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Social media does not cause depression in children

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Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#51
post #46
post #43

I’d wager that Norwegian social media is more wholesome than the toxic crap being shoved down American children’s throats.

Based on what? They use the same social media sites as Americans. Is it just a vague sense of "Scandinavia is great and wholesome"?

Content algorithms output vary by location.

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#52
post #42
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Our study finds that if Kari or Knut increasingly like and post on Instagram or Snapchat, they are no more likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression. But that doesn’t mean that they are not having negative experiences on social media, or feeling addicted or excluded. Some youths may be particularly vulnerable, and those are the individuals we need to identify,” Steinsbekk says. This goes against their tit…

Having depression and/or anxiety have defined diagnostic criteria other than "looking at social media makes me feel bad" or "looking at social media makes me feel anxious". You could use social media a lot, and be extremely unhappy whenever you use it, and still not be clinically depressed or have an anxiety disorder. An analogy: every time you ride a roller coaster, you are made anxious, and so is everyone else. Thi…

What are they?

And given that 1 of 3 girls considers attempting suicide, perhaps we need to have a conversation about whether this diagnosis fits them, and whether it is a helpful distinction, because that is a real huge measurable statistic

“Well you considered attempting suicide, but you aren’t clinically depressed, so…”

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#55
post #52
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having depression and/or anxiety have defined diagnostic criteria other than "looking at social media makes me feel bad" or "looking at social media makes me feel anxious". You could use social media a lot, and be extremely unhappy whenever you use it, and still not be clinically depressed or have an anxiety disorder. An analogy: every time you ride a roller coaster, you are made anxious, and so is everyone else. Thi…

What are they? And given that 1 of 3 girls considers attempting suicide, perhaps we need to have a conversation about whether this diagnosis fits them, and whether it is a helpful distinction, because that is a real huge measurable statistic “Well you considered attempting suicide, but you aren’t clinically depressed, so…”

Suicidal ideation or attempts are sometimes, but not always, a symptom of certain types of depression.

They're also symptoms of other things. It's not only depressed people who kill themselves.

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#56

I’m sorry but this is absolute fucking bullshit. Almost everybody with preteen or teenage children can perceive this, unless they had the wisdom to protect them from it.

This might sound harsh and controversial, but I would specifically avoid listening to the opinions of parents on topics like this. Or more generally, the opinion of any group that has a strong emotional investment in the topic at hand.

They might be right, but the data will be so incredibly biased that it's useless and you can't really build off it.

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#57
post #55
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are they? And given that 1 of 3 girls considers attempting suicide, perhaps we need to have a conversation about whether this diagnosis fits them, and whether it is a helpful distinction, because that is a real huge measurable statistic “Well you considered attempting suicide, but you aren’t clinically depressed, so…”

Suicidal ideation or attempts are sometimes, but not always, a symptom of certain types of depression. They're also symptoms of other things. It's not only depressed people who kill themselves.

So maybe then we should talk about and consider the wider phenomenon that is linked to suicidal ideation, and not just clinical depression

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#58

Father of five with the last two in high school and middle school. We took away the phones after four years of mental health issues. After 4 months of the cutoff: were now backing down the meds and the kids are doing much better. Sorry, but I have to call bs on this study.

There's so much stuff online that's so obviously going to be harmful if kids/teens are constantly exposed to it - porn, violence, fake/catastrophised news, angry/hateful tribalism, bullying/harassment, dangerous stunts performed for likes, etc. And social media algorithms can bring a lot of more outrageous content together into one endless feed. It shouldn't really require a scientific study to know that the longer y…

Unfortunately schools demand kids be given a smartphone.

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#59
post #44

Father of five with the last two in high school and middle school. We took away the phones after four years of mental health issues. After 4 months of the cutoff: were now backing down the meds and the kids are doing much better. Sorry, but I have to call bs on this study.

Your anecdotal experience doesn't really trump this study, especially seeing how your kids have also been receiving psychiatric treatment, which is likely the bigger impact than you taking their phones.

You have literally no information from which to make this comment.

Re: Social media does not cause depression in children

#60

I’m sorry but this is absolute fucking bullshit. Almost everybody with preteen or teenage children can perceive this, unless they had the wisdom to protect them from it.

This might sound harsh and controversial, but I would specifically avoid listening to the opinions of parents on topics like this. Or more generally, the opinion of any group that has a strong emotional investment in the topic at hand. They might be right, but the data will be so incredibly biased that it's useless and you can't really build off it.

No problem, you can have that opinion. I would in turn say that in this case you should take most things child psychologists say around this problem with a ton of salt. If you look at the welfare of children, they have been utterly incapable of helping their mental state as a group. Thus we're seeing ever greater prevalence of depression, autism and sexual identity disfunctions.

Just a few years ago the established opinion in that field that smart device use was not particularly affecting their minds.

This is as if climate scientists would look at global temperatures and the co2 amounts and then claim that it's just the sun going warmer.

But it's understandble in a way: this situation brewed up pretty fast and took everybody by surprise. We tge parents were the first line to fail since we got the kids their devices abd did not pay enough attention what they were doing with them.

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