problematic social media use problematic social media use experts from many different fields have conducted research and debates and debating about the links between using digital media and mental health. research suggests that mental health issues arising from social media use affect women more than men and vary according to the particular social media platform used. psychological or behavioral dependence on social media platforms can result in significant negative functions in individuals' daily lives. studies show there are several negative effects that social media can have on individuals' mental health and overall well-being. while researchers have attempted to examine why and how social media is problematic, they still struggle to develop evidence-based recommendations on how they would go about offering potential solutions to this issue. because social media is constantly evolving, researchers also struggle with whether the disorder of problematic social media use would be considered a separate clinical entity or a manifestation of underlying psychiatric disorders. these disorders can be diagnosed when an individual engages in online content/conversations rather than pursuing other interests that occur in real life. problematic social media useother namessocial media addiction, social media obsession, social media overusepeople using their smartphones while walkingspecialtypsychiatry, psychologysymptomsproblematic smartphone use, internet addiction disorderrisk factorslower socioeconomic status, female sexpreventionparental engagement and support in 2022, a case was successfully litigated that implicated a social media platform in the suicide of a canadian teenage girl named amanda todd who died by hanging. this was the first time that any social media platform was held liable for a user's actions. while the question of what category problematic social media use falls in is still being developed and further researched, the policies and regulations of social media have already started to change. the interest now falls on implementing new laws regarding these penalties and how individuals can aim to keep their well-being safe along with the platforms that they are using, especially when it comes to privacy. symptoms while there exists no official diagnostic term or measurement, problematic social media use can be conceptualized as a non-substance-related disorder, resulting in preoccupation and compulsion to engage excessively in social media platforms despite negative consequences. problematic social media use is associated with mental health symptoms, such as anxiety and depression in children and young people. a 2022 meta-analysis showed moderate and significant associations between problematic social media use in youth and increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. another meta-analysis in 2019, investigating facebook use and symptoms of depression, also showed an association, with a small effect size. in a 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis, problematic facebook use was shown to have negative effects on well-being in adolescents and young adults, and psychological distress was also found with problematic use. frequent social media use was shown in a cohort study of 15- and 16-year-olds to have an association with self-reported symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder followed up over two years. decrease in mood a 2016 technological report by chassiakos, radesky, and christakis identified benefits and concerns in adolescent mental health regarding social media use. it showed that the amount of time spent on social media is not the key factor but rather how time is spent. declines in well-being and life satisfaction were found in older adolescents who passively consumed social media; however, these were not shown in those who were more actively engaged. the report also found a u-shaped, curvilinear relationship between the amount of time spent on digital media and with risk of depression developing, at both the low and high ends of internet use. eating disorders according to research by flinders university, social media use correlates with eating disorders. the study found eating disorders in 52% of girls and 45% of boys, from a group of 1,000 participants who used social media. through the extensive use of social media, adolescents are exposed to images of bodies that are unattainable, especially with the growing presence of photo-editing apps that allow you to alter the way that your body appears in a photo. this can, in turn, influence both the diet and exercise practices of adolescents as they try to fit the standard that their social media consumption has set for them. instagram users who partake in looking for social media status and compare themselves to others tend to have an increase in negative various psychological effects including body image issues and eating disorders. according to a study that included 2,475 students by doctoral student madeline wick and her advisor, pamela keel, phd, a psychology professor at florida state university, 1 in 3 women responded that they edit their pictures to change their weight and shape before posting a picture to instagram. a similar study in australia and new zealand found 52% of girls ages 13 to 14 with a social media account were very likely to have eating disorders like skipping a meal or overexercising. these various studies found that teenage girls who viewed their retouched photo and compared that to their untouched photo directly harmed their body image. although this happens amongst various age groups and genders it was found that this tends to have a greater effect on the younger age group of women. excessive use one can evaluate their social media habits and behavior toward it to help determine if an addiction is present. addictions are a certain type of impulse control disorder, which may lead one to lose track of time while using social media. for instance, one's psychological clock may run slower than usual, and the user's self-consciousness is compromised. therefore, individuals may passively consume media for longer amounts of time. psychologists estimate that as many as 5 to 10% of americans meet the criteria for social media addiction today. addictive social media use will look much like that of any other substance use disorder, including mood modification, salience, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and relapse. in the digital age, it is common for adolescents to use their smartphones for entertainment purposes, education, news, and managing their daily life. therefore, adolescents are further at risk for developing addictive behaviors and habits. many medical experts have looked at the survey and come up with a clear conclusion, saying that teenagers' excessive smartphone use has an impact on their behavior and even their mental health. if the excessive use of social media and the platforms encompassed therein have proven to cause mental health issues, eating disorders, and lowered self-esteem, and the use of such media has been shown to be addictive in some form or another, medically there should be an avenue to treat the use or excessive use of the media platforms. for example, a study involving 157 online learners showed that, on average, learners on massive open online courses spend half of their online time on youtube and social media, and less than 2% of visited websites accounted for nearly 80% of their online time. the excessive use is causing underlying health conditions that in themselves are treatable, but if these issues stem from the use of social media platforms, the addictive nature of these platforms should be addressed in a way to reduce or eradicate the health-related or mental related effects resulting. more studies need to be done, more funding has to be provided, and the addiction to such platforms should be seen as a true addiction and treated as such, and not simply discarded as a millennial issue. social anxiety social media allows users to openly share their feelings, values, relationships, and thoughts. with the platform social media provides, users, can freely express their emotions. however, social media may also be a platform for discrimination and cyberbullying. there is also a strong positive correlation between social anxiety and social media usage, and in particular between cyberostracism and social media disorder. the defining feature of social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is intense anxiety or fear of being judged, negatively evaluated, or rejected in a social or performance situation. many users with mental illnesses, such as social anxiety, go to the internet as an escape from reality, so they often withdraw from in-person communication and feel most comfortable with online communication. people usually act differently on social media than they do in person, resulting in many activities and social groups being different when using social media. the pros and cons of social media are heavily debated; although using social media can satisfy personal communication needs, those who use them at higher rates are shown to have higher levels of psychological distress. lowered self-esteem low self-esteem has generally had some sort of connection to serious mental health illnesses such as depression. some studies have been done to find if social media platforms have any sort of correlation to low self-esteem. one such study in which participants were given the rosenberg self-esteem scale to rate their self-esteem based on their social media usage found that participants that used facebook tended to rate themselves more poorly on their general self-esteem. mechanisms a 2017 review article noted the "cultural norm" among adolescents of being always on or connected to social media, remarking that this reflects young people's "need to belong" and stay up-to-date and that this perpetuates a "fear of missing out". other motivations include information seeking and identity formation, as well as voyeurism and cyber-stalking. for some individuals, social media can become "the single most important activity that they engage in". this can be related to maslow's hierarchy of needs, with basic human needs often met by social media. positive-outcome expectations and limited self-control of social media use can develop into "addictive" social media use. further problematic use may occur when social media is used to cope with psychological stress, or a perceived inability to cope with life demands. cultural anthropologist natasha dow schüll noted parallels to the gambling industry inherent to the design of various social media sites, with "'ludic loops' or repeated cycles of uncertainty, anticipation and feedback" potentially contributing to problematic social media use. another factor directly facilitating the development of addiction to social media is the implicit attitude toward the it artifact. mark d. griffiths, a chartered psychologist focusing on the field of behavioral addictions, also postulated in 2014 that social networking online may fulfill basic evolutionary drives in the wake of mass urbanization worldwide. the basic psychological needs of "secure, predictable community life that evolved over millions of years" remain unchanged, leading some to find online communities to cope with the new individualized way of life in some modern societies. according to andreassen, empirical research indicates that addiction to social media is triggered by dispositional factors (such as personality, desires, and self-esteem), but specific socio-cultural and behavioral reinforcement factors remain to be investigated empirically. a secondary analysis of a large english cross-sectional survey of 12,866 13 to 16-year-olds published in lancet found that mental health outcomes problematic use of social media platforms may be in part due to exposure to cyberbullying, as well as displacement in sleep architecture and physical exercise, especially in girls. through cyberbullying and discrimination researchers have found that depression rates among teens have drastically increased. in a study done on 1,464 random users on twitter, 64% of those people were depressed, while the majority of depressed users were between 11 and 20. the study was associated with a lack of confidence due to stigma for those who were depressed. out of the 64% that were depressed, over 90% of them were extremely low in profile images and shared media. moreover, the study also found a strong correlation between the female gender and expression of depression, concluding that the female-to-male ratio is 2:1 for major depressive disorder. in 2018, harvard university neurobiology research technician trevor haynes postulated that social media may stimulate the reward pathway in the brain. an ex-facebook executive, sean parker, has also espoused this theory. six key mechanisms there are six key mechanisms attributed to the addictive nature of social media and messaging platforms. endless scrolling and streaming to attract maximum user attention, app developers distort time by affecting the 'flow' of content when scrolling. this distortion makes it difficult for users to recognize the length of time they spend on social media. principles similar to skinner's variable-ratio conditioning can be found with the intermittent release of rewarding reinforcement in an unpredictable stream of 'bad' content. this makes