Excessive social media use linked to delusional disorders
A new study from researchers at Simon Fraser University has found a strong link between high levels of social media use and psychiatric disorders involving delusions, such as narcissism and body dysmorphic disorder.
According to the study, published in BMC Psychiatry — a systematic review of all available academic research, including a detailed review of more than 2,500 publications on social media use and psychiatric disorders — delusional forms are by far the most common type of psychiatric disorder linked to excessive social media use.
These disorders include: narcissistic personality disorder (delusions of superiority), narcissistic delusions (delusions that a famous person is in love with you), body dysmorphic disorder (delusions of a flaw in a part of one’s body), and anorexia (caused by delusions about body size).
According to the study’s authors, social media itself is not inherently problematic, but virtual worlds – combined with social isolation in “real life” – create environments in which people can maintain an illusory sense of identity without being questioned.
