Social media affect teenager's mental health: Experts

Most teenagers use social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram these days. It keeps a person connected to friends across the globe and gives them a window into the lives of people they are connected with.

Multiple studies have shown that teenagers who use social media excessively do so because they are either bored, need an escape from their immediate physical environment, are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, are lonely, have few real-time friends or need to feel appreciated and validated.

Using social media in moderation isn't bad. In fact, it can help boost serotonin and other feel-good chemicals in the brain and can help uplift a person's mood.

Most people take a selfie of themselves and post it on social media, and feel good about themselves when people like their post and comment on it.

It becomes a problem when this becomes a habit. Many people feel compelled to post photos of themselves multiple times a day and then keep checking their accounts for the number of likes they have received.

Let's now go a little deeper and see the signs a person, a parent, or a loved one can look for to differentiate between social media usage and addiction.

We can safely say a person is addicted to social media when we can spot some of the following:

- If a person is thinking about and talking about social media most of the time.

- If they have formed a ritual of using social media multiple times a day

Many people feel compelled to post photos of themselves multiple times a day and then keep checking their accounts for the number of likes they have received

- If they are using social media instead of attending to other important things in their life.

- If they are procrastinating on other important tasks and using social media instead.

- If they get frustrated and throw anger tantrums if they are unable to use social media

- If there is a fear of missing out on "life" if they don't stay connected on social media

- If social media usage has affected their studies.

- If they keep checking their social media accounts during conversations.

- If a person avoids social events to be on social media.

- If they lie about the time they spend on social media

- If they have not been able to reduce the time they spend on social media.