How Social Media's Presence Crept Into My Mental Health
September 11, 2025 | By Addya
When I first downloaded Instagram as a high school freshman, I was thrilled to finally be getting the app. I had attempted to convince my parents to let me have social media for years, but they only caved when I told them that my school’s Associated Student Body posted updates on social media that I was missing because of my lack of an account.
The positives I first experienced
At first, my social media experience wasn’t negative in the least. I only checked the app once or twice a day for less than 15 minutes each time because I didn’t see a reason to use it more than that, I regularly set time limits that I strictly followed to avoid overuse, and no negative content showed up on my home page. I didn’t feel as if there were any negative mental health effects to having social media, and I felt thrilled that I had evaded the anxiety, body dysmorphia, and depression I had heard so many others attributed to social media.
As a #GoodforMEdia Youth Leader, I’d heard a lot about both the negative and positive effects of social media, but to me, it seemed as if only the latter were present. I enjoyed uplifting my friends, keeping up with people I knew everywhere, and seeing content that made me laugh. It wasn’t until later that I understood the importance of taking to heart the nearly unavoidable negative impacts of social media that I had learned about from #GoodforMEdia as well.
When the negatives began to creep in
As I became more comfortable with social media, I started to post more and more, and eventually, it became more of a habit than something I enjoyed. While I used to love taking the time to create artistic Instagram stories, I now thought constantly about how I would make my stories look good to gain more likes when in the middle of an event. Rather than experiencing my vacations and living in the moment, I was stuck thinking about which stickers and what music to add to my posts to convince more people — most of whom I didn’t even know — to like my content.
As my weekends got busier and busier, I began to turn to social media as a reprieve. Whenever I felt frustrated or angry or like I needed a break, I went straight to Instagram, forgetting about the books and board games and friends I had once turned to. The response became automatic, and I often lost hours doomscrolling without any true enjoyment, leading my mind to crave the instant reward I got from opening the app and my screen time to shoot up as I consistently ignored my time limits and slept later and later.
However, I only acknowledged the full extent of the impact social media was having on my mental health when I found myself comparing my life to those I saw online. Whether they were other people from my school or random accounts I had chosen to follow in my desperation to gain 1K followers, I compared my lifestyle, the vacations I took, the clothes I wore, the school I went to, and every other minute detail of my life to theirs.
Recognizing the impact on my mental health
Eventually, I realized that I hadn’t escaped the negative mental health effects of social media usage that everyone else talked about. They’d only crept in quietly, with me having no definitive estimate of when I had started to care about likes and followers more than I did about living in the moment, or when I had started to compare myself to those online and spend the majority of my time on social media, both when I was free and when I was avoiding productivity.
Social media had harmed my mental health, causing me to become more anxious, less productive, more tired, and more vulnerable to comparisons. But it wasn’t entirely irreparable, which I learned when I tried to take action by blocking off time for certain tasks, downloading apps that encouraged me to strongly reconsider opening social media, and spending more time on my hobbies.
Finding balance with social media
Although I still use social media — in more moderation now through time limits and restrictive screen time apps — and my mental health is healing, I often wish that I had never downloaded Instagram at all. I can’t imagine having multiple social media apps like most of my friends do, because just one had taken a toll on my mental health. And even though I have tried deleting the app hundreds of times, the fear of missing out on friends’ posts and being regarded as strange for not having social media has consistently brought me to redownload the app.
Often, even when I’m able to delete the app for days on end, I always find myself redownloading it to avoid missing out on the posts from my school that had motivated me to download Instagram in the first place. Social media feels more like a necessity than a choice now, something that I need in order to know what’s happening all around me — from community news to school updates.
Still, I hope that one day I’ll be brave enough to delete my account altogether regardless of what I’m missing, taking the next step toward healing my mental health.
About the author
Addya (she/her) is currently a high school sophomore in the Bay Area who is passionate about mental health awareness and advocating for healthier social media platforms. She hopes to use her experience to spread awareness about social media and promote positive interactions for youth online.
Additional Tools and Insights 📚
Tips for Taking Care of Your Mental Health in a Digital World: Learn insights and strategies for protecting your wellbeing while staying connected.
#GoodforMEdia's Guide to Social Comparison: This guide was created to help young people navigate social comparison, a common phenomenon that can make social media a draining experience. This resource explains why we engage in social comparison and contains detailed strategies for combatting comparison related to appearance, FOMO (fear of missing out), achievement, and social media metrics.
#GoodforMEdia Guides and Tools: Explore a list of resources created by youth to help their peers and adult allies navigate the positive and negative aspects of social media.
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