of the behaviour determines the later behaviour of that person. However, according to Gao, et al. (2020) this is the reason for excessive use of “Social Media”, especially among young people.
• Reproduction: according to this theory, our behaviour is determined by the activities that we like to imitate. This is the reason for “Social Media” addiction. The decision of the person determines the behaviour of the person.
• Motivation: this refers to the will or motivation of the person to perform his or her behaviour. However, punishment or rewards are related to the motivation of the person to continue the behaviour. In this case, “Social Media” influences play a great role in motivating people. Besides, the positive reactions to “Social Media” posts can also play a very important role in using “Social Media”.

Figure 2: Bandura's Social Learning Theory

(Source: Gao et al 2020)

However, from the above description, it can be said that how a person learns social behaviour and performs it. However, in this case, this is very helpful to understand the use of “Social Media” and the way it becomes a part of the behaviour of a person.

The role of mental health nurses on young people and “Social Media”

The major role of mental health nurses is to provide mental and physical health care support to patients who are suffering from psychiatric disorders or any other mental health issues. The roles of mental health nurses have been discussed below,

• The impartial role of mental health nurses is to assess and evaluate the mental health condition of the patient. The patient must be diagnosed with proper care before treatment. Once the disease or disorder has been identified, proper treatment of the patient can be started.
• After the identification of the disease, the nursing staff can do the proper planning for the treatment of the patient.
• If the patient is provided with any medical support, the nursing staff must have a record of the medication provided to the patient.
• When a young person suffers from any mental issues, the nursing staff must prepare an intervention for the treatment (Hou et al. 2019).
• Treatment of the mental health of young people, especially adolescent people can be very difficult for the nursing staff. Hence, they must give more time to identify the disease and more time to plan the treatment.
• The major role of mental health care nurses is to educate the patient. In the case of young patients, this education is the most important. If the patient is suffering from depression and any other mental health condition due to excessive use of “Social Media”, it becomes very important to educate the patient. However, according to Abbas, et al. (2019) they must be known about the risks and impact of “Social Media” usage on human psychology. However, the patient must be aware of their present mental health condition.
• After completion of the treatment, the patients must be provided long-term support. The nurses must observe the patient after the treatment process is done.

Nursing Theory of leadership

“The contingency leadership theory”: this theory focuses on the fact that the leaders change their style of leadership on the basis of the changing situation. When an emergency comes, the nurses may play the role of authoritarian style. According to this theory, the leadership style of the nurses may differ according to the different situations.

Figure 3: Contingency leadership theory

(Source: Usher et al. 2019)

“Transformational Leadership”: this theory focuses on interpersonal relationships. Factors like motives, desire, goals, and others may have an impact on this. The main role of the transformational leader is to make the vision of other staff clear. The development of vision must be developed based on the goal of the organization (López?López, et al. 2019). A Transformational Leader encourages the staff and motivates them to work hard to achieve the goal of the organization.

Figure 4: Transformational Leadership

(Source: López?López et al. 2019)

“Expectancy Theory”: this theory focuses on the fact that the needs of individuals have an impact on the behaviour of the person. This theory also suggested that motivation might build a positive relationship between a person's performance and effort. Feedback can be one of the most important factors that may help to increase the motivation of a person. This is also very helpful to grow the organization faster (Tang, et al. 2020). Hence, according to this theory, the nursing staff must be motivated during their work and they must be provided valuable feedback on their work.

Figure 5: Expectancy Theory

(Source: Tang, et al. 2020)

Conclusion

“Social Media” are the general online community. Virtual interaction on “Social Media” may have a positive impact on the psychological well-being of a person. There are many positive impacts of “Social Media”. The major impacts may include easy interaction with the people. This is very useful for marginalized people and useful to those who live in district areas. However, some of the negative impacts of “Social Media” may include, "Inadequacy about your life", "Fear of missing out", cyber bullying and many more. Due to the "Fear of missing out", the person shakes the “Social Media” notification very frequently; this may lead to an addiction to “Social Media”.

 However, cyber bullying can be considered the most negative factor of “Social Media”. Due to cyber-bullying, most young people are affected. Lies, rumours, and bullying may affect the mental health of a person. Hence, it can be said that people must use “Social Media” very wisely. "Social learning theory" of Bandura focuses on the behavioural development of a person. Hence, it can be said that “Social Media” user behaviour can be described with the help of this theory. Mental health nurses can play a major role to ensure the health of young people who are affected by the use of “Social Media”. Anxiety, depression, and other psychological problems can be seen among the people, who use “Social Media” excessively.

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