Is Teen Depression Really Due To Smartphone and Social Media Use? Yes.

I remember years ago talking with a mom who asked me directly: “So, why is my daughter depressed? I can’t see what she has to be depressed about?” Thinking that she really wanted an answer, I told her, “Honestly, I think it’s primarily due to how often she’s on her phone and social media.” The mom looked at me, not incredulously (she must have intuitive felt I was right), but more along the lines of “that’s too easy. Tell me something I don’t know.” This was strange because her question was why was her daughter depressed. When I gave an answer, which the mom likely agreed with, this was not met with, “Ok, so what can we do about it?” but with a resignation that said, “Well, we can’t change her phone use, so tell me some other cause that we may be able to change.” Sadly, she may have had a point, since by the time most parents (and teens themselves) realize that the primary cause of their failing mental health is in fact their smart phones, it is too late — not unlike the condition of a drug user who doesn’t see the problem until it becomes a problem — the crux of the problem of course being the addiction.

Just in case there are still some doubters out there who think that mental health crisis in teens is due to some other explanation, Jean Twenge recently posted 13 Other Explanations for the crisis level decline in teen mental health, all of which she refutes. The full article can be found on her Substack, here.

Here are the 13 reasons given for why teen mental health has plummeted. All of these fall short of a true explanation.

Alternative #1: “People are now more willing to seek help, so there’s not really an increase in depression”

Alternative #2: “More teens are OK with saying they are not OK”

Alternative #3: “It’s because of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns”

Alternative #4: “It’s the economy, stupid”

Alternative #5: “Social media’s impact is too small to have caused the rise in depression”

Alternative #6: “It’s because children and teens have less independence”

Alternative #7: “It’s because of school shootings”

Alternative #8: “It’s because of climate change” (and its twin “It’s because we live in a postmodern hellscape”)

Alternative #9: “It’s due to increased academic pressure and too much homework”

Alternative #10: “Suicide rates were higher in the 1990s when there was no social media, so this is just part of a cycle”

Alternative #11: “It’s because teens don’t have places to hang out anymore”

Alternative #12: “It’s because of the opioid epidemic”

Alternative #13: “Parents are more depressed and troubled”

Of all these, Twenge says that only one stands up to scrutiny — #6 — Teens have lack of independance — but here it is easy to see how this correlates with phone use. I am reminded of this as I drive my second grader to school this morning. I pass by several school bus stops with teens staring into the phones, each in their own world, alone together.