By Jate Britton
Videographer
With social media usage at an all-time high, mental health decrease caused by social media is at an all-time high as well. According to the National Institutes of Health, deterioration in mental health is one of the side effects stemming from social media overuse.
Some AC students are taking their mental health into their own hands and completely removing social media from their lives. Paralegal major, Haelis Amundgaard, said they began cutting ties with social media back in 2020.
“When I stopped originally, I felt really uncomfortable with the amount of time that I wasn’t doing anything,” Amundgaard said. “So I felt super bored a lot because I wasn’t constantly being inundated. I guess when you stop using social media, your brain is missing something that it used almost as an addictive habit, and so there’s going to be drawbacks. The drawbacks are boredom and listlessness, I would say.”
For Amundgaard, the benefits of decreasing social media use outweigh any temporary withdrawals. “The major benefit is that I feel more connected with the world around me,” they said. “I feel like I have more time for hobbies and more time in my day and I feel more useful. I feel like I’ve become more skilled in my hobbies because I’ve been dedicating time to them everyday. I don’t feel as depressed in general, because I’m not comparing myself to others and constantly abusing my dopamine centers. The other mental habits and benefits that have come from dropping social media are worth so much more than the loss of that short-term content and the brief listlessness and boredom that you get once you quit.”
Some students said social media will only become more detrimental to mental health because people will continue to compare themselves to others. “I expect social media becoming more harmful because of how many people edit stuff online and show how lavish their life is,” Sarah Quesenberry, a biology major, said. “People might believe that they’re below them and be in a bad mental state because of it.”
A 2023 study from the National Institutes of Health said young adults who spend more time on social media experience higher levels of loneliness. Business Administration major, Theo Ruzicka, said social media can isolate people. “If you’re sitting in an endless scroll, you’re probably missing things that you should be doing instead,” he said. “For example, time that you would spend hanging out with friends, cleaning your house or doing homework. People may not be as hygienic because they’re spending time on social media rather than cleaning.”
Ruzicka said he observed a notable shift in Amundgaard’s mental health after cutting off social media. “Over the span of a year, they started using social media a lot,” he said. “We would be having a conversation, and they would pick up their phone and just start scrolling. It upset me, because that’s not how they used to be. Now that they’ve gotten rid of it entirely, there’s been a huge shift. Now they’re back to being super engaged with everyone and finding things they’re interested in instead of whatever is trending on social media. They’re like their own person again.”
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