10 Ways to Use Social Media to Improve Teen Mental Health (and What to Avoid)

Social media is a large part of many teens’ daily lives. From messaging friends to sharing achievements and following the latest trends, social media can shape how adolescents connect, express themselves, and understand the world around them. 

You may have seen or heard news stories blaming social media for harming teens’ mental health. Yet, it can also support teens through this complex period of development. 

Social media offers several perks, such as supporting connection, self-expression, and mental health awareness. However, it can also contribute to stress, harmful comparisons, sleep disruption, and emotional overload. Social media isn’t inherently good or bad; it’s just a tool. The crucial part is whether teens are using this tool in a positive, healthy way.

In this blog, we’ll explore the links between social media and teen mental health, share ten tips on digital wellbeing for teens, and look at social media-related mental health warning signs. 

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How Are Social Media and Teen Mental Health Connected? 

Understanding the connection between teen mental health and social media use is important, especially when up to 95% of U.S. teenagers are active online.¹ 

Here are some of the ways that mental health and social media are linked:

Identity Exploration: 

For many teens, identity development and online spaces go hand-in-hand. Social media allows adolescents to explore their personal values, beliefs, and sense of style in ways they may not be as easily able to experiment with offline. This is a form of self-expression, which can go a long way to helping them form a sense of identity.² 

Connection: 

Social media can help teens stay connected and also provide access to new communities with which they could share similar interests. 

Mental Health: 

Studies show teens who use social media heavily are more likely to report feeling sad or hopeless. They may also have poorer self-esteem, body image issues, and difficulties with mood.^3-6

Social Comparison: 

Teenage brains are still developing, making them especially vulnerable to the effects of social comparison. For example, they may compare appearance, academic performance, friends, or achievements. Studies show that excessive comparison has been linked to low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, body image concerns, body dysmorphic disorder, impulsivity, addiction-like behaviors, and even self-harm.^6-9

Relationships: 

Social comparison may lead to teens feeling envious or inadequate toward friends, which can strain relationships.⁷ However, on the flip side, it could also help teens feel more connected to friends. 

Withdrawal or Isolation: 

While social media can help teens feel connected, constant exposure to distressing news or online conflict may feel overwhelming and lead to withdrawal or emotional exhaustion.¹⁰

As may be evident, emotional regulation in adolescents (the ability to manage emotional reactions) may be significantly affected depending on the way they use social media. Therefore, the goal isn’t to eliminate social media altogether, but to instead help teens use it in ways that benefit their mental health. We discuss how to do this in the next section. 

10 Ways Teens Can Use Social Media to Improve Mental Health 

The following social media tips for teen mental health offer ways to support healthier online habits. We also share suggestions on what to avoid on social media for teen mental health.

1. Follow Positive and Supportive Accounts

Using social media positively for teens starts with following accounts that support you. These could be profiles that post uplifting content, encourage creativity, or share helpful mental health tips. 

2. Curate Your Feed 

Social media algorithms show posts in your feed based on the content you’ve engaged with before, making it one of the many potential algorithm-driven content risks for teens. However, you can use this to your advantage. For instance, you could unfollow or mute accounts that make you feel low or anxious, and replace them with creators you like and content that lifts you up. 

3. Limit Doomscrolling

Doomscrolling can make you highly aware of the negative events going on in the world. This may overload your nervous system with fear, even if the events aren’t happening near you. So, one way to reduce doomscrolling and teen anxiety may be to set time limits for looking at the news to help you avoid feeling emotionally overwhelmed.

4. Use Social Media to Stay Connected

Social media and teen mental health are closely linked, and using it to stay connected with your friends can go a long way to improve your emotional well-being. However, it’s essential to keep real-life social interactions going. This means making time for meeting up with friends in real life (IRL) for quality time together. 

5. Express Yourself Creatively

Creative expression can help boost teen self-esteem and social media can be a useful tool to encourage this. For example, you could try sharing your music, art, or writing. Just remember that your self-worth isn’t measured by how many likes or comments you receive.

6. Learn About Mental Health

There are many different content creators online that share quality information about mental health and coping strategies, although many teens may not realize this. This is another example of how social media can support teen wellbeing and positively influence mental health. However, make sure that any advice you take is from verified sources like official mental health organizations. Some online content may offer tips or suggestions that aren’t accurate, which can promote harmful misinformation and stigma.   

7. Take Breaks 

One of the most beneficial healthy social media habits for teens is to establish screen-free times and areas. So, to help you take breaks, you might consider setting time limits on social media to give your brain a chance to recharge. Or, you may decide to have phone-free zones, such as when you’re in bed, especially as late-night scrolling is one of the social media habits that harm teen mental health.¹¹

8. Be Mindful of Comparison Culture

Social media networks naturally promote a comparison culture and teen self-esteem can be negatively influenced by this. It’s often helpful to remember that other people’s feeds typically show curated highlight reels and unrealistic lifestyles, while rarely reflecting real life.

9. Speak Up About Online Bullying

Unfortunately, cyberbullying and online harassment are genuine risks on social media. You need only do a quick Google search to see the connection between online bullying and teen mental health. If someone is harassing you online, remember that social media has safeguards built in to allow you to block and report accounts. Remember to use these features and tell an adult you trust about what has happened so that they can support you. 

10. Use Social Media With Intention

As social media can directly influence a person’s mood, it’s important to understand how it affects you specifically. Having an emotional check-in can help you build this awareness. For instance, after scrolling, you might ask yourself, How am I feeling right now? Or you may reflect on why you went online in the first place: Was I bored or feeling lonely? Regularly checking in with yourself can help you become aware of patterns that may be helpful or harmful to your well-being. 

4 Warning Signs Social Media May Be Affecting Teen Mental Health

It’s crucial to understand that there are both positive and negative effects of social media on adolescents. Having explored how to use social media to improve mental health, it’s also important to recognize the warning signs that social media has become detrimental to teen well-being. 

Four key warning signs that social media may be negatively affecting teen mental health include:¹²

• Mood changes: Worsening anxiety or depression can be a sign that social media is negatively impacting a teen’s emotions
• Sleep problems: Scrolling online late at night can make it harder to fall asleep due to the blue light from the screen and mental stimulation
• Obsessions over likes or comments: Teens may sometimes engage in risky behaviors so that their posts get more likes, shares, or comments
• Social withdrawal: Spending more time online than with offline friends may mean that a teen could become more isolated, especially if FOMO drives them to constantly check social media.

If you recognize some of these red flags in yourself, it may be because the link between social media and teen mental health has crossed the line from being a help to becoming harmful. Talking with your parents, caregivers, or a mental health professional can help you find healthier ways to show up online and regain emotional stability. 

Mission Prep: Supporting Teen Digital Well-Being

Social media can be a helpful tool for improving teen mental health, but using it responsibly is the key. If online stress begins affecting your teen’s mood, sleep, relationships, or school performance, professional support is available. 

At Mission Prep, we help teens build healthy relationships with technology through our mental health programs. We offer a range of therapeutic approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which can help teens challenge unhealthy comparison patterns and strengthen emotional regulation skills. Plus, with education, coping strategies, and therapy that build self-awareness, teens can feel more confident using technology safely for their mental health. 

If online stress is affecting your teen’s emotional well-being, reach out to us to find out how we can support your family. 

References

1. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). (2023, October). Policy Statement on the Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Policy_Statements/2023/Social_Media_Youth_Mental_Health.aspx
2. Khalaf, A. M., Alubied, A. A., Khalaf, A. M., & Rifaey, A. A. (2023). The Impact of social media on the mental health of adolescents and young adults: a systematic review. Cureus, 15(8), e42990. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42990
3. Young, E., McCain, J. L., Mercado, M. C., Ballesteros, M. F., Moore, S., Licitis, L., Stinson, J., Jones, S. E., & Wilkins, N. J. (2024). Frequent Social Media Use and Experiences with Bullying Victimization, Persistent Feelings of Sadness or Hopelessness, and Suicide Risk Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023. MMWR Supplements, 73(4), 23–30. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7304a3
4. Mental Health America. (2025, April 16). Social media, youth, and comparison. https://mhanational.org/resources/social-media-youth-and-comparison/
5. Jacobson, R. (2025, August 27). Social media and Self-Doubt. Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/social-media-and-self-doubt/
6. Borman, A. (2023, December 29). The effect of social media on teens. American SPCC. https://americanspcc.org/the-effect-of-social-media-on-teens/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22889481274&gbraid=0AAAAADywSu_tiXbEDmHL0zuQ834JZUs-v&gclid=Cj0KCQiArOvIBhDLARIsAPwJXOZArRLSFkRPiwfNXfpOY7qkKuh-cW4SqNF-UJw1A8LkavGfYiiB67YaAu-WEALw_wcB
7. Nortje, A. (2025, November 10). Social Comparison Theory & 12 Real-Life examples. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/social-comparison/
8. Masri-Zada, T., Martirosyan, S., Abdou, A., Barbar, R., Kades, S., Makki, H., Haley, G., & Agrawal, D. K. (2025). The Impact of Social Media & Technology on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Journal of psychiatry and psychiatric disorders, 9(2), 111–130. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12165459/#S26
9. Miller, C. (2025, April 1). Does social media use cause depression? Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/
10. Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA): (2024, December 23). A Nation Exhausted: The Neuroscience of Why Americans are Tuning out Politics. https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer-professional/nation-exhausted-neuroscience-why
11. Salamon, M. (2024, September 1). Doomscrolling dangers. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/doomscrolling-dangers
12. Robinson, L. (2026, March 6). Social media and Mental health: Social media addiction. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/wellbeing/social-media-and-mental-health

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