Social Media Use and Its Impact on Suicidal Ideation
Over the last 10 years of working in a hospital, I have had the opportunity to care for people who have attempted suicide. For some of those patients it was medication; for some of those patients it was physical harm, cutting, loss of limbs, overdose, self-inflicted pain etc. In the United States suicide is the 10th leading cause of death. In young people, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 15-34. In 2024 alone 2.2 million people attempted suicide, of which nearly 49,000 people succeeded.
At this point you might be wondering, why are so many people experiencing the inclination to want to end their life? If you haven’t yet. Let’s begin this much-needed discussion.
Living in the information age has its benefits but surely does not come without its cons. Children and young adults are more technologically advanced than any generation before us. They go to the internet for ALL answers (Instagram, Chat GPT, Youtube etc.). Currently the internet offers information on “How To” commit suicide. Thus, planting the growth of a neural pathway in the brain to develop and think about thoughts of suicide. The basic cell within your brain is a neuron, like a basic cell in your blood is a red or white blood cell. Our brains are comprised of billions of neurons. When a neuron is stimulated by the exposure of an input such as a visual or auditory stimulus, the neuron reaches out to another neuron to build or generate a neural pathway, or a network of bonded cells. The more you feed such a pathway, the stronger the connections get within the brain. The more your brain is exposed to information, content, videos, audio regarding topics that
can cause symptoms such as anxiety and depression the risk of suicide heightens significantly. Social media dependency can create thought patterns in the brain such as comparison, thus diminishing the view of self. Stimulating the brain to always need more, be more, look better, have more, or the opposite, tell the mind that you don’t have enough is harmful for thought processing and contentment within an individual. The strengthening of this type of thought pattern reinforces the potentiation of suicidal ideation, not just in young adults but in humans entirely. Social media use as a habit places people under psychological distress through the formation of negative thought patterns via auditory and visual stimuli. Algorithms are programmed to mimic this endogenous process. Your “feed” is a direct reflection of what information is stimulating or “feeding” your brain . This is by no means an explanation to blame the user as the responsibility is held upon the system which was created in such a manner to reflect this biochemical process.
So how do we combat this problem, Shawna? Be aware of how this process stimulates addiction. I have a beautiful yellow labrador named Blaze. Blaze is full of joy and love. Because I love him occasionally, he gets treats. Now if every time I walk in the door,
I give him a biscuit. His brain is going to take the input stimulus, mom is home and associate it with receiving a treat. Over time if I repeat this pattern of behavior, his cute little dog brain is going to develop a very strong neural pathway towards biscuits. Thus creating addictive behavior. Now I know that might be a very elementary example, but it emulates the power the brain has to form connections and associations with repeated exposure or for this cause, habitual social media use. Think about how many times we wake up in the morning and the first thing we do is check our social media. Who liked my reel, who commented on my recent post, how many followers or views did I get from last night’s reel? Habits that have driven comparison and external validation as a source of contentment or significance towards individualistic impact on the “world” around us. The implication? Social media use in young adults has driven suicide attempts and success rates drastically.
Think about how many people actively view and see what is happening in your life, yet never take the time to reach out, ask, care, or converse with you about what you’ve been up to. Linguistic communication is at an all-time low, leaving people feeling alone, isolated and forgotten about. The largest information processing center in your brain is your prefrontal cortex. This area of your brain is responsible for cognitive processes such as emotional regulation, decision making, self-control and attention. All functions that social media has bioengineered into its system processing for users.
The one concept that was healing for the people who I had cared for that attempted suicide…conversation. Real, authentic, meaningful and purposeful conversation. The time I took to listen to a person’s story, what they had been through, learning what obstacles and challenges they have and were facing in their current situation and over the span of their life up to that moment. People, not just young adults, but people in general need authentic purposeful conversation to feel understood, seen and heard. Something that cannot and will not EVER be achieved through a heart button.
If you know someone who has committed suicide, we’ve all had the thought, “If I had just one more minute to talk to them and find out what was going on.” If you’ve had thoughts about suicide lately, or have ever thought about suicide, reach out to someone, start the conversation, you are not alone although the world is pushing us into a space to feel very alone. I am a Registered Nurse and my inbox on any of my social media accounts or my contact email is always open for conversation.
Conquer Challenge: Reach out this week. Start conversations with people, friends, family, co-workers, peers, neighbors or even a stranger this week. Be open and aware of this challenge we are facing as a society together. Offer your time for someone this week.
September is National Suicide Awareness Month. If you or a loved one is fighting thoughts of suicide reach out. Call or Text 988..
Resources:
Comments