Don’t treat the addictive aspect of your social media. More than 40 American states accuse the Meta group of this. Therefore, they signed a complaint filed in California on Tuesday, October 24. But are these allegations of impact on mental health scientifically verified?
According to experts, social media content plays with impulses and neurological connections. That’s why it’s hard to reject the feeds offered by apps, notes the New York Times.
For psychologist David Greenfield, founder of the Internet and Technology Addiction Center in West Hartford, Connecticut, platforms use powerful techniques to keep their users’ attention. One of them is to establish the idea that a reward can be activated at any time.
I can not resist
But if adults are vulnerable to this mechanism, it could be dangerous for younger people. The psychologist indicates that they are not able to resist these effects of temptation and reward as well as older people. Simply because the brain region involved is not as developed in children or adolescents.
“Among adolescents who have problematic use of social networks, we more frequently find young people who suffer from a depressive syndrome, anxiety, an image or self-esteem problem. The question that arises is, therefore,: does the functioning of These networks amplify their difficulties? asks Séverine Erhel, professor of cognitive psychology at Rennes II, in l’Express.
“Problematic use of networks”
However, can we talk about addiction? For a long time, the term was reserved for behaviors linked to substance use. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a reference work on the subject, introduced the concept of addiction to online games. But he said more studies are needed to declare this behavior an addiction. Same story for a January 2021 study.
Additionally, Dr. Michael Rich, director of the digital well-being lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, advises against talking about addiction. “I prefer the expression ‘problematic use of networks on the Internet’,” he says.
Psychologist David Greenfield also points out that some young consumers “can’t do without it”, which affects school, sleep or lifestyle.
“The Internet is a gigantic catheter, and the content, including social networks like Meta, are psychoactive drugs,” compares David Greenfield, going in the same direction without Séverine Erhel, who for her part considers “that we should not fall into a trap.” . Form of determinism according to which the machine or technology causes addiction.
Source: BFM TV
