While social media can help you connect with friends and professional contacts, boost awareness and find peer support, spending too much time on these platforms can take a toll on mental wellbeing and contentment. Doctors warn, excessive social media use can lead to a sense of inadequacy, unhappiness and loneliness, while worsening symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress.

Other fallouts reported include panic, sleep disruption, body image distress and a chronic "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO). The last-mentioned syndrome can keep teenagers and young adults return to social media platforms like Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram repeatedly throughout the day. The constant alerts and notifications can really harm your concentration and focus, disturb sleep, and make the phone your primary conduit to your social life.

A favourable reaction to a post (even a simple 'like') can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain, like a "reward" one gets after winning a raffle, doctors explain. And this 'reward' is what youngsters crave. The more they are rewarded, the more time they want to spend on social media.

Although it's still a relatively new technology and not enough research is done to confirm long-term consequences, some studies have found a strong association between too much social media use (more than 3 hours a day) and an elevated risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm and even suicidal thoughts.

Negative impact of social media

Inadequacy about life or look: In spite of knowing that images on social media can be manipulated for gloss and grandeur, youngsters still feel insecure about how they look, or the status of their own lives, which can prompt feelings of envy and dissatisfaction.

Fear of missing out or FOMO: Sites like Facebook and Instagram seem to further stoke feelings that others are having more fun or better lives than you are. This can affect your self-esteem, fuel anxiety and lead to even more social media use.

Depression and anxiety: We all need face-to-face contact to feel mentally healthy. In-person meetings with someone who cares for you can reduce stress and improve your mental health. But when you are prioritizing social media over in-person meetings, you are making yourself more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Loneliness: Research has revealed that excessive use of social media platforms can increase feelings of loneliness. On the flip side, reduced use of social media can boost your sense of wellbeing.

Self-absorption: Sharing your most personal thoughts or selfies on social media platforms all the time can create an unhealthy self-obsession that can separate from real-life relationships and harm mental health.

Doctors warn that overuse of social media is worsening symptoms of social anxiety and depression, as youngsters are fearing judgement more and more, as they get into a pattern of viewing things negatively.

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