Social Media and Dementia: How Being "Hip" Can Make You Very Very Aged

The benefits of social media are infinite. Communication across countries can happen in a second, there is an indispensable amount of cute kitten pictures, and knowledge is much more accessible. With innovations comes faults though. As the world has seen from experience, too much of a good thing is a bad thing; this is the golden rule of moderation. It is also no surprise that social media is often criticized for "dumbing down" millenials and younger generations. Well, recently studies have shown that this may in fact be the case. What many people do not yet realize is how far this "dumbing down" can extend...

As one looks down their FaceBook feed, it can be hard not to feel a little jealous. Maybe Jim from Freshman year Communications class has just gotten into an Ivy League law school. Or maybe Latavia is spending her summer in Puerto Vallarta. Regardless of who is doing what, social media can instill jealousy and even sadness within a person. A recent study at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that young adults who use more time on social media are more likely to be depressed (Nature World News). According to Dr. Silton, a professor at Loyola University Chicago, depression usually features anhedonia - a lack of feeling pleasure. Futhermore, depression is said to be more a lack of vitality than it is a lack of happiness (Solomon). Individuals who are depressed may lack feeling pleasure in what they do. Along with this is a fundamental lack of life and vitality. Ultimately, this may result in a more sedentary person. With a sedentary lifestyle, and easy access to technology and more social media, this may result in a viscous cycle of depression for the younger generations. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

If you thought a cycle of no energy and depression was bad enough, check this out. Dr. Ikram of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam stated that symptoms associated with depression that increase over time appear to predict dementia. Dementia is the loss of mental functions like thinking, reasoning, and memory that is significant enough to interfere with the daily life of a person (Alzheimer's Association). The study at Erasmus also found that people who had experienced depression for greater than three years were over 20% more likely to have dementia. Although, people that have remitted depression - depression that has not returned in multiple separate episodes - seem to not be at the same risk. What does this say for millenials? An increased likelihood of having depression is liked to an increase in social media. With longer episodes of depression, individuals may have an increased risk for dementia. The implications of a population that grows older, quicker would be devastating. 

Lastly, studying depression and the causes of it is very difficult. There may be many overlaps between mood disorders, as shown in the Tripartite Model of depression and anxiety, which makes categorizing each disorder difficult. For example, negative affect - a factor of subjective distress and  subsumes many negative mood states - is associated with both anxiety and depression. The best recipe to avoid depression and the symptoms that come with it is to delete your social media accounts immediately. No, not really. Staying up to date with current studies and news can help educate oneself on how to best avoid environmental contributors to depression and dementia. And look, you have already educated yourself by reading this article! Great job!

P.S. Positive affect is said to help restore vitality (i.e., fight depression). Try savoring moments and expressing gratitude more often!

Link to the article: http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/21428/20160502/worsening-depression-lead-dementia.htm

Solomon, Andrew: http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_depression_the_secret_we_share 

Dementia: http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp