Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#151

Post by gilmore606 » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 12:11 AM UTC

maxfurman wrote: post #39

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #27

A cynical comment about regulation or curtailing this. Everyone agrees smoking causes health problems, is costly and doesn't offer anything. Smoking is regulated (taxes, labels, etc), but cigarettes are readily available everywhere - gas stations, convenience stores, etc. You would imagine that something so universally recognized as detrimental would cease to exist (either outlaws or society would just abandon it com…

I'm not defending smoking, but > costly Cigarettes are really cheap in places that don't heavily tax them > doesn't offer anything Human brains like nicotine. It is mildly effective as a mood stabilizer. I think we both agree that the bad health effects are not worth it, but it's not accurate to say there's nothing on the other side of that equation.

> mildly effective as a mood stabilizer

For some of us this is massively understating the case.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#152

Post by escapedmoose » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

It’s hard to tell chicken from egg when examining negative mental states alongside social media, but here’s why I’m convinced that social media is the culprit of negative mental states and not vice-versa:

I decided to drop my socials about 4 years ago. There will be periods here or there when I think “I have a handle on things; I can start using social media again.” Every single time, without fail, it begins a spiral of addiction and subsequent guilt that I have to crawl out of, yet again. It doesn’t matter how positive or negative my mental state is before re-opening the socials; the result is the same each time. The only good thing about it is that I’ve learned to recognize my pattern of addiction, and I’m better at breaking it after some practice.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#153

Post by escapedmoose » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 2:21 AM UTC

TacticalCoder wrote: post #57

At some point I thought it was still a thing because my wife was still kinda, sorta, using it. But years ago she quit. I hear about Meta and that they own WhatsApp and I see people using WhatsApp. But FaceBook: among my friends and family who used to post there, nobody ever posts anything. I don't doubt many are still logged in by default because they haven't updated their computer in years but they simply do not pos…

Bafflingly, most of my early-30s friends are still on Facebook. I was recently asked about my account at a party. Wild stuff.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#154

Post by johnfn » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 2:26 AM UTC

baby wrote: post #146

Sebb767 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like a headline saying Budweiser fosters alcoholism. Yes, alcoholics will be worse off if they drink Budweiser and yes, Budweiser does in some way foster alcoholism by producing and selling alcohol, but it's a very narrow picture to paint Budweiser as the sole perpetrator, which is heavily implied by the headline. I hate Facebook as much as the next guy, but in this case, singling it out like this is neither fai…

It’s also a bad faith argument as it ignores the positive aspect that it provides for many people.

We're discussing an article called "Facebook addiction increases depression severity". It's not bad faith, it's literally what the article says.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#155

Post by SamPatt » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 4:30 AM UTC

buran77 wrote: post #135

deanmoriarty wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have acquaintances who blew up their personal lives in a search for that elusive "perfect life". Is this in the typical sense of spending beyond their means, or do you have other anecdotes? I am a highly compensated tech worker at a FAANG who overcame US immigration and other challenges to get here, and many people would trade their spot with mine. Yet, I am so unhappy and burned out by work that I don’t think ab…

No, nothing like that. Actually they abandoned their partners and family because the life they were living didn't look like the ones in the dream pictures others posted. Having hundreds or thousands of Facebook "friends" meant seeing an endless stream of exotic vacation photos, fancy restaurant photos, grand gestures, and so on. Put together it somehow looked like that was how everyone else's day to day looked like,…

Do you know that social media was the actual cause of their unhappiness?

Plenty of people are in long term relationships they can't stand for way too long, or careers, etc. I'm sure social media often plays a role but some relationships / jobs are just bad regardless of whether or not the grass is Instagram Green or not.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#156

Post by jraby3 » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 4:35 AM UTC

kneebonian wrote: post #92

rgbrenner wrote: post #85

I agree with the article that it's not facebook. You're depressed, dont feel like doing anything but know you should, so you procrastinate on facebook, and then maybe the whole day passes, and the waste of another day makes it feel like nothing is going to change, helping feed your depression. Facebook really has little to do with this... if it wasnt facebook, it would be youtube, instagram, watching tv, or sleeping…

This is me with HN and Reddit. I have spent literal entire workdays just telling myself "5 more minutes" "one more post" it never ends well. I hate myself for it but we are doing better, i have a time blocker and if things get bad I can use my /etc/hosts file to block it. But I agree I think these may be symptoms that worsen something already there.

What’s really grounded me is using a habit tracker and forcing myself to keep a string of positive habits alive - working out, meditation, writing, etc. Good habits keep me grounded when I’m feeling lost.

Something I do to block Reddit addiction is delete the app, log in through a private window (so I have to retype my password). Sometimes I also use a time limit.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#157

Post by buran77 » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 9:39 AM UTC

SamPatt wrote: post #155

buran77 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, nothing like that. Actually they abandoned their partners and family because the life they were living didn't look like the ones in the dream pictures others posted. Having hundreds or thousands of Facebook "friends" meant seeing an endless stream of exotic vacation photos, fancy restaurant photos, grand gestures, and so on. Put together it somehow looked like that was how everyone else's day to day looked like,…

Do you know that social media was the actual cause of their unhappiness? Plenty of people are in long term relationships they can't stand for way too long, or careers, etc. I'm sure social media often plays a role but some relationships / jobs are just bad regardless of whether or not the grass is Instagram Green or not.

Yes, those people made it exhaustingly explicit, first to their families, then as justification for friends and acquaintances, that they are disappointed in how their lives are by literally pointing out to imagined lives they saw on Facebook. Then we got to see them chasing that fantasy, failing, and feeling even more disappointed because now their support structures were left behind. Last I saw of some of those people they were really drifting through life carrying depression and disappointment for what they lost, and for what they couldn't find.

I'm sure social media can create, maintain, or accentuate a lot of different types of "pathologies" because it was designed to do so.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#158

Post by themitigating » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 10:19 AM UTC

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #42

themitigating wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a solution ? A ban of all social media? The same toxic environment can occur in a forum on any website.

I don't really have a solution. I'm just making an observation. But as long as there is tech that connects people, you will see these effects. Regulation, moderation, etc are just nerfing the tech itself. A perspective shift I try to apply to myself is to view these things are tools, rather than a part of my identity that I am strongly tied to. I've got a power drill, but I don't check it everyday.

You don't check your drill because it doesn't change, people used to read newspapers everyday or go to clubs, it's the same thing.

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#159

Post by chaosbolt » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 11:19 AM UTC

astrange wrote: post #78

chaosbolt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the kids born in the 2010's got their whole reward system fried by this, imagine a 4 year old being stimulated as much as a gambler because his parents gave him a tablet. The issue is that those companies know how much their products affect people in a negative way yet still make them, we would be shocked if it was some chemical company making medication but psychological health is as important as physical hea…

You got any evidence for that one?

>Multiple sources and whistleblowers about how social media companies design their apps to be addictive

>An idiot can download any game right now from the app store and see how similar the design is to slot machines, plus they give you limited gems/coins/etc. tu use on crateboxes each day, if you want more you have to pay

>gambling is addictive and bad for adults => gambling is probably also addictive and bad for kids

I mean I know you know what I'm talking about and you know I know you know, so why play the clueless shill on every thread and post? Has being the most obedient (in the sense one protects any authority with deception and faking stupidity) person in the room become something to strive towards now?

Re: Facebook addiction increases depression severity among already depressed people

#160

Post by tgv » Thu, Dec 29, 2022, 11:39 AM UTC

annyeonghada wrote: post #128

tgv wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fb ... tiktok, or youtube, or instagram, or reddit, or HN, or emails, or rss feeds, or food, or video games Is the question: which of these is not like the rest? Furthermore, you deny two things: firstly, that the influence of facebook is real, and secondly, that other forms of (social) media can have a different effect. E.g., RSS is totally unlike facebook. And let's ignore you mentioned food.

Food is definitely an obsession during my depressive episodes, especially if there is a suicidal component. I think constantly about food, I'm always hungry but at the same time everything disgusts me, I would like to not have to eat anymore: this ends up in a bulimic episode where I gorge everything in side, searching for something that fills that void and that taste just good, then I fast for 20-30 hours completely…

The unfortunate thing is: we can't live without food. We can't switch it off. It doesn't disappear when we throw our mobile phone in the garbage can.

> completely disgusted about what I've done

Sorry to hear that. I sometimes eat out of boredom/anxiety too; it's almost unavoidable. Don't feel too bad. It helps me to simply not buy the things I like. You do have to do your shopping every day, though.

But remember: this internet stranger isn't disgusted by you.