Mental Health Awareness

Yasmin Ali
Professor Cheryl L. Elsmore
ENGL 101
27 February 2013
Mental Health Awareness People tampering on social networking sites are unaware of the effect it has on their mental health. According to Webster’s Dictionary, social media is “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)” The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) strongly differentiates mental illness from mental health, defining mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” People should avoid social networking sites to protect their mental health. In the year of 2008, the University of California Los Angeles studies showed that with continued exposure to social networking sites, the brain rewires itself, distributing an altered prefrontal cortex. This phenomena has been proved true through the unusual behavior frequently erupting from people that use social media. Numerous mental issues have been studied such as the inability to have in-person conversations, needs for instant gratification, self-centered personalities, and other disorderly brain issues. Scanning the social media sites without commenting can cause deep feelings of being disconnected from the rest of the world, otherwise known as depression. People using these sites are the victims to feelings of depression which co-interferes with low self-confidence and eating disorders. Currently, the 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is evaluating the disorder they call “Internet Addiction Disorder”. Depression, the abiding feeling of being alone, is one of the hugest mental issues with social media. Social media entices your brain to believe that you are never alone and that there is always a friend there beside you. A large portion of people may have surprisingly forgotten that it is unnatural to always be around a friend. It is possible for the brain to have lost its ability to find peace in the company of being alone. There is great importance to relaxing in the company of solitude in order for the brain to exercise a state of peacefulness without others having to be around for that mental comfort. This mental practice will develop a person’s maturity through self-reliance as people cannot always satisfy what a person needs to stabilize their mental peace. In this sense, it seems more intelligent to meet other people for in person conversations to exercise social integration which will also reduce the probable percentage of suicidal emotions as being alone will do that. It is equally important as well to be exercising personal solitude, and social networking interrupts this time which you should be using to enjoy and strengthen your inner self. Social media has created the surrounding where people believe they are surrounded by many different types of people when truly they may be by themselves in uncrowded rooms. Instead of checking Twitter, Instagram or Facebook when stuck in a tight situation that is simply baffling, a healthier choice is exercising in any type of outdoor activity as social networking requires brain power while outdoor activities pump more blood to the brain, increasing mood and the mental as well as physical state of well-being.
Another psychological issue with social networking is the inability to stop. Once a person is hooked, they can’t help but stay on for as long as they possibly can. This can be proved through the problem of increased absences from schools and the problem teachers have trying to keep their students off their cellular devices. So, why is that? The reason that people cannot help but stay on their social networking accounts all day is because social networking nurtures narcissism, an extremely difficult and unattractive quality. Ever seen a person with their face as their desktop background? When a social networking account is created, that account focuses on the creator and all the people who “follow” or “befriend” the creator of that account are giving that person hounds of attention when they chat, comment, or search their page. Just like any other addiction, it can be equally as hard for some people to stay off their social networking sites, especially when all those “friends” or “followers” are always there ready to chat at any time 24/7. Some people are addicted enough to the point that they leave their social networking tabs open all day while others keep checking them back in the short time span of two to three minutes. Facebook is the number one social networking site in the entire world. Facebook experts who scan individual Facebook pages according to the person who created an account and all of that person’s “friends” have found something interesting. Whatever fads or social habits others have picks up on themselves. For example, if Joshua’s friends are happy, the people around those particular friends of Joshua are more likely to be happy as well. This is why people become irritated with other people who frequently say negative things online such as “I’m sad”, or “I had a bad day”, or “I wish my life would just end already”. It has an impact on the people around them. People should refrain from saying such negative things online. It is better to contact a mental health expert than to post a whole list of unending depressing posts as psychiatrists or therapists can help you through their skilled advising with this sort of thing. They are well educated and have degrees and certificates in the scientific fields of social behavior and mental health. One in five people use the advice of people online via the social networking sites who do not have degrees and it often leads to hazardous results. A woman was arrested for fraud from giving others advice on skin care through Facebook even though she didn’t have a dermatology degree of any sort. Sixty percent of students say that they use the social networks to discuss school studies with other peers and that it helps them with their upcoming exams. Although using the networks to discuss educational topics may help with student studies, this multitasking tends to lower test scores by 20%, and lower grade point averages by eight whole points. It also causes ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), causing many students to procrastinate during their study time. After chatting with a person, it usually take the mind a while to get back to being completely focused on the original study, which can range from twenty-five minutes to two hours and students will often leave all their social networking tabs open the entire time they are studying. More than half of the teachers living in the United States argue that students waste too much time on social networking sites. Lastly, it is believed that social media sites will improve a person’s relationships and allow them to make new friends. As such, society strongly encourages shy individuals to consider making accounts to help their well-being. But a study at the Business University of Edinburgh discovered that the more friends a person has on a social networking site, the more stress it adds to them. As for shy people, they are often oversensitive, insecure and tend to post negative statuses or blogs or tweets or whatever the matter may be. This worsens their well-being as people become bitter, irritated and distasteful towards them rather than saying something to help them improve their self-confidence. Tumblr for example has an entire feed of suicide stories. Many of them are extremely similar stories about young teens feeling that nothing matters so they gave up on their lives, overdosing on sleeping pills. The result was awfully the same for many of the teens. The over dosage did not kill them but they went through drastic procedures to get feeling back into their body. One teen wrote of point needles having to be stuck all over their entire body to get the feeling back. Afterwards, they posted that life either stayed horribly the same or felt worse. As written earlier, it is important to contact a psychological specialist for these types of problems. Therapists and psychiatrists do not just want money. They need money as it is their job that they went through schooling to specialize in. But they do care about the mental well-being of others and want to help them feel their best. The rumors that they will keep making things up for clients to always return is untrue. Do not believe that psychiatry is just a false commodity. Mental health is as direly important as physical health. It is truly an enigma to understand why people choose to use their time lollygagging on social networking websites out of all the great things life has to offer a person to do. Attending schools, working at jobs and visiting all kinds of different places are all wonderful ways of expanding social life without causing brain dysfunctions through newer technology. Newer technology is commonly causing more health issues, mentally and physically, internally and externally. So try a more natural approach and protect your conscious and your subconscious. Delete those social networking accounts. Focus more on homework or do that job that needs to be done, it increases productivity. Have free time? Call up someone close and spend time with them or take a nice long jog at the park. There are countless things to do. Put down the mouse and close that laptop screen.

Works Cited Fiscus, Michelle. “Too Much Technology Breeds Health Problems in Teens.” Herndon, VA Patch. Ed. Leslie Perales. 9 Aug. 2011. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://herndon.patch.com/articles/too-much-technology-breeds-health-problems-in-teens-2> Moyer, Christine. “New personal technology creating new ailments.” American Medical News. Ed. 27 Sep. 2010. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/09/27/prl20927.htm> Walton, Alice. “Internet Addiction: The New Mental Disorder?” Forbes. 2 Oct. 2012. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/10/02/the-new-mental-health-disorder-internet-addiction/ Brooks, Chad. “7 Unexpected Ways Facebook Is Good for You” BusinessNewsDaily. 17 May. 2012. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2534-facebook-benefits.html>

Cited: Fiscus, Michelle. “Too Much Technology Breeds Health Problems in Teens.” Herndon, VA Patch. Ed. Leslie Perales. 9 Aug. 2011. 27 Feb. 2013. &lt;http://herndon.patch.com/articles/too-much-technology-breeds-health-problems-in-teens-2&gt; Moyer, Christine. “New personal technology creating new ailments.” American Medical News. Ed. 27 Sep. 2010. 27 Feb. 2013. &lt;http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/09/27/prl20927.htm&gt; Walton, Alice. “Internet Addiction: The New Mental Disorder?” Forbes. 2 Oct. 2012. 27 Feb. 2013. &lt;http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/10/02/the-new-mental-health-disorder-internet-addiction/ Brooks, Chad. “7 Unexpected Ways Facebook Is Good for You” BusinessNewsDaily. 17 May. 2012. 27 Feb. 2013. &lt;http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2534-facebook-benefits.html&gt;