Supporting Online Support Groups

Jillian S. Horton WRIT 2311-01 Beth Eakmann 27 November 2018 Supporting Social Media Support Groups In October of 2017, Business Insider published a short article detailing how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs limited the accessibility their children had to screens and social media (SM), citing research such as “[an] eighth-grader's risk for depression jumps 27% when he or she frequently uses social media,” as the cause (Weller). This is seemingly a consistent trend a multitude of articles featuring the topic of social media follow: convincing concerned parents their children are in grave danger, that the harm social media can cause to the developing mind is irreversible, and that it directly causes anxiety or suicidal ideation. Additionally, varying studies do show teens who use social media even only semi-infrequently often suffer from a fear of missing out and a generally decreased ability to function in face-to-face social interaction.

However, little research has been done on teens and young adults who may already have a mental illness such as depression or clinical anxiety interact with social media and its effects, particularly if the result is positive.

Even upon the acknowledgment of these topics, articles are almost exclusively about depression, and almost exclusively in a negative light— shoving statistics about worsening symptoms, suicide rates, and the increase of self-harm into the spotlight, neglecting other equally valuable information. For instance, an extensive study from 2016, featured in the Journal of Adolescence states “when [some adolescents are] feeling more depressed, [they] appeared to use more SM in an effort to improve their mood with the goal of gaining social support, releasing

Horton 2 emotions, [and] searching for an online community which they can relate to,” demonstrating that social media isn’t solely used by depressed individuals as a means to find an excuse to brood (Radovic et al. 12). This statement barely begins to describe the amount of information this singular study discloses regarding how people who clinically suffer from depression realistically use social media. It clearly actively combats the misconception that sites like Twitter can only worsen symptoms with genuine statistical data. The study concedes multiple times that social media definitely has some major downsides, with a series of individuals reporting “Following another depressed persons' posts was helpful to know they are not alone in their struggles, but at the same time exposed them to triggering content,” when discussing the cons of encountering unforeseen stress-posting and other negative social media use (Radovic et al. 11). Nevertheless, this concession in itself is conceded later in the analysis when noting a trend in adolescents concerning the change in social media use with age, insinuating the promotion of growth through the use of various platforms. Furthermore, multiple members of the study suggested insightful revisions that could change social media in order to create a safer and more positive environment for people with a variety of mental health conditions.

The most intriguing concept discussed in this piece is the idea that social media can act as a support group for mentally ill individuals who may not have access to a physical group in their area. The online behavior of sharing positive experiences concerning an individual's mental health or swapping coping skills potentially mimics the healthy atmosphere of a group therapy session, even including the same potential backfires-- oversharing, an irrational fear other members of the group are better off (or worse off) than the individual, accidental triggering, and unintentionally lowered self-esteem. The Mayo Clinic defines a support group as something that “[brings] together people who are going through or have gone through similar experiences,” and

Horton 3 is quick to mention that the location of these groups extends to the internet (Mayo Clinic Staff).

Although it presents pros and cons for physical and internet-based support groups alike, it doesn’t specify how an online support group would function differently from a large meeting in a clinic, save for mentioning the more flexible participation found in the liquidity of internet accessibility. With a definition this broad, it seems nonsensical that social media isn’t considered a viable coping mechanism for people suffering from, at the very least, some mild form of depression.

Regardless, this is still all only referring to people suffering from clinical depression. I struggled to find even one study focused on how individuals with clinical anxiety use social media, considering that any media outlet concerned with its effects immediately jumps into bashing the concept for crippling today's youth. This idea of “crippling” is much more marketable than talking about the already disabled-- there’s nothing romantic about already struggling to function that would invite readers, and it isn’t nearly as terrifying as the generalization that “Tumblr must die because it’s evil and is poisoning our children!” Even the most profitable mental illness of all time, PTSD, remains scarcely mentioned; a true surprise considering that next to tuberculosis and cancer, it's definitely one of the more “romantic” and “dramatic” illnesses.

Yes, because Americans find being traumatized to the point of living a waking nightmare charming enough to incorporate the concept into nearly all of its literature.

That aside, despite the fact that specific research on the ties between PTSD (which is an anxiety disorder) and SM apparently barely exist, there are several articles containing information about the relationship between PTSD and community-based relations in general.

One such investigation took refugees from North Korea and examined the severity of their

Horton 4 PTSD, before proceeding to look for a correlation between it and social ties. The overall conclusion asserted that “regardless of the characteristics of supporting network members, the size of the supporting networks provides substantial protection,” implying that any contact with other people could develop a support-group-esque setting for individuals suffering from anxiety (Lee and Youm). This contact is potentially the same resource young adults with depression seek out other users for in social media platforms. Additionally, a similar study about social interaction in environments where PTSD resides found that using sites such as Twitter provides a place to chronicle day-to-day life while coping with the illness. It was also being used to exchange coping strategies and emotional support-- exactly like what the subjects in the 2016 study about depression sited as one of their primary uses of social media (Salzmann-Erikson and Hiçdurmaz).

These results indicate that social media can’t possibly be such a crook-- or at least, it’s a somewhat justified and potentially dangerous crook currently going through a rehabilitation program. Despite the negative side effects of the unregulated use of limitless communication and anonymity, its’ mentally ill users have developed ways to transform the beast into a coping mechanism. Social media doesn’t merely cause anxiety or increase the rates of depression and suicidal thoughts, it alters them. Whether this “altering” is positive or negative is ultimately up to the entire Internet-- are there going to be more social media participants who decide to leave an anonymous positive remark, or an anonymous negative one? Viewers must make choices about how much to share and how much to consume, and consequently must learn from their own experiences. Yet some social responsibility lies in the parents of these users as well. The explicit removal of a potential coping mechanism may significantly worsen a scenario where a teen or other young adult is using SM to understand themselves, due to a lack of other forms of support.

Horton 5 Unfortunately, this fact remains fairly obscure.

That’s not to say everyone who uses social media with a mental disability uses it as a last resort, however. Research from everything between Barna and the American Psychology Association has noted that more Americans seek counseling now than previously, and not every teenager using SM may know they’re mentally ill. It would therefore be wrong to claim that social media hinders the ability to communicate, considering it seems to promote seeking therapy or counseling occasionally before an illness is even detected. Simultaneously, social media creates a space where individuals can be free to explain their thoughts and feelings to others.

While there are still risks associated with these concepts, they are risks also associated with group therapy programs-- and angry helicopter moms don’t brandish their proverbial pitchforks at those.

Horton 6 Works Cited Weller, Chris. “Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Raised Their Kids Tech-Free - and It Should've Been a Red Flag.” The Independent, Business Insider, Independent Digital News and Media, 24 Oct. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/bill-gates-and-steve-jobsRaised-their-kids-techfree-and-it-shouldve-been-a-red-flag-a8017136.html.

Radovic, Ana, et al. “Depressed Adolescencs Positive and Negative Use of Social Media.”

Elsevier, Journal of Adolescnece, 18 Dec. 2016, ac-els-cdn-com.ezproxy.stedwards.edu /S0140197116301713/1-s2.0-S0140197116301713-main.pdf?_tid=82d4e42a-5b04-4fa49bab-f13d3d5348b2&acdnat=1536871174_71cfafdfe18d2a5ae514e4975be9e010.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Support Groups: Make Connections, Get Help.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 26 June 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/support-groups/art-2 044655.

Lee, Byungkyu, and Yoosik Youm. “Social Network Effects on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Female North Korean Immigrants.” NCBI, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249256/.

Salzmann-Erikson, Martin, and Duygu Hiçdurmaz. “Use of Social Media Among Individuals Who Suffer From Post-Traumatic Stress.” Sage Journals, Sage Journals, 29 Jan. 2016, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1049732315627364.