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Dr. Vivek Murthy: Social media is a key driver of our youth mental health crisis

57 points by dotcoma 2y ago

ViktorRay 2y ago
There was an excellent Netflix documentary several years ago about this: The Social Dilemma I highly recommend it!
about3fitty 2y ago
Dr. Murthy understands social media and the headwinds that younger generations are facing. With this in mind, are we underestimating the devastation awaiting the younger generations? We have scientists cocksure of natural disasters in the medium term, four decades of increasing economic inequality, cost of living pressure, and in the U.S., and increasingly in other countries, price increases in health, rent, and education. The kids see empirical evidence of their plight.
- Log_out_ 2y ago
  Dont forget a sham democracy were important issues like "pensioners first" always outweigh all other solutions on any issue.
0xcde4c3db 2y ago
[dead]
ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago
Yes I mean we know this for a while. Facebook is like pumping drugs into kids. Anyone who works there knows this and is OK with this.
- firesteelrain 2y ago
  Kids aren’t using Facebook. They are using TikTok (Chinese virus) and Snapchat. Thankfully TikTok will be banned soon.
  - Projectiboga 2y ago
    Banned just like we banned pirate iptv and hard drugs.
    - firesteelrain 2y ago
      Except TikTok will be gone for good. Now onto the rest of social media.
nickburns 2y ago
i get it. i really do. social media is not for the faint of conformant heart. but devil's advocate and all—is there really a "crisis" afoot? is it really not just the modern version of teen angst?
- reducesuffering 2y ago
  Is a 62% increase in youth suicide since smartphones became ubiquitous just typical teen angst?
  - nickburns 2y ago
    that's obviously a striking statistic. do you have a cite for anyone interested in assessing for themselves the veracity of such a claim?
    - throawayonthe 2y ago
      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-homicide-rates-young-americans-increased-sharply-cdc-report/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-homicide-rates-young-am... > ...Americans ages 10 to 24 ... group experienced a 62% increase in its suicide rate from 2007 to 2021. this seems to be the source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htm#section_1 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htm#secti...
      - skulk 2y ago
        Being near the higher end of that age range, I distinctly remember that I stopped being a happy kid once I started using the Internet (at around age 12) even before addictive algorithmic feeds. This statistic does not surprise me in the slightest.
        throawayjune 2y ago
        imo computers and the internet are such potent dopamine feeds that our brains get used to the constant stimulation, making real life boring and causing us to be anxious when we’re not getting our fix. And this is heightened when we use the computer as an alternate world to escape to, and feel more comfortable in, when we don’t feel safe or welcomed in reality.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Steven420 2y ago
Nah it's just bad parenting. If a parent lets social media have that large of an impact on their child's life that's on them. The reason kids are psychologically messed up is because their parents aren't handling their responsibilities. If your kid has a problem with social media or anything else then deal with it and stop finger pointing
- watwut 2y ago
  Parents are already spending way more time and effort actively parenting then was the norm in previous generations. Just a generation before it was norm for 6 years old to play outside completely unsupervised and for teenagers to be about their own things with nothing but a list of chores from parents and deadline. Result is that kids commit less crimes, get pregnant less often, drink less, smoke less ... but at some point you have to stop blaming parents for the whole society.
  - nickburns 2y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection
    - TeaBrain 2y ago
      I think this is a lazy response to something that isn't a very good example of rosy retrospection. The rates of all of the things the parent mentioned do happen to have decreased. Studies have also been done on the relative freedom of movement that adolescents have been allowed, going back several generations, and there has been a marked decrease. The below link is to a paper on this phenomenon occurring in England. "Decreasing experiences of home range, outdoor spaces, activities and companions": https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94588/1/Woolley%2520and%2520Griffin%25202015%2520%2520Decreasing%2520experiences%2520of%2520home%2520range%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520Jan%25202016.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94588/1/Woolley%2520and%2520... Article covering another more recent study, called "Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing", on this occurring in the US: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309101330.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309101330.h...
thenerdhead 2y ago
Funny how every social media company launches commercials saying they will cooperate with congress once they got the spotlight on this issue. This has been a problem for decades and I personally was in denial until I realized how much anxiety, depression, etc these things added to me daily from doomscrolling. I found a new love for nature and books after taking a serious look at my own mental health as a millennial who used social media as it became big.

57 points by dotcoma 2y ago

There was an excellent Netflix documentary several years ago about this: The Social Dilemma I highly recommend it!

Dr. Murthy understands social media and the headwinds that younger generations are facing. With this in mind, are we underestimating the devastation awaiting the younger generations? We have scientists cocksure of natural disasters in the medium term, four decades of increasing economic inequality, cost of living pressure, and in the U.S., and increasingly in other countries, price increases in health, rent, and education. The kids see empirical evidence of their plight.

Log_out_ 2y ago
Dont forget a sham democracy were important issues like "pensioners first" always outweigh all other solutions on any issue.

0xcde4c3db 2y ago

[dead]

ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago

Yes I mean we know this for a while. Facebook is like pumping drugs into kids. Anyone who works there knows this and is OK with this.

firesteelrain 2y ago
Kids aren’t using Facebook. They are using TikTok (Chinese virus) and Snapchat. Thankfully TikTok will be banned soon.
- Projectiboga 2y ago
  Banned just like we banned pirate iptv and hard drugs.
  - firesteelrain 2y ago
    Except TikTok will be gone for good. Now onto the rest of social media.

nickburns 2y ago

i get it. i really do. social media is not for the faint of conformant heart. but devil's advocate and all—is there really a "crisis" afoot? is it really not just the modern version of teen angst?

reducesuffering 2y ago
Is a 62% increase in youth suicide since smartphones became ubiquitous just typical teen angst?
- nickburns 2y ago
  that's obviously a striking statistic. do you have a cite for anyone interested in assessing for themselves the veracity of such a claim?
  - throawayonthe 2y ago
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-homicide-rates-young-americans-increased-sharply-cdc-report/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-homicide-rates-young-am... > ...Americans ages 10 to 24 ... group experienced a 62% increase in its suicide rate from 2007 to 2021. this seems to be the source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htm#section_1 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htm#secti...
    - skulk 2y ago
      Being near the higher end of that age range, I distinctly remember that I stopped being a happy kid once I started using the Internet (at around age 12) even before addictive algorithmic feeds. This statistic does not surprise me in the slightest.
      - throawayjune 2y ago
        imo computers and the internet are such potent dopamine feeds that our brains get used to the constant stimulation, making real life boring and causing us to be anxious when we’re not getting our fix. And this is heightened when we use the computer as an alternate world to escape to, and feel more comfortable in, when we don’t feel safe or welcomed in reality.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Steven420 2y ago

Nah it's just bad parenting. If a parent lets social media have that large of an impact on their child's life that's on them. The reason kids are psychologically messed up is because their parents aren't handling their responsibilities. If your kid has a problem with social media or anything else then deal with it and stop finger pointing

watwut 2y ago
Parents are already spending way more time and effort actively parenting then was the norm in previous generations. Just a generation before it was norm for 6 years old to play outside completely unsupervised and for teenagers to be about their own things with nothing but a list of chores from parents and deadline. Result is that kids commit less crimes, get pregnant less often, drink less, smoke less ... but at some point you have to stop blaming parents for the whole society.
- nickburns 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection
  - TeaBrain 2y ago
    I think this is a lazy response to something that isn't a very good example of rosy retrospection. The rates of all of the things the parent mentioned do happen to have decreased. Studies have also been done on the relative freedom of movement that adolescents have been allowed, going back several generations, and there has been a marked decrease. The below link is to a paper on this phenomenon occurring in England. "Decreasing experiences of home range, outdoor spaces, activities and companions": https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94588/1/Woolley%2520and%2520Griffin%25202015%2520%2520Decreasing%2520experiences%2520of%2520home%2520range%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520%2520Jan%25202016.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94588/1/Woolley%2520and%2520... Article covering another more recent study, called "Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing", on this occurring in the US: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309101330.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309101330.h...

thenerdhead 2y ago

Funny how every social media company launches commercials saying they will cooperate with congress once they got the spotlight on this issue. This has been a problem for decades and I personally was in denial until I realized how much anxiety, depression, etc these things added to me daily from doomscrolling. I found a new love for nature and books after taking a serious look at my own mental health as a millennial who used social media as it became big.