Facebook allows personal account users to add up to 5000 friends. This exposes the users to the lifestyle of many people. In reality, we wouldn’t have close or witnessed the lifestyle of so many people, but social media breaks that barrier. It is the nature of humans to compare themselves with other people, whether offline or online. What features are you comparing with yours exactly? You would compare their lifestyle, finances, career, marriage, etc to yours and the list is endless.
Facebook has what we call a timeline, in the timeline you get to see posts made by your friends on your friends’ list, and also pages you follow. No matter how far you scroll down the timeline, it keeps loading more information. Even when you get bored with reading, there are tons of entertaining videos on the platform that would keep you hooked. You would often spend hours scrolling through your Facebook feeds, watching videos, and playing games.
Facebook delivers a lot of dopamine, so you would be delighted to keep scrolling. People can spend as long as nine hours per day watching their screens. People spent more time on Facebook than on any other app. Another new Chinese platform, TikTok has taken the lead. One thing different platforms have in common is the limitless feeds on the timeline.
People are increasingly becoming addicted to social media platforms. We get our news updates and other sources of information on places like Facebook. So what’s the link between addiction and Facebook depression? Social media addiction is the compulsive habit of needing to check for social media updates. Scientists have linked studies on addiction to several psychological problems and one of them is depression. Logging into your Facebook account makes you feel happy, this means that dopamine is been secreted into the bloodstream.
The brain would compel you to consume more Facebook content. Your dopamine levels are through the roof when you scroll through your Facebook feed and fall as you log out. This can leave you in a state of unhappiness or depression. Studies have shown that the more you use Facebook, the more likely it’d cause depression.
Lack of Sleep
Facebook causes depression through different channels. One factor that contributes to depression caused by Facebook is lack of sleep. You often spend hours into bedtime scrolling at Facebook feeds.
Because the screen of your mobile phone produces bright blue lights, it triggers your brain to keep you awake for as long as possible. Lack of sleep social media addiction can lead to fatigue, a change in biological sleep clocks, and most likely contribute to depression.
A 2018 study in Britany established a relationship between decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep. The compounding effect of lack of sleep could lead to physical health issues like nausea, headaches, tremors, etc.
Registered on too Many Social Media platforms
People usually register on several social media platforms alongside Facebook. Psychologists have observed that the constant craving for “everything” causes one to become “lost” on multiple platforms. One person would navigate from one platform to the other. Many findings have pointed out that as people continue to scroll through ‘retweets’, ‘likes’, and ‘shares’ a similar neural network similar to drug addiction forms.

An individual may find Facebook to be an emotional outlet where he gets social validation, a coping mechanism to escape a bad mood and even depression. As the individual increasingly relies on the combination of different platforms, the more likely Facebook causes depression.
TikTok is another addictive platform like Facebook, but unlike Facebook, teenagers dominated TikTok. Aside from mental health, there were some cases where TikTok users took part in a hold your breath challenge which led to the death of a young boy. There are several other practices where a platform played a role in some harmful events.
FOMO: Fear of Missing Out
FOMO is some kind of anxiety many Facebook users are unaware of but plays a role in the development of depression. Users are concerned that they are missing out on the latest trends, music, movie, jokes, etc. Sometimes, when a user logs off for a long period, he/she may return to find out a lot of events have occurred while he/she was away.
The fear of not missing out develops when a user realizes that things happen quickly on social media. FOMO also crosses boundaries with social comparison, when you worry about what others are experiencing on social media at the moment.
Low Self-esteem
Low self-esteem is considered the number one trigger for depression. Unsurprisingly, adolescence and teenagers use Facebook the most and are also the age group most prone to low self-esteem. Understanding how Facebook can trigger low self-esteem helps to identify how it causes depression. Low self-esteem goes hand-in-hand with depression and other forms of mental illness. However, what is the relationship between Facebook and low self-esteem?
The causes of low self-esteem overlap with social comparison. When we compare ourselves with our friends, we may discover that they are doing better than us in one aspect of life. It could be academic achievement, Facebook reputation, financial success, marriage, relationships, etc.
Studies have linked low self-esteem to mental health problems and indulging in behaviors like substance abuse, early sexual activity, etc. with a significant correlation between depression, anxiety, and sexual activity.
Social media can also be a battleground for teenagers who are prone to aggression due to raging hormones. People on the receiving end may develop low self-esteem. As teens battle for attention, they might clash online as cyberbullying. There have been cases where cyberbullying resulted in suicide by the victims.

Does Facebook cause loneliness?
Loneliness is the feeling of isolation, of being exempt from the activities of friends and family, and society. Facebook is a world of its own, and you can find a lot of content on it; Science, documentary, art, music, movie, comedy, etc. However, it is also a place you get to see your friends having fun without you. Having this sense of missing out can cause you to feel alone. You desperately want to experience the fun with your friends but you’re stuck at home with your go-to entertainment center, Facebook.
Researchers have documented loneliness to have a wide range of mental effects. It can span from antisocial behavior to cardiovascular disease and stroke. Overindulgence on Facebook can cause you to feel lonely and may trigger depression.
Does Facebook cause jealousy?
Facebook can trigger you to feel jealousy. Facebook jealousy is associated with social comparison, remember we talked about how we often compare ourselves with people on social media platforms? Seeing your high school or college buddies posting their success, and flaunt their wealth, relationships, adventures, and other incredible deeds can cause you to feel jealous.
Aside from the comparisons with people within our communities, we also compare our lives with that of very successful people. Imagine earning just a little above minimum wage but feeling depressed because you’re not Elon Musk. Even going through Elon’s Twitter timeline, you’d see lots of comments of people making bogus claims about his wealth. That’s all jealousy.
People are fond of posting their achievements on social media, mostly, they do this out of goodwill. Some others post their financial status to bully others, but in both cases, it can spark jealousy in their followers.
Apart from feeling jealous of another’s achievement, some people are insecure about their looks. Honestly, we all would want to look better than our current selves but the point is, seeing someone have what you desperately want can make you feel jealous.
How Social Media Rewires Your Brain