Social media, loneliness and self-harm: It’s complicated

Social media can both help and harm young people. We need a more nuanced understanding of how this plays out before we take any action.

The details of what we know about social media’s relationship to mental health bear closer inspection. PHOTO: REUTERS
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In May 2019, a teenage girl in Sarawak uploaded a poll on Instagram asking her followers to help her choose between “D” and “L”. Almost seven in 10 chose “D”.

D stood for “die” and L stood for “live”. She took her own life shortly afterwards.

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