There have been over 300 protests across the United States and global campuses. What change did these demonstrations bring? World peace? Not yet, but they may be drivers of something else: depression. A recent study suggests that protests may be a cause of depression in the 21st century. The 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong was followed by both short- and long-term reports of mental health struggles such as depression. But how? How can passionately fighting for what you believe in cause such grim side effects? It may be your phone — particularly the social media apps we hold dear to us as forms of staying in touch with the world and those we care about. Consistent social media use (over 1-2 hours per day) after and during periods of protest can be correlated with higher rates of depression.

Naturally, protests bring heightened emotions. Groups of people all vehemently fighting for what they believe in, often getting hit back by those opposing. During times of protest, then, one might turn to their loved ones to find a calmer space amidst the political storm of emotions. However, protests have actually been shown to exacerbate conflicts within families, as lingering emotions may follow demonstrators home and kickstart arguments, especially when occurring in tandem with a consistent social media usage. During the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, a study indicated that of their roughly 1,464 participants, those using social media (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and online forums) reported that 62.4% of all the posts they viewed were politics-related, and that 44.8% of those political posts were negative. This can be attributed to social media algorithms, which reliably show user-related content, as well as the posts that garner the most engagement — in politics, those posts are primarily negative. Social media provides an echo chamber of like-minded beliefs, easy access to misinformation, and non-stop interactions between users, leading to heightened polarization. These factors all contribute to the positive correlation social media was seen to have with depression; however, this same effect wasn’t seen with those who used other forms of media during times of protests. There was no positive correlation found between depression and newspaper or radio use.

Easy access to negative content in such high saturations is one of the main reasons why social media use, not traditional media use, during and after protest movements is strongly associated with short- and long-term depression. These platforms exacerbate the already-high tension and lingering emotions from demonstrations and further add to sociopolitical conflicts between friends, family, and even coworkers.

As protests become more prevalent worldwide, the mental health consequences rise in tandem. This concern should be taken seriously by the general population, healthcare professionals, and social media companies, as it affects all — directly or indirectly — and efforts to ameliorate this should be made. Bystanders, or those involved in the interpersonal conflicts who hadn’t attended the protests or engaged with much social media could end up still deeply affected by the effects it has on the direct participants. Further findings on these correlations could lend insight into the long-term effects of how interpersonal political divides are heightened by consistent social media usage. This correlation prompts questions on how healthcare professionals or policymakers could use this research and more to help implement methods to combat these mental health consequences.