Hong Kong-raised teen who’s never been on Facebook or Instagram so she ‘can have the best life’
- Pia Sellery is not your average 19-year-old. Her only social media account is Snapchat, which she seldom uses
- Excessive social media use has been linked to depression and anxiety among teens
Data from more than 40,000 American children suggests that young people who spend seven hours or more a day looking at screens are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens for just an hour a day.
The finding, in a recent collaborative study by researchers at San Diego State University and the University of Georgia in the United States, isn’t the first result of its kind; mental health care professionals are growing increasingly worried at how screen time – and especially social media – can have a negative impact on youngsters.
Eminent British child psychiatrist Mike Shooter says there are many things that make the young unhappy.
“The frenetic competition, in school, in the scramble for jobs, in peer-group relationships, means that swathes of children fall off the bottom of the ladder then feel as if they’ve failed. Or are so unsure of their own worth that they sit up all night searching for ‘likes’ on social media in lieu of proper friendships,” Shooter says.
Pia Sellery, however, isn’t one of the hundreds of people her age who fret about how their lives stack up against those of friends. Born and schooled in Hong Kong, and currently studying at a university in California, Sellery, 19, has never used any social media other than Snapchat – which she rarely uses, anyway.
“My friends asked me to get it, but I don’t like using it. I never look at stories [the public postings of peoples’ activities] or engage in any of the extensions.”