By Evan Chang / Albuquerque Academy Junior
Have you ever scrolled through your Instagram feed while under your bedsheets past your bedtime?
You see your “frenemy” laying out on the beaches of Turks and Caicos, sipping a coconut drink and looking out into the sunset — picture perfect right? The post has 250 likes. Shifting your blankets and finally turning off your phone, you stay up thinking “When am I going to get a beach vacation? I need to show I can afford this too.”
Since more than a decade ago, there have been direct correlations between the emergence of smartphones and the increase in anxiety, depression, and overall worsening mental well-being. And the largest age group to be affected by this? Adolescents.
Staying socially connected, making friends at school and maintaining relationships is a part of growing up. And in this digital age, in-person interactions are replaced with online platforms that promote false validation and a fear of missing out — known as FOMO.
Adolescents aged 10-19 undergo a highly sensitive period of brain development, one where their social connections can strengthen or lay bare their self-images of worth and identity. Problems arising from this include isolation, insomnia, distractions from school, cyberbullying, and self-absorption.
Therefore, it is no surprise that in New Mexico, feelings of sadness or hopelessness have reached an all-time high: an average of 40% among youth in the wake of cellphone usage — 5% higher than the national average, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
