Social Media In Australia

The survey was conducted among the Sunshine Coast residents and 90% residents use social media. This result mirrors Cowling’s finding (2016) that there are 69% Australians use social media.

On December 26, 2017 an article made by Kaiser Health News was published on Newsela about how Social Media could have mental health benefits for people who use it. One day Anna, (Who asked to be Identified by a different name) broke up with her boyfriend at 1:30 a.m.. It was too late to call her therapist and too late to stop by her friend's house. She turned to Social Media to help her and asked  if there was anybody who she could call until she felt better. Almost immediately, she got support from her friends and they helped her feel better.

In the media, mental illness is constantly reinforced through the sensationalising of circumstances and unwarranted references to mental illness through the use of demeaning language, provoking struggle for sufferers who dispute their illness. These prejudiced views further exclude mental illness sufferers from society and contribute to their suicidal ideation. According to SANE Australia, social media stigmatisation of mental illness is promoting discrimination and creating isolation in sufferers, leading to a self-stigma which deters people from seeking professional help. Furthermore, in their recent Research Bulletin, research found that 47% of participants suffering from mental illness reported that they felt isolated in the community because of social media due to the stigmatisation of mental illness. The inaccurate portrayals of mental illness are a constant means to attract negative attention to sufferers and the application of inaccurate stereotypes cause people to feel further excluded from

The treatment of mental illness has gone through many reforms over the years. Stemming from some of the earliest documented cases of treatment such as trephination in 5000 B.C. to the opening of “mental” asylums starting in the late 1300s to the development of the modern healthcare system. Through the 1800s until now, major developments in mental health treatment include the evolution of the “mental” asylum, widespread psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy treatments. Primarily focusing on the treatment methods of the past two hundred or so years, the United States of America has made leaps and bounds to provide humane treatment to aid those in need.

Mental illness has a profound impact on the Australian community, with 45% of Australians expected to experience mental illness at some point in their lives. In 1991, Australian Health Ministers commenced The Australian National Mental Health Strategy, which has since transitioned to its Fourth National Mental Health Plan Agreement. The Australian healthcare policy that has recently received attention in the Australian media is the revised National Mental Health Policy of 2008. The media article, ‘‘Futures will be lost’: Health fears as youth psychosis program dropped,’ has been analysed on its illustration of current structural reform proposed in the Mental Health sector. The role of media is critical in conveying policy to the public and

Technology throughout its existence has improved the overall quality of life for many people around the world. Its impact is evident in our generation, where many people rely on technology to gain information on current events, increase work efficiency and even helping us understand ourselves. “Advances in neuroscience, technology and research sophistication have greatly increased understanding of mental illnesses and improved the treatment of these disorders.” (Wahl, 2011). Despite our knowledge on various mental illnesses, many individuals stray away from professional assistance due to the stigma that is attached to the illness; many individuals do not opt for help because they do not want a label attached to them. Social media is a huge platform that influences many people and the slandering that many media platforms do when they discuss the topic of mental illness is slowly increasing and is an issue that must be discussed.

Good afternoon everyone I’m here to talk about my Personal Interest Project, which is based around the topic area ‘FoMo’ ( defined by the Oxford dictionary - “as an anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.”) and its relation to adolescents using social media in Australian contemporary society.

Since the early 1990s, the progress of mental illness treatment has increased quickly. Many patients with mental illness have been able to leave hospitals and live normal lives because of advancement in treatment. The treatment of mental illness has changed in many ways. Some of these ways are medical technology, medication, and the housing treatment. These changes in mental illness healing have led to a great success.

Mental illness is a health condition that affects an individual’s moods and thinking in a way that changes how that person relates to other people in society. The functioning of the affected person is also altered and usually results in the person failing to perform some of the daily activities that the person has previously engaged in. Mental illness can be considered a combination of both social and health complications, affecting the social life of the people who fall victim in many ways (Elliott & Huizinga, 2012). There are some health complications that are also experienced with mental disorders. It is also important to note that medical attention forms part of the therapies that try to correct or control this condition. More recently most concern has been on the fact that mental illness is a major social problem in the world (Gonzalez & Rosenheck, 2014).

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” -Malcolm X. It can be said without a doubt that media plays a massive role in how society views certain things. A negative media portrayal ultimately leads to negativity and stigma towards whichever group. One of the groups that is severely impacted by these dismissive representations is mental illness. The portrayal of mental illness in mass media as violent, amusing, or downright “nuts”, is inaccurate and vilifying, but can be resolved by the inclusion of mental health specialist in program planning.

With this increase in technology, particularly the internet and social media, researchers have begun to question its effects on mental health, particularly anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

No screening procedure was undertaken prior to commencement of the research. This means that it was unknown whether or not the sample was purely non-clinical or clinical. This limits the research as there can be no generalisation to a specific population and the results have the potential to be skewed by participants in a clinical population. Future research should focus on a purely non-clinical population to assess the effects of social media on mental health.

The study documented by Aref-Adib, Golnar and Osborn, David are looking at the is about how technology affects how people learn and manage illnesses. This article looks at the extent and results of “online health information seeking behavior by people with psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms, persistent delusional disorder or psychosis not otherwise specified)” (Aref-Adib, G., & Osborn, D. (2016, July 11)). For this study, the conductors set up semi-structured  and audio-recorded interviews with twenty-two people aged 18-65 with psychosis in London, England. In these interviews, some topics discussed are: interviewees’ past and present use of online mental health technology and information. The main form of analysis used for this experiment is thematic analysis.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the the tenth leading cause of death in the United States as a whole, and the third leading cause of death for people aged ten to twenty four. Of those who die by suicide, ninety percent have a record of mental illness. It is unfortunate that rather than seeking understanding of mental illnesses, society tends to shove acknowledgment of it under the rug, lest they taint a reputation so many work tirelessly to portray. But it is not only now; during the victorian era, tolerance towards psychiatric health was so low that a woman would be considered unstable for mood change due to menstruation, pregnancy, and even for disobedience. In the mid 1800’s a Bostonian woman, Dorothea Dix, who was rumored to have a mental illness herself, spoke up about the mistreatment of mentally ill patients. She spoke of the horrible conditions where mentally ill patients were kept; chained to their beds in locked rooms with no outdoor access at all. Rather than deal with the issues on hand, by sending those who were unwell to the institutions Dix spoke about, the public was able to turn a deaf ear to the concerns of these patients. While there have been major improvements in the stigma against mental health, some things which did not exist to cause problems in the past, have greatly impacted the mental well being of millennials. Although there are many factors which contribute to one's mental and emotional health, the lack communication and breakdown of meaningful relationships due to technology, changes in effectiveness in the workforce, and the detachment from reality because of the web and social media, play an integral part in the mental and emotional health of society.

In 1971 the first email was sent. This was the beginning of social media. Social media is a form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other contents. Social media sites are like fads where people eventually stop using them and move on to the next one. This essay will be about the effects of social media on the mental health of the main users of social media.