A CNBC article citing a Wall Street Journal report showed Facebook® documents reveal just how toxic Instagram® is for the mental health of teens–particularly teen girls.

Report #1

According to the findings:

• Of teens reporting suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users linked the issue to Instagram®
• 32% of teen girls and 14% of boys confessed that Instagram® made them feel worse about their bodies
• The key elements of the social media image sharing platform that potentially do the most damage are essential to the channels makeup

According to Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Montana, “Facebook® knows Instagram® is toxic for teens, but they don’t care.”

Report #2

Also, according to the U.S. News & World Reports, Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, has sounded the alarm and calls for action to combat the growing mental health crisis among youth made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research and data in the following categories demonstrates the need for swift action:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reveals that the percentage of adolescents aged 12-17 suffering a major depressive episode increased from an estimated 8% in 2010 to 15.7% in 2019
• An October 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report revealed the percentage of high school students seriously contemplating suicide increased from 13.8% in 2009 to 18.8% in 2019
• Surgeon General Murthy’s advisement team cites early estimates that suggest more than 6,600 deaths by suicide occurred among the 10-24 age group in 2020

Report #3

Researchers sought to understand the impact of social media on adolescents’ psychological, social, and school functioning.

They surveyed over 500 adolescents annually for three years about their social media use, their life satisfaction, and their social competence–they also tracked the adolescents’ academic achievement via school grades.

Some adolescents in the study exhibited addiction-like social media use, such as regularly neglecting other activities in order to use social media–the researchers classified this group as disordered users.

Heavy social media use was linked to a small decrease in grades, especially for female adolescents–and, the researchers found that disordered social media use had a negative effect on the psychosocial well-being of adolescents, predicting large later decreases in life satisfaction, especially for male adolescents.

This supports the idea that problematic social media use can cause psychological harm, a key criteria for a behavior to be considered an addiction.