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In 2021, a Swedish study linked excessive social media use to other addictions and mental health disorders. Now researchers say people with social media addiction should be offered therapy to boost their mental health.
Therapy is Better Than Limiting Social Media Use
British researchers reviewed roughly 2,700 experimental studies worldwide to evaluate interventions for people worried about social media. They argue that healthcare providers should offer therapy to patients with depression to help them overcome “problematic” social media use and improve their mental health.
Limiting social media use led to noticeable improvements in depression, anxiety, and loneliness, but cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) proved even more effective than complete abstinence.
“Problematic” use refers to when a person’s preoccupation with social media distracts them from their primary responsibilities and causes neglect in other areas of life. Previous research has shown that social media becomes problematic when it interferes with daily functioning and contributes to poorer mental health, including depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness.
The team screened more than 2,700 studies and included about 23 experimental trials in the final analysis. They assessed social media’s impact on adult mental health across studies conducted from 2004 to 2022.
As reported by the Daily Mail, about 39% of those trials found that social-media interventions improved mental health, and therapy-based approaches were the most effective. Therapy-based interventions improved mental health in 83% of the trials, compared with abstaining from social media (25%) or simply limiting app usage (20%). Depression was the most studied condition, with 70% of trials showing better outcomes after intervention.
Social Media Addiction Requires Professional Intervention
Lead author Ruth Plackett said mental health problems are rising along with social media use. She cautioned that merely reducing time spent on communication apps is unlikely to improve overall mental well-being. Therapy that explores why people use social media and helps them develop healthier behaviors tends to be more effective.
Co-author Dr. Patricia Schartau called for more research into how social media affects people with anxiety and low mood so clinicians can offer treatments that work.
The researchers said further experimental studies are needed to identify who will benefit most from social-media interventions. They hope the findings will inform guidelines and recommendations for policymakers and clinicians on how to manage problematic social media use.
In June, American researchers found that young people who cut social media use to 30 minutes a day experienced fewer mental health problems — reporting significant reductions in depression, loneliness, and anxiety, and more frequent feelings of pride.
