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Adolescent Anxiety in the Social Media Age (Part II)

October 31, 2017

Adolescents, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Tips & Resources

By Dr. Mehri Moore, M.D. As we covered in Part I of this article, numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the concerning connection between adolescent anxiety, depression, and suicide and excessive smartphone and social media use. According to research conducted by San Diego State University professor of psychology Jean Twenge, for instance, adolescents who use social media every day are 13% more likely to report frequent depressive symptoms than those who use social media more sparingly. The proliferation of social media has not been without detrimental effects on young men, but data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that young women have had an even tougher time adjusting. While suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-old males increased by 31% from 2007 to 2015, they more...

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Adolescent Anxiety in the Social Media Age (Part I)

October 24, 2017

Adolescents, Mental Health, Tips & Resources

By Dr. Mehri Moore, M.D. According to research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, roughly a quarter of 13- to 18-year-olds struggle with some sort of anxiety disorder during their adolescence. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that many of these episodes are quite serious, as suicide deaths among Americans aged 10 to 19 have risen dramatically in the last decade. This troubling trend is particularly pronounced among adolescent girls, for whom suicide rates are at a 40-year high. Understandably, the question on everyone’s mind is, “Why?” Ever-increasing workloads and expectations at school and ongoing familial after-effects of the Great Recession have been put forward as possible explanations, but one of the most suspect culprits is the proliferation – and improper...

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