Is Social Media Anxiety The Cause Of Rising Hypertension Rates Among Youth?

Social media has become an integral part of life, to the extent that we survive on this. For some, it becomes a place for self-expression, and for some, it becomes a space for connection. Social media is a great resource that we have, but it is also a space that presents the youth with a very idealised version of living, and there is a tendency for them to follow through with it. Social media-induced anxiety is very common nowadays, and it's resulting in increased cases of hypertension among the youth.

The constant pursuit of likes and followers traps us in reliance on external validation, and for the youth, social media is the only source for that. A drop in the number of likes or views instantly triggers anxiety, which ultimately triggers the body's response of increased tension in the body, hypertension, and agitation.

Social media and health: A therapist's perspective

As a therapist, something I have recognised is how social media leaves such a grave impact on youth; there is a very high emotional dependency on such apps. They are highly exposed to all sorts of content there is, which ranges from the best food choices to beauty standards they need to live by, but what they don't realise is that there is a major difference between the online and offline worlds.

There is a constant sense of comparison, which ends up with their mind and body getting affected, be it chronic fatigue, constant worry, headaches, or hypertension. This sort of stressor is endless because it is with you all the time. For the youth, the need to be seen stems from a deep feeling of abandonment and isolation. The move from reality to virtual platforms has led to disconnection, but this disconnection also leads to an impact on our bodies. 

The kind of anxiety created by social media might not be visible initially, but it acts like slow poison and can be seen in their actions, where they are not able to live without checking notifications, the number of views on their posts, and FOMO—constant fear of missing out. From a psychological perspective, it activates a persistent “fight or flight” response. 

From a physical perspective, it’s raising baseline cortisol levels and, over time, contributing to symptoms of decreased heart rate, quality of sleep, and poor appetite, which we traditionally associate with adult stress, like hypertension. Ultimately, all these habits lead to a contribution to deeper mental health issues and physical health issues like hypertension.

Many youth are hyperaware of their presence on social media, how they are seen by their peers and the world, and constantly checking how they are perceived in this online world. Fear of judgment or backlash results in higher physical and mental stress to the body and mind. This state of being “hyperaware” is exhausting.

As therapists, we work a lot on the mind-body connection, and it is what we call a state of prolonged stress. And in this case, the body compensates by staying on high alert, raising heart rate, tightening muscles, and, yes, increasing blood pressure.

Moral of the story: the higher the screen time, the worse the health and the higher the cases of hypertension.

But what do we do about it? 

• Setting healthy boundaries: setting time for the offline world, going through short periods of digital detox
• Screen time limitation: setting alarms or notifications on the phone when screen time seems to be exceeding
• Lifestyle changes: adapting to a healthy sleep, appetite
• Focus more on real connections: foster healthy relationships
• Seeking professional help: talk it out with professionals, find a safe space to express yourself and develop healthy coping mechanisms. 

Authored by Sanjina Bose, Counselling Psychologist at LISSUN, a mental health startup. | Views expressed by the author are their own.