Mental health and anxiety is a real issue for adults 18 and over with an estimated 57.8 million people. But what is really surprising is that 50% of mental health issues are from 14 year olds. And the reason is the social media children have access to.

According to yalemedicine.org american teens ages 12-15 who use over 3 hours of social media each day face twice the risk of having negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety symptoms. Dr. Mayes says. “If a teen searches for any kind of mental health condition, such as depression or suicide, it’s going to feed them information about those things, so soon they may begin to think that everyone around them is depressed or thinking about suicide, which is not necessarily good for mental health.” This demonstrates that social media can affect the teens brain from facing twice the risk of harmful mental health but also thinking that everyone else is depressed and wanting to think about suicide.

According to helpguide.org even if you know that images you’re viewing on social media are manipulated, they can still make you feel insecure about how you look or what’s going on in your own life. For example, your social media use may be problematic if it causes you to neglect face-to-face relationships, distracts you from work or school, or leaves you feeling envious, angry, or depressed. This shows that social media can also make you ignore school or your relationships with another person and have you feel insecure about other people.

Mental health issues are a big thing and if we don’t stop or do something about a loved one could hurt themselves. This is a drastic topic and if we don’t limit teenagers’ social media, maybe there won’t be a future for the next generation.