Social Media and Mental Health

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Mental health has a lot of benefits in terms of destigmatizing the issues and helping people spot when there's a problem. But it might also have these negative consequences that perhaps we're over interpreting something potentially transient, or worrying tha the stress or sadness is symptomatic of a disorder or illness. And in that sense, i can imagine social media is part of this, because i know that when i feel bad,. i go straight on line for information and help, and often end up self diagnosing when probably i shouldn't be. It's the most normal understandble thing.

Many teenagers will receive their GCSE results today. These exams can have a significant impact on what they do next, so it can be a stressful time for students, their teachers and parents. Over the past decade, reported mental health problems among teenagers have been on the rise. A recent survey by the NHS statistics agency found rates of probable mental disorders in six- to 16-year-olds reached one in six in 2021. Madeleine Finlay speaks to the academic psychologist Dr Lucy Foulkes about what could be behind this crisis, how schools are trying to tackle it, and how we can help teenagers with their mental wellbeing. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod