Take our Burnout Test

Find a therapist to overcome stress

Many people worry that traumatic material on social media, such as material with suicide or self-harm content, may be especially harmful for young people—and research suggests this concern is justified. During adolescence, the brain is still developing, particularly the systems involved in emotional regulation. At the same time, major hormonal changes are taking place. One of the most important hormones in this process is cortisol, which is released as part of the stress response. Changing cortisol levels during development help explain why teenagers may react more strongly to online traumatic content compared with adults.

The stress response triggered by a traumatic incident or image involves activation of the brain’s amygdala. In turn, the amygdala activates the the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland (HPA axis), which eventually leads to the release of cortisol from the adrenal gland1. This state persists until the cortex (through the prefrontal cortical structures) downwardly regulates (puts the brakes on) the amygdala, and stops the HPA cascade1.

In the early stages of the response, the cortisol release actually helps the brain’s thinking and emotion centres to communicate with each other2,3. If the stressor is mild, or doesn’t last long, cortisol attaches to special receptors in the prefrontal cortex2 –the part of the brain that helps us to think clearly and stay in control. This process strengthens the prefrontal cortex’s ability to calm the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional reactions like fear2. As a result, the stress response slows down, emotional reactions become more regulated, and we feel less overwhelmed.

When the stressor is intense, or lasts a long time, the body produces higher levels of cortisol. Too much cortisol can reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex3-5. It also weakens the signals that normally help the prefrontal cortex to communicate with the limbic system3-5. When this communication breaks down, the amygdala becomes more active and less regulated by the prefrontal cortex. As a result, the body’s stress response stays switched on, emotions feel stronger, and it becomes harder to manage them1,2. Thus, cortisol is involved in regulating communication between brain structures that control and regulate stress responses.

The key thing to know, when explaining greater reactivity to traumatic social media images for children, is that levels of cortisol change as we develop and grow6. The change in cortisol levels with maturation helps to explain the greater sensitivity of teenage individuals to traumatic content on social media.

During puberty, there are relatively greater levels of cortisol in the body’s system; perhaps because the HPA axis matures during this stage of a person’s development6. Higher levels of cortisol promote limbic reactivity (more emotional) at the expense of cortical regulation (more rational).

Sadly, the downwardly regulating prefrontal cortex does not mature as quickly, meaning there is less counterweight to limbic activity when people are younger. What counterweight there is gets ‘turned off’ by the relatively higher levels of cortisol, as it inhibits the neural connections between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

Consequently, adolescence is marked by heightened stress sensitivity and emotionality. Exposure to social media with traumatic content, like suicide and self-harm, can produce a stress response7, and the already-heightened levels of cortisol make the effects of online traumatic material worse for developing individuals.

Take our Burnout Test

Find a therapist to overcome stress

However, it is not just the lack of fully-developed brain structures and pathways, coupled with heightened levels of cortisol, that cause vulnerability to stressors for children. The cortical-limbic pathways that are in place for younger people may be more likely to react to cortisol in the system8. The impact of cortisol may be more pronounced for children, leaving them more vulnerable to less-controlled stress responses9. For adults, the effect of cortisol is modulated across many neural pathways, but for the child, with fewer and less well-developed paths, they may reach the point where downward cortical control is reduced, and become dysregulated, much more quickly.

Given all of this, if material on social media is traumatic—such as material with suicide or self-harm content7—and there is a heightened sensitivity to stressors for adolescents, then this material can be more triggering for younger individuals. As younger people respond to the perceived traumatic stimuli, the reactions provoked can be less easy for them to regulate, and these can lead to harms more quickly6.

The question then becomes: How to mitigate the impact of cortisol on the younger brain and body, so that exposure to traumatic social media content, should it happen, will produce less intense reactions? One way to mitigate the effects of raised cortisol is not to allow those in the early-teenage years to view such content. This, of course, would be nearly impossible to police, and has been analysed as being highly unlikely to work10. As a result, there are very few countries where a social media ban has been implemented, and studying the effects on younger people of removing this potential stressor is confounded by the fact that most countries that do ban social media tend to be somewhat stressful places to live.

More likely to be effective is ensuring that lifestyle behaviours are set up to reduce baseline levels of cortisol. Among the things that reduce cortisol and reactivity to stress is having consistent and adequate sleep—for adolescents, this is seven to nine hours a night. Regular low-to-moderate exercise and stress-reduction techniques like mindfulness and journaling, can also mitigate the effects of cortisol. A nutrient-dense Mediterranean-style diet also manages cortisol and other stress hormones11.

Thus, the effect of social media containing suicidal/self-harm material on adolescents may be enhanced, and more dangerous than for adults, due, among other things, to increased levels of cortisol. Whilst reducing social media interactions and/or banning social media is unlikely to work, preparing for stress might protect the adolescent.

1. Van der Kolk, B.A. (1994). The body keeps the score: Memory and the evolving psychobiology of posttraumatic stress. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1(5), 253-265.

2. Pan, D., Jentsch, V.L., Langer, K., Hagedorn, B., Höffken, O., Wolf, O.T., & Merz, C.J. (2023). What a difference timing makes: Cortisol effects on neural underpinnings of emotion regulation. Neurobiology of Stress, 25, 100544.

3. Datta, D., & Arnsten, A.F. (2019). Loss of prefrontal cortical higher cognition with uncontrollable stress: molecular mechanisms, changes with age, and relevance to treatment. Brain Sciences, 9(5), 113.

4. McEwen, B.S., & Morrison, J.H. (2013). The brain on stress: vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course. Neuron, 79(1), 16-29.

5. George, M., Abdel Mageed, S., Mansour, D. et al. (2025). The cortisol axis and psychiatric disorders: an updated review. Pharmacoogcal. Reports, 77, 1573–1599.

6. Glass, D. J., Godwin, J., Bez, E., Corley, M. K., Valeggia, C. R., & Martin, M. A. (2024). Longitudinal analysis of cortisol changes during pubertal development in indigenous Qom girls. American Journal of Human Biology, 36(10), e24133

7. Arendt, F., Scherr, S., & Romer, D. (2019). Effects of exposure to self-harm on social media: Evidence from a two-wave panel study among young adults. New Media & Society, 21(11-12), 2422-2442.

8. Mousley, A., Bethlehem, R.A.I., Yeh, FC. et al. (2025). Topological turning points across the human lifespan. Nature Communications, 16, 10055.

9. Amirkhan, J., & Auyeung, B. (2007). Coping with stress across the lifespan: Absolute vs. relative changes in strategy. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 28, 298-317.

10. Fardouly, J. (2025). Potential effects of the social media age ban in Australia for children younger than 16 years. The Lancet Digital Health, 7(4), e235-e236.

11. Williams, J (23.4.24). How to lower cortisol levels. Good Food. How to lower cortisol levels | Good Food

There was a problem adding your email address. Please try again.

By submitting your information you agree to the Psychology Today Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

© Psychology Today