How Social Media Can Impact Your Mental Health

Social media plays a huge role in our everyday lives, helping us connect with friends and family, learn new things, and stay up-to-date with the latest news. But is spending extended amounts of time on apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook actually good for our mental health?

For example, you might give yourself some “TikTok time” before bed, and before you know it, that quick 30-minute session turns into hours, and you’re left struggling to fall asleep after all that screen time. Then there’s the world of dating apps. While they can help you break out of your comfort zone and meet new people, the pressure to get matches and the stress of being ghosted can take its toll on your self-image.

No matter our intention, social media usage affects our mental health in various ways. While it can be a great tool for connecting with others and expressing ourselves, it also has downsides that can negatively impact our well-being. We spoke with Tracie Zinman-Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, and Chief Compliance Officer at NOCD to explore these effects more deeply. When meeting a new client, one of the first things she advises is not to look at sites like Reddit or TikTok for answers to their problems. Often, she explains, these platforms can be misleading and create a rabbit hole of wondering, false solutions, and misdiagnoses. 

12 Ways Social Media Can Negatively Impact Mental Health

With our everyday usage of social platforms, it’s easy to overlook the ways it can harm our mental health. From comparing ourselves to others to causing depression and anxiety, here are twelve ways social media can have a negative impact on your well-being.

Emotional and Psychological Impacts

1. Comparison and Self-Esteem Issues
   • Social media often shows the best parts of people’s lives, inviting us to compare ourselves to others, or think they have it better than we do. “Most people don’t realize that users are posting very specific things that make it look like their lives are perfect. It creates a lot of different levels of problems,” explains Zinman-Ibrahim.
2. Cyberbullying
   • Hiding behind a screen, some people are more willing to ridicule others using cruel and hurtful language, a form of harassment known as cyberbullying. This is understandably damaging to your mental well-being and can create feelings of social rejection.
3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
   • When it looks like everyone else is living a perfect life, full of vacations and events and perfect clothes, you might feel like you are missing out or think that you aren’t doing enough compared to others.
4. Anxiety
   • If you have an anxiety disorder, social media usage can sometimes make it worse, increasing social anxiety from trying to fit in and keep up with trends. People with anxiety also may use social media to validate their fears or conditions.“It’s very harmful. They find wrong information, they think that it’s true, and then it makes their conditions worse,” says Zinman-Ibrahim.
5. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
   • OCD is a mental illness where individuals repeatedly experience intrusive thoughts, urges, or images. These obsessions can create intense distress, leading to compulsive actions, both physical and mental, in an attempt to find relief. While these compulsions might offer temporary relief, they actually keep people stuck in a worsening cycle of anxiety and repeated behaviors.
   • For people with OCD, social media can easily turn into a compulsion. Zinman-Ibrahim explains that individuals diagnosed with OCD often use social media to seek answers about their condition. They may spend excessive time searching for the perfect explanation or seeking certainty about their symptoms and the best treatment options. “What I always tell people is that the internet doesn’t know who you are,” she says. “It doesn’t have your genetics. It doesn’t have your life experience. It doesn’t have your brain chemicals. So whatever you’re looking up is more than likely not even relevant to you.”
6. Depression
   • Social media can lead to or worsen depression by making us compare ourselves to what we see online, whether it’s personality, body image, or something else. According to a 2018 study, individuals who limited their screen time on social platforms showed significantly less signs of depression than those who used it as they normally would. Other studies have cited that going on social media and feeling envy or comparing oneself to others can also cause an increase in depression. As Zinman-Ibrahim points out, “If you have a problem, social media can make it worse.”
7. Negative Body Image
   • “Media has always influenced self-image and body image, whether through TV or online,” Zinman-Ibrahim shares. “There’s a lot of social pressure to look a certain way.” Social media is flooded with celebrities who set unrealistic beauty standards, making many people feel inadequate about their natural appearance. Zinman-Ibrahim also notes that social media can not only worsen conditions like eating disorders and body dysmorphia, but can even contribute to their development through constant exposure to these unattainable ideals.

Behavioral and Physical Impacts

1. Addiction and Overuse
   • What starts out as normal media consumption can turn into social media obsession over time. Instead of checking social media a few times a day, it’s become common to use our phones during every spare moment—whether we’re walking, in the car, or lying in bed. Zinman-Ibrahim advises that we need to take breaks from screens and learn to deal with discomfort without escaping through social media. 
2. Sleep Disruption
   • Though going on your phone in bed when trying to wind down is something many people do, this habit can negatively affect our sleep cycles.  “Sleep disturbance exacerbates mental illnesses,” says Zinman-Ibrahim. “So that’s a time that I would set a restriction.”
3. Isolation
   • Research shows that more time spent on social media is associated with more loneliness. “Being online can be isolating,” Zinman-Ibrahim explains. “A lot of kids play video games online and they lose their ability to connect with humans outside of a screen.” While social media helps us stay in touch, it might not provide the kind of connection that those seeking real social interaction are looking for.
4. Distorted Reality
   • Because people post their best experiences on social media to create a specific image of their lives, a sort of distorted reality is created. We start comparing ourselves and our lives to false representations and in turn, feel poorly about ourselves.
5. Reduced Attention Span
   • Social media exposes us to small, bite-sized content that stimulates the need to constantly scroll and find the next attention grabbing tid bit. This creates a sense of instant gratification that can make focusing on longer tasks or in-depth information more difficult. Eventually, this can lead to difficulty concentrating and sustaining attention.

Can Social Media Be Good for Mental Health?

Although there are many ways social media can be harmful to mental health, we need to remember that at the end of the day, it is a tool. A tool can either hurt us or help us depending on how we use it. There are many ways that social media can benefit us: we can use it to learn new skills, connect with family around the world, and keep up with events in real time. We can also use it to create a sense of community.

“If you’re looking for an online community because you feel isolated, make sure you find healthy communities,” Zinman-Ibrahim said.  She emphasizes making sure you join supportive groups, especially ones that are moderated by professionals. 

Take, for example, The Trevor Project, which is a nonprofit organization offering crisis support and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth. The Trevor Project has a special social media community called TrevorSpace, which is an affirming platform where young LGBTQ+ people can meet new friends. It has all the fun aspects of broader social platforms such as customizable profiles and connecting with people around the world, but it also provides a safe space for serious discussions.

A platform Zinman-Ibrahim highly recommends is the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). While the organization itself focuses on OCD, it has various community groups related to different mental illnesses that individuals can join based on their interests or diagnoses.

Zinman-Ibrahim also mentioned that if you’re looking at social media for answers regarding mental health, there are numerous certified clinicians you can follow on Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter). Asking them questions and following their guidance instead of taking advice from unreliable sources is a much healthier way to get involved in the online world. Zinman-Ibrahim herself posts on Instagram at @TabooTracie—other great follows are Alessandra Rizzotti at @balancedbehaviortherapy and Alegra Kastens @alegrakastens.

How to Use Social Media in a Healthy Way

The key to healthy social media usage is setting boundaries. Don’t compare yourself to others and don’t rely solely on the internet for answers to mental health questions.  “Think about why you are looking at what you’re looking at. Are you looking at something because you’re feeling bad and trying to feel better?” asks Zinman-Ibrahim. “The best place to feel better might not be the internet.” 

If you have OCD related to social media, you might experience extreme anxiety over every interaction you have, such as likes, comments, and reposts. You might also fixate over how much time you spend online, apply negative meanings to your interactions, or believe others think poorly of your online presence. 

You can learn how to use social platforms in a healthier way through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy. ERP works by gradually exposing you to your triggers, and teaching response prevention strategies to cope with your distress. Zinman-Ibrahim explains that for social media use specifically, ERP helps you focus on your wellness and learn how to set healthy boundaries with your social media consumption. One method is to set a timer on your phone that limits social media use before it becomes all consuming. “You have to resist the urge to go back on,” Zinman-Ibrahim explains. “We’ll help you find a different value-driven activity.” By focusing on activities that align with your core beliefs and passions, it can be easier to work on the compulsion of always needing to be online. 

ERP is also used for treating anxiety disorder. A common anxiety from excessive social media usage is the fear of being “canceled.” Zinman-Ibrahim notes that many people with anxiety often turn to the internet for quick fixes and reassurance to ease their worries at the moment. This, however, is only a temporary solution. “If you want to continuously look for a quick fix, you’re going to rob yourself of the opportunity to just sit still and do the hard work that it takes to get better,” she explained. 

If you have depression that is caused or worsened by social media use, your therapist will use evidence-based treatments such as behavioral activation (BA). This involves breaking depressive cycles by encouraging you to engage in positive activities, even if (and especially when) you don’t feel like it. With time, BA can help reduce depression. 

One tip Zinman-Ibrahim recommends for individuals struggling with social media overuse is setting limits on screen time. “People ask me what’s the right amount of time and there’s not a perfect answer,” she says. “But if you look at your entire day, how much time are you spending doing other things that could fulfill you?” Zinman-Ibrahim recommends being mindful of times you can put the phone down and unplug, such as during car rides, or when you’re outside on a walk. 

By setting boundaries around what you consume and interact with, and limiting your time online, social media can be a valuable tool for learning, exploring your hobbies, and connecting to the world. The key is to use it mindfully and intentionally rather than an escape. Most importantly, if you’re worried about your mental health, it’s best to seek advice from a licensed therapist rather than your social feed.