Social Media and Suicide

According to a 2021 U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, surveys of young Americans have shown a sharp decline in their mental condition in recent years. The Advisory reports that, as of 2019, “one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” This represents a 40% increase over where the figures had been in 2019.

This trend is unfortunately apparent in rates for both suicidal ideation and fatal suicide attempts. The Surgeon General’s Advisory reports that suicide attempts increased by 36% between 2000 and 2019. Similarly, the number of teens admitting to making a suicide plan had increased by 44%.

As of 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that suicide was the third leading cause of death for adolescent teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19.

Social media and teenage suicide rates may be connected in three primary ways:

1. Dangerous algorithms: Social media platforms are designed to prioritize engagement – time spent on the platform – above user safety. This reduces the amount of time spent on other activities they enjoy and in-person social interaction.
2. Lack of tools for users to limit their use: Social media apps are designed to keep kids using their products above all else. This denies kids the option to see and set reasonable limits on how long, how, and at what times they use the apps.
3. Poor parental control options: These platforms often limit parents’ and guardians’ ability to proactively regulate how and for how long their child interacts with social media.

These factors are a recipe for compulsive use. A 2024 survey of adolescent teens (ages 13-17) by the Pew Research Center found that one-third of respondents said they use at least one social media app “almost constantly.” This included the social media platforms YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

To keep kids returning again and again, social media platforms use design techniques similar to those used in slot machines, such as:

• Constant notifications to trigger a fear of missing out (FOMO) and need to check the app.
• Intermittent variable rewards that keep kids glued to their screens in the hope that this time they’ll get a positive reaction or have a positive interaction (likes, comments, messages).
• Flow states induced by scrolling of content that never ends, with posts ordered by algorithms designed to increase engagement.

How exactly does social media harm teens’ mental health?

Defective social media features can create problematic behavior in teens and harm their mental health. The features take advantage of the brain’s reward system to make the experience as captivating as possible. The exploitation is particularly harmful to teens because their brains are still developing.

At this developmental stage, teens have less impulse control than adults, which makes them more likely to develop an unhealthy attachment to social media. Engagement features such as notifications, likes and comments create intermittent rewards that can be highly addictive to teens. These features encourage teens to revisit the applications where they may receive a dopamine reward. Teens, with their developing brains, are vulnerable to this manipulation and find it hard to disengage.

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that social media use among teens may cause a variety of mental health problems and other injuries, including:

• Anxiety
• Body dysmorphia
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Lower self-esteem
• Self-harm
• Sexual exploitation
• Sleep deprivation
• Suicidal ideation

Learn more about the dangers of social media for youths here.

How do social media’s inadequate parental controls impact kids’ mental health?

Social media platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook are facing allegations of inadequate parental controls. Plaintiffs involved in lawsuits against social media platforms have alleged that their parental controls have four major problems:

• Limited control access: Parental control tools only work for certain types of interactions or areas of social media.
• No customization: Settings have limited options for parents to use, impeding their ability to meet their children’s safety needs.
• Opt-in requirements: Many parental control tools require parents to maintain an active account to connect with their child’s account. These features are only helpful when parents know that such an account exists and are able to maintain their own account.
• Poor monitoring: Parental control tools are not real-time, which makes it difficult for parents to proactively or quickly handle issues.

The lack of effective parental control tools may be another link between social media and suicidal behavior.

Social media companies are also under fire for lacking age verification protocols. The platforms largely rely on users to self-report their age when signing up for an account. As a result, kids can easily create accounts using fake birthdays to access these features.

Some platforms, like YouTube and TikTok, do not require an account to access the videos. Without an account, teens have unrestricted access to the application, and parental controls do not exist.

As of September 2024, social media platforms have made some updates to their parental controls. Instagram announced new parental controls for children under 18 who have accounts. This will allow parents to see who their child is engaging with on the app and limit how long they are on the app. YouTube also rolled out a new feature that allows parents to connect their YouTube account with their teen’s account. Linking accounts lets parents monitor some of the activity on their teens’ channel.

While almost all social media platforms have some form of parental controls in place, there is still much to do to protect young people from harm.

With teenagers spending all day in school, it’s important for schools to provide mental health care and resources to those who need it. For many kids, schools are the first point of mental health care they will encounter. However, schools are often understaffed and underfunded, leaving many students in need with no opportunity to speak with a mental health counselor. 

In an EdWeek Research Center January 2024 survey:

• 56% of teachers, school leaders and district leaders described social media’s impact on the mental health and well-being of girls to be “very negative.”
• 27% of educators said social media’s impact on boys is “very negative,” with 60% saying it’s “somewhat negative.”

This survey shows how much teachers notice the negative impacts of social media on teens.

The question is, how do schools adequately address social media and its correlation to mental health issues and suicide? It’s difficult when schools are underfunded. There has been a nationwide shortage of school counselors. As negative social media use grows, counselors continue to be overwhelmed.

Threat assessment training in schools

Schools have received recommendations to use a threat assessment and reporting plan to properly monitor and report anything concerning they see in students. Concerning subjects include social media-induced depression, suicidal thoughts or ideation, cyberbullying or bullying, self-harm and any other threat to themselves or other students. This detailed plan, when implemented, will intervene and provide the right resources to students at the times they need help. 

Their plan should also include hiring trained and certified mental health professionals who can identify threats and escalate them to appropriate parties.

Schools have also started taking legal action against social media companies for their role in this mental health crisis among American teenagers. School districts across the country are filing lawsuits against companies behind Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. These lawsuits allege that social media platforms are greatly contributing to the rise in teen mental health issues because of their insufficient safeguards. 

While social media companies make it hard for parents to regulate and monitor their teens’ use of social media, parents can still be on the lookout for warning signs. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the following may be warning signs of suicidal ideation:

• Talking about specifically negative subjects: This may include expressing feelings of guilt or of being a burden to others, as well as discussing wanting to die.
• Feeling extreme emotions: This can include hopelessness, sadness, anxiety, anger, or physical and emotional pain.
• Changing behaviors: This might entail withdrawing from friend groups, engaging in excessively risky behaviors or researching ways to die.

If you are worried that your child or teen may be dealing with depression or suicidal ideation, it’s important to seek help from a medical professional. Mental health professionals can help you and your child deal with these feelings, including identifying what factors may be encouraging these negative feelings.

You can also reach out for help with the following services:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Chat online, call or text 988.
• Crisis Text Line: Text “HELLO” to 741741.

Motley Rice attorneys have worked for decades fighting for families and people. Our experience includes representing people suing tech companies over harm they’ve suffered.

You may be eligible to file a lawsuit for social media harm if you or your child:

• Attempted or died by suicide
• Received treatment for self-harm (including but not limited to cutting and eating disorders)
• Received a diagnosis of a mental health disorder from a health care professional

If you believe these conditions were caused or worsened by social media and you need help filing a lawsuit for social media harm, please contact us. Your well-being is important to our team.