Social media use and depression during the pandemic confinement (Problem-Solution Essay)

Can you guess how many people who you spend time every day are depressed? Let me give you a word: - many – yes more than you’d ever imagine. Depression is a state of mental illness. It is characterized by deep, long-lasting feelings of sadness or despair. It can affect people of any group, including young children and teens. 

Some of the common factors that may cause depression are genetics, high levels of stress, schizophrenia, drug abuse, bad medical conditions, alcohol, and trauma. The worst fact about depression is that nowadays there are thousands of people suffering in silence.

It has been published a large number of studies that reveal that one of the causes for depression is social media, more than 90% of social media users are pretending to look happy, which has as a consequence, superficial relationships between people, so, there is no place for sad people. Currently, another cause of depression is the confinement during COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of personal coexistence with family, friends, co-workers, etc. has affected the mental state of many people.

There are several medical treatments to deal with depression, for instance, psychotherapy and pills, but actually, prevention is the best option, to practice regular exercise, a healthy diet, and stable relationships can be helpful in keeping stress low and thereby reduce the chances of feeling depressed. Veronica, who was depressed for more than one year during the pandemic because her father died and she could not visit him, and she decided to start practicing gym and yoga, activities that she did not do before, after that she made many friends and now she is calm and accepting that she mustn’t blame herself for not being able to visit his father during the quarantine.   

In conclusion, we should change the way we currently socialize, avoid the excessive use of social networks, find opportunities for real interactions with people to restore social connections lost during confinement, and, of course, reinstall activities that improve life quality and mental health to improve moods, clearing thinking, have a greater sense of calm or inner peace, and increased self-esteem, etc.