Digital Smarts - Instagram, Snapchat and the Mental Health of Teens

A survey done in the UK by #StatusofMind, part of the Young Health Movement and Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), indicates that overuse of the more image driven apps such as Instagram and Snapchat may be affecting the mental health of young people. While YouTube came out as having the most positive impact of all the well-known social media, Instagram and Snapchat came out in the study of 1,479 teens and young adults as fostering feelings of inadequacy and anxiety among youths who engage often with them. Experts commenting on the study reminded both professionals working in the field of teen mental health and parents that “it is important that we have checks and balances in place to make social media less of a wild west when it comes to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.”