Social networks and mental health: the dangers of an increasingly widespread reality

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There is a need associated with the way we live today, especially considering how important it is to maintain proper mental health, especially for the younger population, which is the most vulnerable because of their exposure to social networks and smartphones.

The risk of the young population to be affected by social networks and cause a mental health problem has endless risks due to the massive expansion of social networks and any other application that works in a similar way in devices such as smartphones.

Self-diagnosis and social networks

Self-diagnosis is a practice that is overextended having as erroneous causes the desire to find a solution to mental health problems due to the excessive use of social networks, using search engines such as google or a search for poor quality information that instead of alleviating the disease what they do is to worsen it.

The above is more dangerous in adolescents, since with self-diagnosis there is an over-identification and that in turn can be treated under the approach of the various synoptic pictures of psychopathology, which does not open a range of possibilities for not having to pigeonhole them in categories and diseases whose aspects are not handled well.

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Searching for easy likes, the mistake of some professionals

If we talk about the danger of self-diagnoses, we are staying small, if we take into account that a professional criteria can be managed to treat these cases using information on the internet whose sources are used for real substitution as if it were a professional criteria, this happens because we want quick solutions and on the other hand that today's society looks favorably on the logic of self-help.

At this point, if we want to get professional help for an adolescent who we already believe is having mental health problems due to the use of social networks, it is best to avoid professionals who give "tips" or simple advice, since in general, although it may seem that there is nothing wrong with it, the most applicable is to carry out a psychotherapeutic intervention.

We can take the advice or tips as long as we see that we can obtain a simple solution and that at the same time it can be applicable to a generality of similar but simpler cases.

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How to distinguish useful information

It is difficult to give general guidelines as the type of information that circulates is so varied, but in broad terms it is important to know who are those who produce it, in what topics they are experts and what are their sources.

If what we are looking for is simple and useful information to be able to solve something simple that is starting related to mental health derived from an excessive use of social networks, we must know that it is somewhat complicated because it is difficult to give guidelines for the varied type of circulating information that can be found out there, however if we take into account in a generalized way how important it is to get useful and accurate information, it is important to consider the following elements of searches:

• To know the authors of the information.
• Investigate the topics on which the professionals are experts.

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Conclusion

We must broaden the panorama of social networks, not only causes mental health problems due to its abuse that ends in addiction, but social networks in its breadth of connections give free freedom to an unreliable stream of information to be used for advice or tips that are very dangerous when used to diagnose.

If we consider that our young children and adolescents have mental health problems, it is best to avoid diagnosing based on advice or tips, it is advisable to go to clinical centers with professionals who can be easily distinguished under reliable sources.