Even subtle differences in the wording of social media messages may be enough to sway young people’s beliefs about depression and anxiety and their treatment.
In a new study, researchers found that college students were more optimistic about the possibility of successfully treating mental health problems after they read social media messages conveying what is called a “growth mindset.”
But social media posts written with a “fixed mindset” led young people to feel that depression and anxiety were more stable and innate, and not so easy to treat.
Growth mindset is the belief that a feature, such as mental health, can be improved with effort. A fixed mindset is the belief that a feature can’t change, no matter how hard you try.
The results are important because young people spend a lot of time on social media and those with depression and anxiety may be encountering a lot of messages about their condition, said Whitney Whitted, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology at The Ohio State University.
The article explores the influence of social media messages on young people’s perceptions of mental illness. Researchers found that exposure to social media posts discussing mental health issues could significantly impact adolescents’ beliefs and attitudes toward mental illness. Specifically, messages emphasizing the biological basis of mental disorders were more likely to reduce stigma compared to those focusing on social or environmental factors.
The study highlights the power of social media in shaping young individuals’ understanding of mental health and underscores the importance of promoting accurate and stigma-reducing messages on these platforms. By providing factual information and destigmatizing mental illness, social media can play a crucial role in fostering a more supportive and empathetic society.
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