Social networks and depression, a very common duo in adolescents
The new technologies are here to stay and with them a lot of new features. The social networks They are part of these tools that have appeared with the expansion of the internet. Platforms where you can display photographs and share them with friends, with whom you can also chat. A space that initially serves to promote interpersonal relationships through a digital world.
However, a study conducted by the Royal Society of Public Health has served as a basis to warn about the risk of depression that entails social networks in some teenagers. This has been stated in the XVII Lundbeck seminar, which on this occasion has taken the title 'Millennials and Generation Z'.
Depression and abuse of networks
Marina Díaz Marsá, Head of Psychiatry of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital of Madrid and President of the Psychiatric Society of Madrid, explained during her visit to this seminar that the abuse of social networks is associated with cases of depression in the young. How do these disorders relate to the use of these tools that in theory should bring people closer?
The study by the Royal Society of Public Health showed that two thirds of the young people surveyed believed that the use of these technologies favored cases of cyber bullying and the consequences derived from it. On the other hand, it also highlights the feedback between one world and another.
The cases of social networks cause evils such as insomnia. These hours without sleep are used in social networks. In this way young people believe that these platforms are solving their problems, but in reality that false sensation of welfare derives in a dependency of these webs. A situation that only worsens the disorder that the adolescent is going through.
Dr. Marsá also criticizes, in relation to cyberbullying, the impunity of stalker. Some photographs that vex the victim instead of being criticized by some colleagues, applaud this behavior and laugh these jokes so humiliating for minors.
Consequences of depression
During the celebration of this seminar the speakers also warned of the consequences of depression in young people. Dr. Marsá points out that the symptoms derived from this problem "translate into a decrease in capacity to concentrate, indecision, lack of motivation, negative perspectives on their future and low expectations that hinder academic performance. "
The relationships They are also affected by the symptoms of depression, such as apathy or hypersensitivity to criticism that ends up isolating young people.
To prevent this situation from getting worse, Silvia López Chamón, Family Physician and Secretary of the Mental Health group SEMERGEN, recommends that when faced with a suspicion of depression, "more than seeking diagnosis and treatment, young people come to the clinic to ask for help to overcome a circumstance they do not know how to handle".
Damián Montero
