High social media use linked to delusional disorders, B.C. research finds

Social media apps. (File photo)

Delusional disorders have been linked to high levels of social media use, according to new research out of B.C.

Prof. Bernard Crespi and co-author Nany Yang undertook a systematic review of all available academic literature on social media and psychiatric disorders – combing through more than 2,500 publications. Their review, “I tweet, therefore I am: a systematic review on social media use and disorders of the social brain,” was published last month.

Some of the principal findings were that social media platforms “create environments where people can maintain a delusional sense of self identity without scrutiny,” and that social media enables “self-presentation in self-promoting but inaccurate ways,” a news release from Simon Fraser University said.

Crespi, who is a Canada Research Chair in evolutionary genetics and psychology at SFU, said the first-of-its-kind review showed a troubling trend.

“There was this short list of disorders that showed strong associations with high use of social media. Those included narcissism and paranoia, and body image disorders such as body dysmorphia and anorexia,” he told CTV News.

“These are quite different disorders, but they do have this common thread that runs through them – which is that they all involve forms of delusionality.”

A delusion is, Crespi explains, a false belief or a belief in something that is not true or real. The disorders exacerbated by intense social media use combined with an absence of real-life interactions or relationships, he says, are intrinsically linked to identity.

“These disorders involve a poorly developed sense of self, and people with these traits then are differentially drawn to social media use as a means of generating and fostering and consolidating a sense of self in the virtual environment,” he says.

“This really creates no end of problems that involve distortions of reality.”

Humans, says Crespi, who is an evolutionary biologist, develop their sense of self through interactions with other people. Delusions are much more difficult to maintain when one interacts with others, Crespi notes. Real-life, offline interactions present opportunities for “reality checking” wherein false beliefs can be challenged.

Online, however, a person with narcissistic personality disorder can maintain delusions of superiority and get the attention and admiration they crave through amassing likes and followers, Crespi says. Someone with body dysmorphia, who perceives and fixates on a perceived flaw with their physical appearance, can use filters or other tools change the way they look.

“People with certain psychological traits will be drawn to social media as a result of those traits, and then aspects of social media will then provide forms of positive reinforcement,” Crespi says, adding that the online word – in general – enables this kind of self-reinforcing loop.

“There’s limited direct opportunity for reality-checking, especially in situations where you already believe a particular reality and have no interest in having that reality be challenged.”

Psychiatric disorders can be understood as extremes of experiences or emotions that are common to the human experience, Crespi says. Most people have a sense of self-esteem or self-importance without veering into narcissism. Disliking certain aspects of one’s physical appearance or body doesn’t necessarily mean one is suffering from dysmorphia.

The research, therefore, suggests potential pitfalls of high social media use for people with issues around identity that don’t yet rise to the level of a disorder.

“If you’re a fair way down one of those roads, social media can help get you where you don’t want to go,” Crespi says.

“The problems that come from this are, I think, insufficiently appreciated.”