The Face of Facebook Depression: Another Potential Harm Linked to Social Media
In recent articles we alerted parents to the perils of social media with regards to developing eating disorders and even a
secret society that encourages anorexic behavior. Now it appears a new malady is linked to social networking. According to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Facebook depression” is yet another risk of staying connected. Shocked? Surprised? Outraged? Read on . . .
One of the pitfalls of adolescence is poor self-esteem. Young adults are constantly comparing themselves to their peers and if they feel they don’t “measure up,” their feelings of self-worth take a crippling blow. It can get even worse when they perceive that all their friends on Facebook are having more fun than they are, judging by status updates or when they see their pals have more “friends” than they do. A common reaction is to withdraw completely and lose interest in even “offline” socializing - or to take desperate measures to try to impress others. Many times this means posting a potentially embarrassing or humiliating status to get attention. The problem with that is that once in cyberspace, comments live forever.
Parents are paying attention more than you think.We hear so much about parents who don’t properly monitor what their children are doing online you’d think we all have our heads in the sand or are still living in the 80s. However, doctors state that many...
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