social media mental health

Short form video might impact impulse control and decision making

Ever find yourself endlessly scrolling through short videos, only to realize you’ve lost track of time?

Do you find it hard to stop scrolling—even when you know you should?

The vast majority of college students view short form video content, for several hours per day, primarily YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc (1).

A new study published in NeuroImage suggests that this behavior might be related to brain changes from viewing short form videos(2).

What Was the Study? (2)

Researchers combined behavioral modeling and brain imaging, they explored how people with higher short form video addiction (SVA) symptoms respond to risky decisions (2).

What were the results? (2)

  • Less sensitivity to loss: People with more SVA symptoms were less deterred by potential losses in a gambling task.
  • Faster decision-making, suggesting more impulsive choices.
  • Brain activation shifts: SVA symptoms were linked to reduced activity in the precuneus (a region tied to self-reflection and value evaluation) during gain processing, and increased activity in motor and sensory regions during loss processing.

What Does This Mean? (3)

  • This study suggests that excessive short-video use may alter how the brain weighs risks and rewards (2).
  • You might be more likely to chase instant gratification and less likely to pause and consider long-term consequences (2).

There are many strategies to use technology in healthy ways (4) some of them include:

  • Set limits: Limit technology for entertainment to 1 hour per day (5)
  • Disconnect, pause, breathe and collect yourself: Instead of grabbing your phone during spare time, disconnect from electronics to reflect, recharge, relax; and collect yourself (3).
  • Schedule screen free time for nutritious meals and atleast 8 hours of sleep as this can benefit many aspects of physical and mental health
  • Physical activity: Movement, exercise, playing sports can also help address the negative mental health effects of excessive sedentary behavior and screen time.
  • Mindful technology use: Instead of mindless “infinite” scrolling, consider your goal before starting a device or program (4).
  • Schedule time to connect with others

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA
OSU-CCS Psychiatrist
Contact: patel.2350@osu.edu

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. https://info.mssmedia.com/blog/social-media-habits-of-college-students
  2. Chang Liu, Jinlian Wang, Hanbing Li, Qianyi Shangguan, Weipeng Jin, Wenwei Zhu, Pinchun Wang, Xuyi Chen, Qiang Wang,
    Loss aversion and evidence accumulation in short-video addiction: A behavioral and neuroimaging investigation,
    NeuroImage,Volume 313, 2025,121250, ISSN 1053-8119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121250.
  3. Ballard D. Connected and content: Managing healthy technology use. American Psychological Association.  https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-technology-use
  4. Patel R. Mental Health For College Students Chapter 8. Technology, media, and mental health.
  5. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/?p=855

Can social media use make you feel irritable?

While technology and social media use can be useful in some ways, research shows that improper use of technology and social media can worsen depression, anxiety, focus, sleep and other mental health symptoms (1).

A previous post discussed how unhealthy ways of using technology can have negative effects on our mental health (2).

A 2025 JAMA study by Perlis and colleagues, looked at social media and irritability (3).

What was the study? (3)

42,597 US adults were surveyed (between November 2023 to Jan 2024) on their use of social media and measures of irritability using a Brief irritability Test (3).

What was the result? (3)

  • 6,037  participants (14.2%) reported using once a day; 16, 678 (39.2%) using multiple times a day; and 10, 610 (24.9%) using most of the day (3).
  • The study found that frequent use of social media was associated with significantly greater irritability. ( Adjusted models (for more than once a day, 0.38 points [95% CI, 0.18-0.58 points]; for most of the day, 1.55 points [95% CI, 1.32-1.78 points]). (3)
  • These associations persisted after incorporating measures of political engagement (3).

What are some caveats?

  • The study accounted for other mental health symptoms, including depression and anxiety (3).
  • This was a correlational study, so does not tell us about cause and effect (3).
  • The association between social media and mood is complex. For example, it has been suggested that some social media platforms may  seek to elicit outrage as a means of increasing engagement (4).
  • The study did not analyze specific social media content (3).
  • The study relied on self-report rather than objective measures.

Some healthy ways of using technology are outlined here: https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2020/12/11/593/

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA OSU-CCS Psychiatrist

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes. With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. Patel R. Mental Health For College StudentsChapter 8. Social Media Technology and mental health, Page 237-289.
  2. https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/2020/12/11/593/
  3. Perlis RH, Uslu A, Schulman J, Gunning FM, Santillana M, Baum MA, Druckman JN, Ognyanova K, Lazer D. Irritability and Social Media Use in US Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jan 2;8(1):e2452807. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52807. PMID: 39775809.
  4. Brady  WJ, McLoughlin  K, Doan  TN, Crockett  MJ.  How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks.   Sci Adv. 2021;7(33):eabe5641. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe5641
  5. Burke  M, Kraut  RE.  The relationship between Facebook use and well-being depends on communication type and tie strength.   J Comput Mediat Commun. 2016;21(4):265-281. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12162