Over the past decade, the increased use of social media has impacted the mental health issues that teens and young adults are having. Most teenagers are stressed, anxious, and have social pressures from their peers, as well as themselves. Adding another factor, like social media, into those pressures can be difficult and can hurt an individual even though they may not even be aware of it.

78 percent of teens who use social media use Snapchat as their main form of communication. A lot of teens and young adults use social media in order to keep in touch with friends and with the world. You can connect with friends, see what others are up to and keep up with the monthly trends. However, the rise of social media, including Snapchat, directly correlates with the rise of mental illnesses.

Teens may be thinking, “Why would I ever delete Snapchat?”, but have they ever thought of how much of a toll it takes on their mental health? Snapchat provokes a strong negative worrying feeling, or “FOMO,” as people are constantly looking at others’ snaps, selfies and stories, there is almost no chance that they do not compare themselves to others. This degrades their self confidence and decreases their feelings of worth.

Studies show that cutting back on Snapchat will reduce depression. A study was done where a group of students were split into two groups. One group continued using Snapchat regularly, while the other was limited to ten minutes per day. All students in the ten minute group claimed that their loneliness and depression reduced significantly. 

Cutting back time spent on Snapchat will most likely reduce depression, loneliness, and comparing. Decreasing time on Snapchat, perhaps even deleting it, and living in the moment is the most beneficial thing you can do for your health.