Mental Health Crisis: Social Media and Mental Health

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, this special report will focus on the impact that social media might have on Mental Health.

Recently, a teenager (Referred to only as KGM), brought a lawsuit against Meta (Facebook) and Youtube, claiming that her excessive use on their platforms caused her to have mental health issues.

As one of the top disability experts who has been asked by lawyers throughout the country to help oversee numerous high profile special needs cases, (As an advocate), and also having written the first law to help expand protection to special needs families, I say there are many issues with a case like this.

The first question that needs to be asked is “Can social media actually cause addictive traits or mental health issues in a person who doesn't suffer from them?” My answer is, not at all.

This outlook and position should have been brought up by the Facebook and Youtube defense attorneys, or they should have focused upon it even more so if they did, because KGM claimed the social media outlets caused her disability. If KGM says she was not, or had not been previously disposed to mental health and/or addiction issues, then there is no way Facebook and Youtube should have been found guilty for causing her disability, which they were. Either way, if a person is predisposed to, or currently suffers from a mental health issue, or doesn't, the social media company is not responsible for causing that person's addictive or mental health issue(s).

It’s no different than someone getting into a car accident and suing the car manufacturer. Let’s say Toyota for example. Someone gets into an accident. If the accident occurred (Short of a manufacturer issue), then Toyota can’t be responsible for the accident just because they made the car. Toyota cannot be found guilty because of driver error.

In the case of Facebook and Youtube, they are the same as Toyota. Toyota isn’t liable for every accident that ever happens just because they made the car, and Facebook and Youtube aren’t responsible for causing mental health issues, just because they created the social media platform.

The question that really needs to be asked is “Can social media cause mental health or addiction issues in someone who does suffer from a mental health issue? That is an entirely different question.

Other companies can face similar lawsuits. What if a special needs person or their caretaker wants to hold a company responsible for creating a product or service that exhibits a stimuli related to that person’s mental health or addictive issue? Is that company responsible for that person's disability? No, not at all. The company is not responsible for causing mental health issues in consumers who suffer from mental health issues, even if the very nature of their product causes a stimulus event related to their disability.

For example, let's say someone with severe ADHD goes into a pet store and sees a bird frantically flapping its wings. The person gets extremely stimulated by the bird and starts running around the store because they were stimulated by bird’s fast movement. (This can actually happen). Is the pet store responsible for causing hyperactivity, or additional hyperactive stimulus in that person? The answer is absolutely not at all.

Even If the consumer got hurt in the process of running around the store because the bird made them excited, the answer is still the same, not at all. The store is not responsible for causing the consumer’s hyperactivity, or the increase of the related hyperactive stimulus thereof. Now, the store of course would be responsible if the consumer got hurt running around the store due to unsafe conditions, such as a hole in the floor etc., but that’s a completely different issue.

For the social media and pet store lawsuit examples I mentioned above, the responsibility would be born upon the parent and/or caretaker. In the case of the car, it would be the driver themselves who are ultimately responsible for causing an accident if they did so.

It can be very difficult to control the spaces and areas that surround a special needs individual of any age, especially when stimulus issues related to ADHD or Autism are present. This is also the situation for my Drum Therapists and myself, when we hold Drum Therapy sessions. In the case of Drum Therapy, I developed it to help negate symptoms of disabilities, such as hyperactivity, etc. Therefore, in a class with 10 people, I am responsible for each participant, which can be difficult sometimes, especially when I am deliberately causing the stimulus in order to help alleviate it. (That’s a totally different topic).

If a parent or caretaker sees that a special needs child or adult is having an issue with an increased stimulated environment, the parent or caretaker has to resolve or limit that environment the best way they can. In some instances, they are legally responsible for doing so. I know I just contradicted myself with regard to Drum Therapy, but it was developed specifically to help in the way I just mentioned, which has worked countless times over the past 22 years for special needs children and adults throughout the world.

Liability (Short of any egregious issue, or purposeful action taken by someone meant to cause harm), is born upon the parent or caretaker of the special needs child or adult. This includes teachers in school too.

That being said, sometimes things just unfortunately happen. Not that this is an excuse, but when you see these things through the eyes of a parent or caretaker, you realize that they can’t control every single movement that a special needs child or adult does at every second. Just like any mainstream child or adult, children and adults run or walk, and then fall, bump into things, etc. It's just the very nature of human existence.

With regard to social media, all parents with or without special needs children, need to monitor their child's social media exposure as much as possible. It also helps when parents pay attention to their children and are able to realize when something isn’t right.

Social media can be the cause of several negative things, such as decreased social integration, laziness, and even narcissism, but it’s definitely not responsible for causing mental health issues in people who don’t have them.