Legitimate questions have been asked for a long period concerning whether social media use causes particular mental health conditions. Mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder, to name but a few, have all been linked with overuse of social media. If the development of such conditions is demonstrated to be correlated with the usage of social media, then whether a causal relationship exists appears to be an important and sensible question. However, understanding any link between social media use and mental health conditions is far from straightforward and requires a subtle understanding of what a diagnosis of a mental health condition involves.
There are several plausible answers to the question of what underlies the correlations often seen in the literature. Firstly, it could be that social media use leads to the development of mental health conditions. This answer implies a causal relationship and suggests that something about social media use is damaging to mental health. Secondly, it could be that mental health conditions lead to social media use. This answer suggests that the presence of mental health conditions somehow makes the person use social media, perhaps as a coping mechanism or management strategy. Thirdly, it may be that some third variable leads to the development of mental health conditions and overuse of social media. For instance, an attachment problem may provoke mental........