Social media addiction (SMA) has become a more serious problem for people when they are engaging in their social life with parents, siblings, and friends. The goal of this review is to go over previous studies that focused on the potential factors that cause SMA and how these factors make people vulnerable to such addiction. The review also summarizes the effective treatments for SMA, comparing their advantages and disadvantages. Through the review, neuroticism is proved to contribute to the high level of SMA, and the level of well-being is also responsible for the negative correlation with SMA.
Several effective therapies are effective in treating addiction, including two parts: self-intervention and therapeutic methods. Self-intervention uses apps and self-control, or self-restrictive plans, to cut people’s addiction to certain software, therapeutic methods, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), and motivational therapy. Both therapies aim to change the mental state of the patient, which would lead to less addictive behavior. Role models are also found to be useful for curing addiction. Yet there is no clear evidence that one therapy is superior to the others, and the selection of therapy should depend on the actual circumstances.
A recent report by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC, 2021) revealed that approximately 46% of Malaysian internet users are in their 20s. Notably, internet usage and consequently social media usage has garnered widespread exposure among young Malaysians due to its rapid growth and multiple utilization. According to Global Digital Insights, there are a total of 30.25 million social media users in Malaysia, with Facebook being the most used platform, followed by Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Snapchat. Malaysia is among the top five countries for mobile social media penetration rate globally and the first in Southeast Asia. This growing trend of social media comes with positive and negative effects on adolescents and the general population.
A survey by the MCMC in 2017 reflected that 89% of participants suffered from internet addiction and one-third of them experienced severe depression. In another study, addiction to social networks was found to interfere with individual’s daily life and challenge their psychological and physical health Additionally, social media addiction was reported among school-age children, and the manifestation of withdrawal symptoms similar to substance use addictions, such as prolonged time on social media platforms than intended, unsuccessful attempts to reduce, spending substantial time to recover from effects and relapse, thereby leading to poor academic performance (Rosenberg, 2019). Thus, local researchers posit that social media may be a driver of the increasing incidence of mental health disorders among adolescents and young adults.
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