Social media use has become a cornerstone of adolescence. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that “approximately three-quarters of teenagers own a smartphone, 24% of adolescents describe themselves as ‘constantly connected’ to the Internet and 50% report feeling ‘addicted’ to their phones.” They also reported that more than 70% of adolescents maintain a “social media portfolio” of several selected sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and use these mobile apps for a range of functions, including photo sharing, gaming, and chatting. Social media is a space in which young people express their feelings, communicate and collaborate with others. It has many benefits but the role it can play in both minimizing and increasing risk for suicide is complicated and worth giving a closer look.
Select each category below to learn more.
In This Section You Will Find:
- Benefits and Risks Associated with Apps/Social Media
- Information on social media in relation to early prevention, intervention and postvention
- What parents and educators can do
PDFs / Articles
- Social Media Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention
- How to Safeguard Teens’ Well-Being on Social Media
- What can Parents and Educators do?
- Chart: “Benefits and Risks Associated with Apps/Social Media and Mental Health”
- #chatsafe: A young person’s guide to communicating safely online about self-harm and suicide (2nd edition)
- Social media Intervention – Facebook example
Websites
Apps
There are many applications (apps) and websites available specifically for mental health purposes, both clinical and non-clinical. These include mood trackers, symptom management, peer support networks, mindfulness programs and many more. This is a rapidly exploding field in which apps are introduced and removed on a nearly daily basis, with little to no oversight or regulation to monitor quality or whether they are clinically sound. Larsen, Nicholas, and Christensen report in their article titled, “Quantifying App Store Dynamics: Longitudinal Tracking of Mental Health Apps,” that the environment for mental health apps is so volatile that clinically relevant apps for depression are removed from the market every 2.9 days. This volatility makes it difficult to get a true handle on the app landscape for mental health at any given point in time and demonstrates the need for skill building and parental monitoring to help young people navigate this relatively nascent frontier.
Apps include:
- Headspace is a mindfulness app with over 5 million users.
- Crisis Textline is a free and anonymous texting service that puts texters in touch with trained staff to help them work through an immediate crisis and connect them to resources and information.
- 7 Cups of Tea connects users with supportive strangers worldwide for chat conversations, with the option for online therapy.