A psychologist expressed concern about the impact of artificial intelligence and social media on the mental health of teenage girls in Bermuda.
Dr Jessica Gordon said AI has ramped up expectations over what girls think they should look like via pervasive platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
“Probably our biggest concern today is social media usage, and I think it impacts girls differently to boys,” said Dr Gordon, a senior counselling psychologist at Solstice.
“Boys are on social media too, but I think girls are more influenced because of the way society looks at girls and treats girls.
“There are major concerns around body image. When I was a teenager, you were seeing a lot of airbrushed images in magazines. Now there’s a lot of AI-enhanced imaging on social media.
“An adult can look at an image and think, that’s airbrushed, that’s not real, but girls don’t have that understanding yet. When girls and teenagers look at these AI-enhanced images, they can’t always tell what’s real and what’s not.”
Dr Gordon said girls are flooded with social media videos about how to be “this perfect way” and they often “tear themselves apart” over minute details.
She said: “They compare themselves to what they see on social media, and they don’t realise that it’s often unattainable.
“Girls follow makeup tutorials or eyebrow tutorials on YouTube. Suddenly, it’s not just their weight that’s a concern – it’s their eyebrows and their fingernails and their eyelashes. I would never have picked on those as a teenager.
“Teenagers are going through all sorts of emotional, hormonal and physical changes, and so they’re more susceptible to this.
“It all breeds a feeling of, ‘I’m not good enough, I’m ugly, no one likes me, no one’s going to like me if I don’t do these things.’”
No local figures are available on the issues, but Dr Gordon said her anecdotal observations were shared by colleagues at Solstice.
She said the adjacent issue of screen addiction is another threat to our young people’s mental health.
“I do think that Covid’s had a lasting impact on mental health issues that we continue to see,” she said.
“Screen addiction is real and can cause all sorts of mental health issues like anxiety and depression. It doesn’t cause ADHD – but ADHD-like symptoms can occur from overuse of screens. Of course, it can contribute to physical health issues like childhood obesity too.
“Screentime often means less interactions with others, less interest in going outside to play with friends or engage in activities, which then leads to a more sedentary lifestyle.
“So, they’re isolating more, which leads to loneliness, depression, anxiety, weight gain.
“Kids are usually happier when they’re active in some way, even if you have to push them into that activity.”
Eliminating screentime altogether is probably unrealistic.
“There are a lot of benefits that screens bring to our life,” Dr Gordon said. “It’s not about cutting them out altogether, it’s about moderating them and teaching kids how to use them safely.
“It’s also watching how kids react. When you take the electronics away, that can be an indication of how they’re tolerating the screen. If you take it away and there’s whining, or anger, or anxiety, that’s a sign that you probably need to put more limits in at home.”
To have any chance of reducing your children’s screentime, you need to practise what you preach.
“It’s very easy for us to all be on our phones, whether it’s work or zoning out,” Dr Gordon said.
“But that’s kind of setting the stage for them. Often, a young person will think it’s not a big deal if they’re on their phone, because their parents are on their phone all the time.”
