An Oklahoma doctor reacts to a first ever national health advisory aimed at social media use and teens.
The advisory issued Tuesday by the American Psychological Association gives 10 recommendations to parents and others on how to help teens use social media in a healthy way as depression and anxietyreportedly mount.
Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Whitney Nall, who sees about 40 patients a week in Norman, says the benefits and drawbacks of social media are still being studied and much depends on individual patients. Nall said she agrees with some of APA’s suggestions, including one that kids should limit their time looking at content related to beauty and appearance.
“I do discourage. When I talk to the teens I see, I ask them, ‘What kind of accounts do you follow? How do you feel after you look at that?’”
Some counselors have suggested the guidelines weigh too heavily on parents. They say tech companies ought to take more responsibility.
Nall says companies looking to make money isn’t going to change, and that everyone should try to stay informed as more is learned about how social media affects the brain.
The full list of recommendations is available here.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
