According to Şeker (2018), the internet is the factor that affects our lives the most in our age. As much as they affect the daily lives of individuals, the internet and social media have also changed our social relationships. Again, the many conveniences provided by the internet and being able to handle every task on the computer have made people addicted to the internet. One of the reasons for this is that people can meet some of their psychological needs through social media. Social media has now become an area where people can easily share their joy and sadness and feel emotionally satisfied. Again, this situation increases the dependence on social media. As social media addiction increases, some psychological problems may also arise. The most important of these is depression.
According to Küçükkurt (2009), when individuals who are addicted to social media, which causes emotional problems, are examined, it is determined that they have some psychological disorders and that it is difficult for these people to live in society due to their psychology. It is known that various characteristics of social media addiction have an impact on the taste of life and living standards. It can cause individuals to experience mood problems when they negatively affect their lives, think that their lives are of poor quality, have negative emotions about themselves, and think that the relationships they dominate make them worthless.
Depression can cause individuals to experience negative emotions, thoughts and behavior. It is a mood disorder that negatively affects daily life, makes sustainability impossible, eliminates personal, social and professional functionality, and whose severity varies from person to person (Doğan, 2001).
As the sadness situation becomes chronic, the emotions in individuals change. Following the decrease in thoughts, speech and movements, a stagnant, reluctant and pessimistic way of thinking prevails. The feeling of worthlessness and various functional losses are reinforced by this situation and turn into a syndrome. This syndrome can be described as the most common type of affective disorders (Pınar and Tel, 2012).
Mood disorders, symptoms and symptoms These are syndromes that consist of clusters, last from weeks to months, in which the individual's usual functionality changes significantly, and have a tendency to recur cyclically or periodically. Depression is one of the syndromes that determine the clinical manifestation of mood disorders. The concept of depression is an emotional experience that includes feelings of sorrow, such as feeling sad, collapse, and a decrease in vital and functional activities. Depression is not a momentary feeling, but a state of feeling the same emotions for a long time. In short, depression is a mood state. Here, some diagnostic methods are used to distinguish daily sadness from mood.
Although each individual's purposes and reasons for using social media are different, their usage levels also vary from person to person. While some people use social media only for needs, others use it regularly and frequently to spend their free time. While some people spend a long enough time on social media to affect their functionality, others may have become addicted to social media at a pathological level (Derin, 2013). Adjustment disorder, mood disorder and perception disorder seen in addiction are seen in internet addicts. The tolerance that develops in drug addicts and the feeling of deprivation that occurs when there is no substance are also seen in social media addicts. The individual feels deprivation when he cannot connect to the internet or when the internet is restricted (Griffiths, 2005). Like television, magazines and newspapers, social media also has a target audience. The difference of social media from other communication channels is that the items shared on social media, such as photos, videos, and texts, are shared on a voluntary basis and the person is pleased with these shares (Dal and Dal, 2016).
Social media is where individuals create profiles, They are internet-based platforms where people can share and communicate with other individuals. Good mental health does not only mean the absence of mental disorders, but also requires the person to feel good and be positive. Social Contradictory results have been obtained regarding the relationship between media use and depression. In a way, social media is good for people's mental health. It enables the individual to increase his/her communication power and to easily establish a dialogue with famous people whom he/she chooses as an example. Again, individuals' ability to freely express their emotions and express themselves will protect individuals from mental disorders. The use of social media can also provide a higher level of life satisfaction for the individual. Social media has become much more important because it enables communication among young people. For these reasons, social media is an area that can be used in the treatment of depression. In addition, today, communication on these platforms has almost the same importance and impact as face-to-face communication for individuals (Seabrook, 2016). Some internet addicts see the internet as an environment that relieves depression and makes them forget about it (Tsai and Lin, 2003). Similar to depression, the phenomenon of loneliness is thought to have a strong relationship with internet addiction (Günüç and Kayri, 2010).
As mentioned above, the use of the internet and social media covers most of people's lives. This excessive use increases dependence on social media and can isolate people from their real lives. So much so that, there are now many people who decide whether they are loved or not, or whether a photo is beautiful or not, based on the number of likes on the photos. People who connect their lives to social media in this way may put themselves in a depressive mood, thinking that they are not loved or valued if they cannot achieve the satisfaction they want. If necessary intervention is not made, it may lead to depression.
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