Solution of Social Media Addiction

According to Pew Research Center, almost 90 percent of the people aged 18 to 29 years use social media in any available form, and 15 percent of the ages 23 to 18 years admit their high usage, out of which females are the most addicted ones (Maya). Who should be concerned with this type of addiction? It could be positively of concern for the marketing agencies and the people behind managing special media platforms. Also, it could be negatively of concern to the individuals themselves who are the most proficient users of social media and their parents or families. 
Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction that has major risk factors, such as girls being more addicted to internet usage due to lower body satisfaction, extraversion, narcissism, or higher physical attractiveness (Perris et al. 13-15). Girls’ social interaction is more evident through social media, whereas boys use it more for online gaming. Girls try it to use for physical attraction through their picture on social media platforms as extraversion is the personality trait they want to exhibit in these social lives. Personality differences and psychological impacts have been different for different adolescents in the prediction of internet addiction. Further, the geek behavior or online peer groups are more apparent among individuals with personality traits of narcissism and neuroticism. Several personality traits come into play in geek behavior or online peer involvement both in boys and girls, specifically of older age. 
The thesis statement of this paper, therefore, stands as: “Parents of teenage girls, school management and school counseling workers should be vigilant about teenage girls’ mental health showing high usage of social media and high involvement in online peer groups.”
Qualitative research based on the prior research studies indicated clearly that problematic use or high addictive use of social media is associated with high depression among females, especially at a young age (Vidal et al., 243). The high risky behavior in females with the use of certain social media usage patterns, such as high screen time at night or more than two hours a day, has to be regulated to avoid adverse mental health conditions. There was another contrasting finding in the same study that young males and females who were getting online peer support through their depression showed less depressive symptoms with time as they were able to discuss their problems with online peers that they could not do otherwise in real life.
An informative study revealed that out of the total world population of 7.7 billion, Facebook users are 2.7 billion in which most of the adolescents have one active profile among other online social media profiles such as Instagram, Twitter, Snap chat, etc. where they disclose their private life and intimate information online (Perkovich 3). Along with this, to keep mental sanity from getting affected by the overwhelming use of social media, it is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics not to use screen time more than two hours a day (Perkovich 3). It is suggested that self-esteem, a person’s ability to view oneself with certain qualities and characteristics in the personality as a perception of others, is affected if social media image is not positive. According to the latest CDC data, anxiety and depression are the second leading cause of 6,200 deaths of the age group 15 to 24 years in the year 2017 (Perkovich 5). However, research has pointed out an interesting fact that social media addiction is high when it is used for entertainment purposes. In contrast, its usage for social interaction is positively associated with subjective well-being, especially among students (Zhao 1). Still, social media ‘addiction’ harms overall well-being is used immoderately as they become slaves of smartphones and gadgets and have less control over their emotions. 
Low self-esteem is specifically identified in female adolescents and high school students, positively associated with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, high risk in sexual behavior, suicidal tendency, and other behavioral problems at this age (Perkovich 5). The negative online feedback received by the female adolescents has not proven to be producing a positive mental effect, critically in terms of further lowering self-esteem. Social media addiction has been negatively associated with the academic performance of young students where self-esteem is considered the mediator in changing their behaviors psychologically. For this, if interventions for reducing their social media addiction have been conducted, they have produced positive health outcomes (Hou et al.). Excessive online gaming and internet use for social media interactions have contributed to the emotional problems of young adults with cognitive impairments and emotional distress (Sumen and Evgin 2277). This information is imperative in the context of determining the onset of depression and anxiety, explicitly for body image that is related to building perceptions about self-esteem among girls (Kelly et al. 62), and further development of suicidal thoughts for the same gender that could be controlled immediately at this particular age by the school counselors and parents. 
Cyberbullying, lack of sleep, and exercise have also been associated with poor mental health with the increased usage of social media, again highly prevalent among girls compared to boys (Ducharme). Females check their social media accounts numerous times a day, disturbing their sleeping and exercise patterns and causes disruptions in their eating routine if they have been affected by some serious matter online. Their responses to the questions related to psychological distress, low life satisfaction, and lesser happiness have been perceived using social media that has a stronger impact on girls. Although there has been limited data on why females are more affected than boys, there still is a plethora of studies that corroborate the same findings repeatedly. 
Age has been associated with more problematic use or addiction of social media usage since children have an inborn tendency to belong to the peer community (Henzel and Hakansson 11). There is an invisible but strong peer pressure to achieve a sense of belonging towards their school and social circle friends. They do not want to miss out on any updated data on the social sites, which triggers them to check out their social media accounts now and then. This increases their screen time by more than two hours daily which is not recommended. The constant online presence is more persistent in younger individuals rather than the mature adults who prefer communicating in traditional verbal ways. It could also be attributed to the children’s more exposure to technology in schools and readily available internet access within the educational institutes. 
Peer pressure has recently been highlighted while studying social media addiction and online interactions that shape individuals’ behavior. Peer victimization is a growing interest in this field. This has led to cyber aggression, cyber oppression, and even cyberbullying (Nesi, Choukas-Bradley, and Prinstein 298), which has been discussed earlier, is directed towards anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies among adolescents, specifically girls. The all-time online presence and availability of online profiles of the individuals certify that one can never escape the chances of peer victimization of the weaker ones, leading to feebleness. Within school boundaries, bullying does occur to which some weak students have to succumb, but homes should be a solace place for these; they cannot even flee from this disaster even at their safe dwellings. This directly affects their mental health with online peer pressure and the spread of damaging online content. 
Apart from sleep disturbances’ association with depression with social media addiction, perceived social support, personality traits, socio-cultural factors, and family and environmental factors were also some of the major reasons for social skill development in adolescents (Keles, McCrae and Grealish 88). As mentioned above, people with mental health difficulties have shown positive signs in gaining online peer support since they find solace in sharing their thoughts and mental hardships they are facing that they cannot share with their parents or other physical friends at school (Naslund et al. 246-248). They find it comforting while sharing those feelings with those going through the same mental problems, and social interactions were facilitated. An increase in communication with those who fall in the same category helped them heal internally. They felt their access to online peer support gave them medication property and positive esteem support for encouragement. There was felt network support to understand each other’s situation well and created a self-help group online to discuss openly and sometimes anonymously. It implies that online peer support can be used positively and negatively for those in danger of mental health problems.
It is deduced that female adolescents could gain help through online peer groups, even if they face online bullying or cyber victimization along with any form of social addiction, so that they can talk with those they find similar to themselves and trapped in the same situation. Online social media platforms could be utilized as an effective means of healing if used in the right manner. For example, suppose adolescent girls feel shy about expressing themselves with social media addiction, low self-esteem, or possible mental, behavioral risks. In that case, the physician or psychologist could profile the same age and personality particulars to talk with the adolescent girl in trouble. He could extract information by providing her with online peer support and positively offering online social interaction to heal her depression and anxiety or social media addiction. Moreover, merely reading comments on social media groups of those who face the same problems could help the affected ones. 
School counselors could be the first and primary assessors of youth’s mental health if students do not reveal their problems with their parents at home (Collins 413). School counselors could bridge the gap of communication between parents and students due to which parents usually remain unaware of the psychological difficulties their children are going through. Discovering the problem at its initial stage could be a useful strategy that school counselors could sense in social media addiction or possible cyberbullying for adolescent girls. Besides, school nurses provide primary aid in sensing mental health problems, which they perceive is not emphasized (Anttila et al. 1). Though school nurses have identified that building trust relationships with adolescents and motivating them to come for monthly check-ups is a chief barrier; however, this could be eliminated with increased communication and certifying confidentiality. Once the parents are aware of the problem, which is usually unlikely as adolescents do not open up about their mental health problems even to their parents, they provide influential support to their children (Hassett, Green and Zundel 1). Some parents do feel social stigma in realizing that their child requires psychological help, for which they try to suppress the issue (Villatoro et al. 90). Still, when adolescents initiate the help-seeking process, they gain the confidence to seek help independently in the future. 
Limiting internet accessibility within the schools should be a new regulatory policy so that less screen time is ensured. Government should pass bills that should prohibit schools that do so. Collaborations with internet-providing companies to put restrictions on certain social media sites for adolescents should be guaranteed for decreasing their social media use that creates impacts on their self-esteem and suicidal drift. Additionally, school counselors and healthcare providers, including school nurses responsible for collaborating with parents of teenagers to advocate for their better childcare and health facilities for physical and mental well-being, could be important sources of support for lowering the rates of depression and possible suicides within this age bracket.