Minnesota will require mental health warnings on social media next year and other states may follow.
"I think the evidence is very clear that social media use is linked with depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, all sorts of terrible mental health conditions," says Democratic state Rep. Zack Stephenson, the main sponsor of the law. "You'll see a message telling you that prolonged use of social media can lead to those outcomes."
Stephenson says the labels, while not yet written, will be like warnings for tobacco products or alcohol, and it's up to the Minnesota Department of Health to decide what they say.
"If you had expected big tobacco to make cigarettes less addictive in the '50s and '60s, you would have been sorely mistaken," Stephenson says. "Addiction was their business model. And the same thing is true for big tech."
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While the primary concern is the negative impact of social media on youth, it also has negative impacts on adults as well. The primary impact on adults is the scamming that occurs with lonely adult males who get sweet talked out of their money by posers who promise love and affection. I have seen this occur numerous times in my psychotherapy practice.
Addiction to social media and so called "doomscrolling" undermines not only a person's mental health but also their social relationships and functioning in the real world. Put the phones down and only use them when absolutely necessary not just because you are bored and looking for distraction.
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