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Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use, and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S.

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Hopelab & Well Being Trust 19 Many young people describe actively curating their social media feeds and self-regulating their social media use in order to maxi- mize positive and minimize negative effects. Based on more than 400 open-ended responses provided by teens and young adults describing how they use social media when they are feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious, it appears that: "It just helps me feel outside myself for a bit and find interesting topics I'd like to ponder on. When you're depressed, it's easy to get caught in a loop but through actively reading every day through social media I can always be preoccupied with information." "Social media makes me feel worse when I'm scrolling through feeds and seeing news headlines and posts about how terrible something is." "Social media makes me laugh and keeps me distracted so that I have time to breathe and collect myself." "It's much easier for me to reach out for help on social media than in person. There's less pressure and I can leave it there and live my life outside of it without thinking about it too much." Key Finding 10 • Every individual responds differently to social media when they are feeling poorly. Many survey participants exhibit a high degree of self-awareness about the impact social media has on them during those times. As noted above, based on the quantitative survey findings, 30% of young people with moderate to severe depressive symptoms say using social media when they feel depressed, stressed or anxious usually makes them feel better, and 22% say it usually makes them feel worse. Examples of the different ways young people respond to social media include: Key Findings

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