Social media has become one of the quickest ways to communicate for people in today’s generation.  Through likes, favorites, shares, replies, and even Direct Messages social media is bringing people together.  This allows for interactions that could never have happened before.  In 2015 it was recorded that there were approximately 2.14 billion active social media accounts.  In a study conducted by John A. Naslund, Kelly A. Aschbrenner, and Stephen J. Bartels (2016) it was determined that about 71% of people diagnosed with a serious mental illness not only had a smartphone, but used a popular social media outlet such as Facebook.  This number has been steadily increasing, which shows that it is becoming a popular outlet for the mentally ill.  This study determined that people suffering from a serious mental illness were capable of helping themselves through social media by having “support illness self management, symptom monitoring, and health promotion efforts targeting this high-risk group.”  This allows for support groups to form and they have become an intricate part of relationships between people who are suffering from a mental illnesses.  I believe that these support groups are a good idea for those suffering because it gives them a chance to reach out and receive help on a platform that is not extremely revealing.  While these support groups are catered towards the mentally ill, I believe that they can work for anyone facing adversity in their life.  I also believe that social media makes it easier for people to communicate especially with regard to more sensitive subjects, and finding people to relate to.

Social media is a very important place to connect with others that have similar viewpoints as yourself.  I find that on many social media sites I tend to notice more posts that cater to my own beliefs and opinions, rather than one’s that may upset me or disagree with me.  Social media has been an extremely positive place for the mentally ill, in this regard.  It has become so popular that there is now a name for this type of counseling which occurs over social media sites: peer-to-peer counseling.  As for right now this counseling is proven to help people “gain insight about important healthcare decisions, which could promote mental health care seeking behaviours.”  I believe that through social media people are not only encouraged more to get the help they need, but it also makes it easier for them to find that help.  Social media can become a place that is harmful and overwhelming for users, and there is a fear that social media users who have certain mental handicaps may see information that is triggering to them.  In my opinion the benefits of social media outweigh the negative possibilities.

Social Media is believed to have some negative effects on the mental health of people.  These impacts and interactions can be found in the form of cyberbullying and negative self-perception.   I believe that people often have mixed emotions due to the nature of certain posts on social media websites.  Posting on sites “allows us to present our own filtered sense of reality, showing only what we want to show”, which misconstrues the perception people have of each other. When viewing social media pages people are not seeing what truly goes on in someone’s life, only the parts that person chooses to share.  This may seem like a negative side-effect of social media, but people are also able to use social media in a positive way.  One positive way social media is used, in my opinion, is by showing what truly is going on in someone’s life which makes it more relatable to others.  Personally, I connect best with posts that are more realistic and do not seem perfect, as it makes them more relatable knowing others have similar issues as myself.  Those who suffer from mental illness may also be more likely to relate to posts that are less “fake” and that will show the truth.  These more relatable posts can come in many different forms.  One way is helping with issues that people may present, this can encourage others to reach out and help.  People may not always outright show their issues on social media and that is why it is also believed social media can become a negative place.  There have been studies to determine if social media has negative effects on the mental health of individuals, and in an article about the negative mental effects of social media it is stated that “teenagers spoke about the pressure they felt to make themselves available 24/7, and the resulting anxiety if they did not respond immediately to texts or posts.”  While there are these negatives that impact our society, social media also has many positive impacts.  It provides a way to bring people together that makes it possible to stay involved in their life, without being physically close to them.  This works well for many mentally ill because many of them go through their own situations in different ways.  That also means it is harder for them to relate to others, making social media an important way to connect to others around the globe who may have similar issues and can provide helpful insight.  Social media also has an outreach larger than any news platform before, which enables people to be more aware than ever before. The information passed along on social media can be very helpful to those suffering from mental health issues or mental illnesses, it is only a matter of finding the right and correct channels to do so.  That is why I believe that social media can be used as a responsible and helpful way to get the mentally ill connected, and help others find the help that they may be seeking.