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Melissa Burningham

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 3

12 April 2019

Addiction to Social Media: How it Affects the Body and Mind

When an individual first hears the word “addiction”, typically substance abuse of drugs

or alcohol is the first thing that comes to mind. Drug and excessive alcohol use are discouraged

frequently in schools and by health experts. News channels will report on occurrences where an

individual with an addiction overdosed or turned violent when confronted. Consequently, most

individuals are able to understand that becoming dependent on a substance of any kind will

impact their lives negatively. However, addiction can manifest itself in other forms, forms that

we as a society, are not as familiar with and well educated on. As the use of technology and

social media keeps increasing, these other forms of addiction affect thousands of people each

day. Technology is at the tips of our fingers, making it a simple process to access any show,

website, or profile immediately; creating a simple way for addictive behaviors to develop. These

new forms of dependence can include addiction to pornography, binge watching television, and,

with increasing prevalence in the younger generations, addiction to social media. This

dependency on social media has the potential to alter the functions of the user’s brain.

What is addiction? At first glance, this seems to be very simple. Many people understand

that in its most simple definition, addiction is dependence on substance or habit to such an extent

that is negatively impacts the body. However, what really is addiction? How does it work, and

how does it affect the brain? In the brain many chemicals,​ known as neurotransmitters​,​ ​are
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involved with making the chemistry of the brain balanced in order for it to function normally.

There are four of these neurotransmitters that help keep emotions steady: dopamine, oxytocin,

serotonin and endorphins (sometimes referred to as DOSE) (Roman). When all of the

neurotransmitters are released at normal levels, the body is able to function correctly. However,

if too much or too little of any of these chemicals are released, the body is unable to work

correctly, which can result in the development of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia,

hyperactivity or various other mental issues (“Brain Chemistry”).

Dopamine is the chemical that rewards the brain, and is released in the amygdala when a

person completes an action that invokes a positive response, such as eating, spending time with

friends, or exercising. Once released, it is held by receptors in the brain, which allow the

dopamine to be used. However, when the brain is exposed to an addictive substance or

experience, an influx of dopamine is released immediately, which creates more of these receptors

so that all the dopamine can be used. Once the substance leaves the body or the addictive

experience is over, the brain reverts to releasing its normal amount of dopamine.

Heidi Vawdrey, a registered nurse who also studies mental health and addiction

explained how the brain reacts to this loss of dopamine, saying:

When you try to stop, all those extra dopamine receptors yell very loudly to be filled. It

[addiction] hijacks the higher function of the brain and goes back to what I call the ‘lizard

brain’, the amygdala and hippocampus, and tells you that you're [going to] die if you

don't get that substance/behavior to satisfy all those dopamine receptors.

Simply put, once the level of dopamines go back to normal levels, the extra receptors in the brain

are unable to be filled, resulting in the possible side effects of “messed up sleep regulation, poor
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concentration, unexplained aches and pains, changes in appetite… racing heart, restlessness or

sluggishness, low motivation, fatigue, [and] digestive disturbances, [among other symptoms]” as

well as the possibilities of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety that are created as a

result of chemical imbalances (Vawdrey).

This process of dopamine release functions the same way when an individual spends time

on social media; research suggests that using social media provides the same response of

pleasure in the brain as using drugs. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a business psychology

professor who studies media and consumerism, said that whenever an individual uses social

media, “[s]tudies show there is a firing up of dopamine-related neurotransmitters. That means

your brain is experiencing the interaction as highly pleasurable and responds with an intense

need to do it," (qtd. in Gold 16). Dopamine is released after every single like and comment on a

post on social media, resulting in the brain wanting to return to that situation time and time

again, in order to receive that rush of dopamine following each occurence. In a study done by

Harvard University, it was found that when people talk about themselves, dopamine is released.

When there is an audience, the reward, or the amount of dopamine released, increases. The same

reward response was found when a person posted on social media, no matter the content of what

was posted (“Relationship Between Substance Abuse” 2-3)

Figure 1: Potential side effects in users that have an addiction to social media
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The symptoms of social media addiction have also been found to be similar to symptoms

associated with addiction to drugs and alcohol. High periods of internet use have been linked to

suicidal ideation and higher adolescent health risks (Marchant et al. 18). Excessive social media

use and sedentary behavior (activities that involve sitting or laying down that use low quantities

of energy, such as browsing the internet or checking social media) have been found to be linked

to increased occurrence of mental disorders such as depression and bipolar, as well as anxiety

and compulsive behavior (Rohilla and Kumar, 143-4). The occurrence of mental disorders is

similar to the effects of alcohol and drug dependency, which can trigger anxiety, depression or

schizophrenia, as well as health risks (NIDA 19).

Individuals with addiction to social media have also been found to have similar

symptoms of individuals who are addicted to gambling. In a study on the correlation between

excessive social networking sites (SNS) and decision making skills, participants underwent a

simulation of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a paradigm that is used to reveal impaired decision

making skills. During the IGT, the participant is given two decks, one that gives high rewards,

high penalties, and a negative return of money, while the other gives lower rewards, lower

penalties, and a positive return of money. They are then told to make the most money they can.

Typically, a person with a gambling addiction is proven to lose money on the IGT and receive a

low score, meaning that they have impaired decision making skills. During the study, the

participants who had a history of excessive SNS use also received significantly lower scores than

participants who did not spend large amounts of time on SNS (Dar Meshi, et al. 169-73).

Along with increasing risks for mental disorders and impairing decision making skills,

addiction to social media has also been proven to change the structure of the brain, just as
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excessive use of drugs and alcohol changes the brain structures of addicts. Individuals with SNS

addictions were shown to have pruned amygdalas, which has been shown to generate strong

impulsive behaviors, again correlating with the results from the Iowa Gambling Test study (He et

al.1-3). The size of structures in the brain have also been found to be altered as well, particularly

the amygdala in addicts to both social networking sites and substance abusers (Dar Meshi et al.

170).

Hattie Gladwell, a user of Tumblr, a social media network used for blogging, wrote of her

experience with social media addiction. She described how she became obsessed with her

amount of followers and the amount of re-blogs each of her posts received. Gladwell was

unaware of the effects that her addiction had on her life, and didn’t realize how isolated she was

in real life. She said “I became obsessed with the site. It got to the point where I’d be online from

12pm - 2am repeatedly scrolling through… Ultimately Tumblr made my life more miserable.

Because of my addiction… I was quick to lose friends” She lost all of her friends that weren’t

online and continued to spend more and more time on the website… until, one day, she decided

to quit. Looking back, Gladwell regrets sacrificing her relationships and mental health in order to

feel accepted by strangers online, people who didn’t even matter to her (Gladwell).

Since there are so many side effects from social media addiction, especially on the still

developing brains of teenagers and children, it is vital that the dangers of this addiction are

explained to both parents and children, so that the amount of people who become addicted to

technology and social media is lessened. As of 2018, about 95% of U.S. teens have access to a

smartphone, and with that, have access to social media, if they so choose to (Anderson and

Jiang). Most teens will not become addicted to social media, but it remains a fact that many teens
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spend more than the recommended amount of time on their smartphones every day. According to

a study done by Pew Research Center, about 45% of teenagers say that they are online almost

constantly. Compared to the maximum of two to three hours per day that researchers

recommend, this constant use of the internet and social media has the potential to drastically

affect the still-developing minds of our rising generation. However, if we start teaching about the

effects of excessive technological use, if people are made aware of what they can do to stop this

addiction, we can change the lives of many different people.

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Works Cited

Anderson, Monica and Jingjing Jiang. “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2018”. ​Pew

Research Center​. 31 May 2018.

https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/

“Brain Chemistry (Neurochemistry)”. Human Diseases and Conditions. 2019.

http://www.humanillnesses.com/Behavioral-Health-A-Br/Brain-Chemistry-Neurochemist

ry.html

Dar Meshi et al. Excessive social media users demonstrate impaired decision making in the Iowa

Gambling Task, ​Journal of Behavioral Addictions.​ 2019. ​DOI: 10.1556/2006.7.2018.138

Gladwell Hattie. “How my addiction to social media affected my mental health and my

relationships”. ​Metro News.​ 5 Sep. 2017.

https://metro.co.uk/2017/09/05/how-my-addiction-to-social-media-affected-my-mental-h

ealth-and-my-relationships-6901759/​.

Gold, Sunny Sea. “How to Be a Better Digital Native.” ​Scientific American Mind​, vol. 25, no. 6,

Nov. 2014, p. 16. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind1114-16.

He, Qinghua et al. “Brain anatomy alterations associated with Social Networking Site (SNS)

addiction.” ​Scientific reports​ vol. 7 45064. 23 Mar. 2017, doi:10.1038/srep45064

Marchant, Amanda, et al. “A Systematic Review of the Relationship between Internet Use,

Self-Harm and Suicidal Behaviour in Young People: The Good, the Bad and the

Unknown.” ​PLoS ONE​, vol. 12, no. 8, Aug. 2017, pp. 1–26. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181722.
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NIDA. "Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction." ​National Institute on Drug

Abuse,​ 20 Jul. 2018, pp. 4-20.

www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction.

“The Relationship Between Substance Abuse and Social Media Addiction”. ​Rehabcenter.net.​ 5

Feb. 2019.

https://www.rehabcenter.net/the-relationship-between-substance-abuse-and-social-media-

addiction/

Rohilla, Partap Singh and Krishan Kumar. “Impact of Social Media on Mental Health.”

International Journal of Education.​ vol 5. Vidya Publications. Dec. 2016. pp. 142-9.

Roman, Kaia. The Brain Chemicals That Make You Happy (and How To Trigger Them).

Mindbodygreen.​

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-23924/the-brain-chemicals-that-make-you-happy-and

-how-to-trigger-them.html

Vawdrey, Heidi. Email interview. 8 April 2019.