Research Report: Depression, Social Media, and Mental Health

This report investigates the pervasive issue of depression in the contemporary world, emphasizing its detrimental effects on mental and physical health. The report delves into the impact of social media, a significant factor influencing depression, especially among young adults. It explores the relationship between social media usage and increased instances of depression, anxiety, and related mental health challenges, while also acknowledging the potential for social media to be used to raise awareness and mitigate depression. The report includes a literature review, research methodology, and theoretical frameworks to analyze the issue. The research utilizes qualitative data analysis and secondary data sources, incorporating ethical considerations and limitations. The study aims to identify the origins of depression, analyze the role of social media, and propose solutions to lessen the number of depressed individuals. The potential outcomes include insights into the positive aspects of social media in mitigating depression and a comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Running head: DEPRESSION
Depression
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Abstract
This report discusses and throws light on depression which has become a major issue in the
contemporary world. Depression affects people and gradually degrades their mental and
physical heath. The impact of social media on depression is highlighted and the methods that
mitigates the issue.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Problem Statement.......................................................................................................3
1.3 Research question........................................................................................................4
1.4 Purpose of the study.........................................................................................................4
1.5 Significance of the study..................................................................................................4
2. Literature review....................................................................................................................5
2.1 Depression in young adults..............................................................................................5
2.2 Social media.....................................................................................................................5
2.3 Relationship between depression and social media.........................................................5
2.4 Literature Gap..................................................................................................................6
3. Theories..................................................................................................................................7
4. Research Methodology...........................................................................................................7
5. Limitations.............................................................................................................................9
6. Relevance of study.................................................................................................................9
7. Ethical issues..........................................................................................................................9
8. Possible Outcome...................................................................................................................9
9. References............................................................................................................................10

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1. Introduction
Depression is a silent illness negatively impacting a person’s mental health.
Depression effects a person’s thinking, emotion and actions. The person who is in depression
is often seen to show decreased energy in his or her daily activities, losses interest in work
and there is always a lingering feeling of sadness clouding the person. The thoughts and
rationale of the person is clouded and negatively overrides the person’s judgment. The patient
goes through tremendous mood swings and frequently faces emotional breakdown.
Degradation in mental health leads to several physical problems which eventually lessen the
productivity of the person both at work and home. The condition hampers the individual’s
immediate surroundings (Elder 2018). Depression can possibly be managed with the right
diagnosis and treatment. Indentifying the problem at the early stage helps in easy eradication
with primary care. Support from immediate family members and self-help are important
primary measures that aids in treating depression.
1.2 Problem Statement
Depression has become a major issue both socially and globally. It is estimated that one
person in every fifteen person is affected by depression (Psychiatry 2019). Depression can
affect anyone as there is no particular average age for the illness. Depression is an issue
which requires serious immediate attention now. The exact root cause and source of
depression is still unknown.

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1.3 Research question
The following are the research questions for the proposal:
(a) What is the source of origin of depression?
(b) How does social media and increased the number of depression cases?
(c) What are the relevant solutions and awareness program to be initiated to lessen the
demography of depressed individuals?
1.4 Purpose of the study
There is no unique solution to cure depression as the source of origin of the illness is
foggy. Identifying the source of origin of the ailment will improve mental health and over all
life expectancy of the person. Internal as well as external factors can cause depression in an
individual. Comprehension of the factors can provide better solution for the ailment
1.5 Significance of the study
Depression has taken the center stage in the past few years. Number of individuals
suffering from depression has drastically increased to 300 million and includes teenagers and
young adults. Certain cases of severe long-lasting depression lead to suicide. Nearly 800,000
individual commit suicide (WHO 2018) every year. The growing rate of teenagers and young
adults suffering from depression is alarming. It is highly significant to identify the root cause
to prevent and gradually eliminate depression.

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2. Literature review
2.1 Depression in young adults
Depression is an increasing contemporary issue. Depression robs a person of his or
her happiness and degrades activity levels. Depression can affect anyone from any age group.
Depression can co-exist with other physical ailments. Cardio vascular diseases and other life
terminating diseases also lead to depression. Previously depression was not an alarming issue,
but recently the count has drastically increased. Number of young adults and teenagers are
suffering from depression and the number has shown considerable growth. According to the
report by Denizet (2017) the number of teenage suicide cases has doubled in the last decade
and mostly the teenagers are just high school pass out. Depression drastically reduces work
productivity and develops poor communication skills. There are various factors that impact
teenage depression and suicide rate( Psy 2019).
2.2 Social media
Social media is an interactive platform that involves creation of ideas and sharing of
knowledge, information and ideas on the platform with numerous known and unknown
virtual communities. Social media has connected numerous remote communities and created
new ones. It has made the world a small place. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are few
social media sites which have millions of users who connect with various communities.
2.3 Relationship between depression and social media
Social media has both advantages and disadvantages. Social media incites anxiety,
insecurity and jealousy in individuals. Peer competition, unnecessary comparison on social
media provokes individuals and elicits envy (Hetrick 2016). Teenagers constantly compare

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their lives with others. Body shamming on social media platforms has extreme effect on an
individual mental health and physical health. Hate comments on profiles, pictures and videos
affects the individual and sometime such individuals decline to face the real world. The
confidence and self esteem is completely destroyed and pushes the person toward depression
(Andreea 2015). Eating disorder have been noticed in young girls who want to feel and look
like runaway models. Such dietary restrictions affect their health severely and invoke
depression. Depression leads to eating disorder and cause other physical ailments (Appel,
Gerlach and Crusius 2016). Social media imparts negative effect on people with depression
and in few cases the condition aggravates.
2.4 Literature Gap
A lot of researches have been carried out earlier on depression. Previous researches
have linked social media to be one of the major causes of depression in the contemporary
world. As it is known social media has both advantages and disadvantages, the negative
attribute of social media on depression is mostly discussed. Social media has positive aspects
to creating awareness and mitigating depression. Therefore this is a significant literature gap,
since past papers have discussed about the aggregation and spreading of depression caused by
social media. The aim of this research is to present the positive attributes of social media in
mitigating depression. This will help in better understanding and use of social media to
spread awareness program and help individual with depression to help themselves. The
researches and work done previously does not provide complete detailed analysis about the
positive side of the social media mitigating depression. This research aims to complete the
literature gap and provide positive outlook on how well social media can be useful to tend
people with depression.

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3. Theories
There are several theories used to analyze depression in an individual.
Behaviorist Theory- This theory emphasizes on the significance of the surrounding in shaping
of the behavior. Observed behavior is focused and conditions like the individual’s learnt
behavior, operant conditioning, classical conditioning and social learning theory. Depression
is associated with the individuals immediate surrounding is proposed by classical
conditioning theory. Behavior learnt through observation and reinforcement is proposed in
Social learning theory. Behavioral theory is the theory which syncs with the reactive
depression scenario. Depression acquired through the person’s immediate surrounding and
severely affecting the individual’s wellbeing.
4. Research Methodology
Research methodology discuses the accurate measure and approach adopted to attain
a detailed analysis and research result. The concepts adopted in research methodology helps
in gaining insights and improved analyses of the topic at hand (Flick 2015). To have a
enhanced comprehension about the positive aspects of social media in mitigating depression.
The research technique is so chosen to determine positive methods to access adequate
information on the topic of research. The right research philosophy is most significant to help
understand and explain the assumptions taken for the conduction of this particular research.
Research process is of two kinds- inductive and deductive. Deductive method is used in
describing the practical aspects of the theory. Inductive method is used when there is
inadequate availability of data.

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Data Collection method
Data collection is data accumulated by researchers to perform study on the related
topic. The collection of data aids in deducing proper report to facilitate standard presentation
of results. Data sources provide facility in extracting information.
Data sources
There are two types of data- primary data and secondary data. Primary data is raw
data collected on the basis of the requirement which include questionnaire, surveys and
others. Secondary type of data is data sourced from previous researches to widen the scope of
the research topic. To conduct the research secondary data will be taken to identify the
positive impacts of social media on depression.
Data Techniques
In this research paper, two kinds of techniques are considered- qualitative and
quantitative. Qualitative data is data that adds value to the accumulated raw data. The second
kind- quantitative data is acquired by using statistical means to record information from a
large sample size using graphical representations (Silverman 2016). In this research
qualitative data is analyzed.
Sample Size

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Five journals are used to analyze and conduct the research. Each journal discuses
unique issues and provides valuable information.
5. Limitations
The primary limitation for this is that very few people want to talk about their
condition. This limits the sample size. Individuals with depression often do not discuss their
condition. Identifying such candidates requires lot of time. The research is time consuming
and involves high cost to get access to the paid versions of the journal.
6. Relevance of study
The study is relevant as it includes relevant data and information on depression.
Successful analysis of the data from journals shows the relevancy of the information
collected.
7. Ethical issues
Privacy breach and issues occurs in gathering data from social media. Gathering data
by a third part from a person’s profile is unethical and breaches privacy laws. Discussion
personal condition on public forums is also unethical if consent is not taken.
8. Possible Outcome
The research will provide insight into the positive aspects of social media in
mitigating depression. The research will be completed in due time and in the required budget.

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9. References
WHO (2019). Depression. [online] Who.int. Available at:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression [Accessed 21 Apr. 2019].
Hetrick, S.E., Cox, G.R., Witt, K.G., Bir, J.J. and Merry, S.N., 2016. Cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT), third‐wave CBT and interpersonal therapy (IPT) based interventions for
preventing depression in children and adolescents. Cochrane database of systematic reviews,
(8).
Psy (2019). Is Social Media Affecting Your Teens' Mental Health?. [online] PsyCom.net -
Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986. Available at:
https://www.psycom.net/depression-teens-social-media [Accessed 21 Apr. 2019].
Psychiatry (2019). What Is Depression?. [online] Psychiatry.org. Available at:
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression [Accessed 21
Apr. 2019].
Elder, G.H., 2018. Children of the great depression. Routledge.
Denizet-Lewis, B., 2017. Why are more American teenagers than ever suffering from severe
anxiety. The New York Times, 11.
Lopez, M.V., Gomez, R.J.F., Guadarrama, R.G. and Gonzalez, N.E., 2016. Emotional
intelligence: a positive factor to depression in teenagers in high school/Inteligencia
emocional: factor positivo ante la depresion en adolescentes de bachillerato/Inteligencia

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emocional: fator positivo ante a depressao em adolescentes do colegial. Informes
Psicologicos, 16(1), pp.35-51.
Andreea-Elena, M., 2015. The risk of eating disorders in adolescence and its association with
the value of the body mass index, level of anxiety and level of depression. Procedia-Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 187, pp.141-146.
Appel, H., Gerlach, A.L. and Crusius, J., 2016. The interplay between Facebook use, social
comparison, envy, and depression. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, pp.44-49.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.006
Berryman, C., Ferguson, C.J. and Negy, C., 2018. Social media use and mental health among
young adults. Psychiatric quarterly, 89(2), pp.307-314.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.