Healthy Body

Surgeon General issues advisory linking social media and youth mental health

Vivek Murthy asked lawmakers, tech companies, researchers, families, and young people to take action

With nearly every person aged 13 to 17 now having a social media account, and growing evidence that these sites can have a negative effect on the mental health of young people, some states and institutions have started taking steps to combat the negative effects.

For example, earlier this year, Seattle Public Schools sued social media companies, including Meta, Facebook, Instagram, Alphabet, Google, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, for creating “a youth mental health crisis,” including an increase in  anxiety, depression, thoughts of self-harm, and suicidal ideation. In April, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation requiring minors to get their parents’ permission to create a new account.

Now, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is also making his voice heard as well, releasing a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental

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Healthy Body

Social Media And Its Effect On The Mental Health Of Teens In America

A relatable scenario for any American parent with teens is going on a drive, only to see your child taking multiple selfies of themselves with their phone, and then posting it on a social media platform like Instagram or Snapchat. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 90% of teens aged 13-17 have used social media, and teens are online on average nine hours a day, not including time spent on homework. Given the large amounts of time teens spend on social media platforms, it should behoove us to ask if such use has any association with their mental well-being?

According to the CDC’s Bi-Annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 57% of teen girls experience

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