SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION: ITS MENTAL HEALTH CONSEUQUENCES AMONG THE YOUTH AND LEGAL APPROACH TO IT

Abstract

Firstly, very frequent and prolonged stay on social networks leads to the so-called attention deficit disorder. This means that a person loses the ability to concentrate on one thing for a long time. To explain this, it’s enough to remember how we receive information on a social network - quickly and in small portions. People dependent on it become so accustomed to this “portioned” mode of receiving information that after a while they can no longer, for example, spend a long time solving any given task. After all, on the Internet we often have to switch our attention from one thing to another: here we are listening to music, then reading a short article, and now writing a message. Over time, even reading your favorite book can become difficult because the brain, out of habit, begins to constantly “look” for reasons to switch to something else. Of particular concern in this sense are the younger generations, who have been “involved” with the Internet and social networks almost since childhood. Their thinking is very flexible and very easily influenced. Therefore, dependence on networks poses a special danger for children and adolescents, which is becoming extremely difficult to avoid in the modern world.