Over the past 20 years, a number of studies have shown that social media use can lead to a host of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. But a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that there may be a causal association between social media use and chronic inflammation in the body.
In the study, a University at Buffalo social scientist and his team measured college students’ use of social media for five weeks while also collecting a sample of their blood at the start of the five weeks and the end to measure the participants’ C-reactive protein (CRP)—an important biological marker that is a sign of systemic inflammation.
The results found that social media use “had a positive, concurrent association” with CRP at both the beginning and end of the five-week period and, importantly, more social media use predicted increased CRP during the period. According to the study, this suggests that increased social media may lead to increased inflammation in the body.
As Medical Xpress points out, not all inflammation is bad. When our finger turns red and swells after a cut, that’s called acute inflammation, and the process helps our body heal the cut. But the second type, chronic inflammation, can wreak havoc on our health. Chronic inflammation often does not have any visible signs like redness of the skin, but it can be detected in the blood via CRP. Chronic inflammation is linked to long-term health conditions including cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, and mental health issues.
“This study adds to the growing amount of evidence pointing to the risks of spending too much time on social media and the domains that are being affected,” said the paper’s lead author, David Lee, Ph.D.
In another black mark on social media’s reputation, this week New York City became the first major city to designate social media as an “environmental toxin” and a public health hazard, which Mayor Eric Adams said was “fueling a mental health crisis” (per The Hill).
“Companies like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook are fueling a mental health crisis by designing their platforms with addictive and dangerous features,” Adams said. “We cannot stand by and let Big Tech monetize our children’s privacy and jeopardize their mental health.”
But as this most recent study shows, it may not just be a person’s mental health that social media is jeopardizing.