Social Media and University Students' Mental Health: Analyzing the Negative Effects, Causes and Proposing Remedies

Today's university students are contending with intense psychological stress. Factors such as financial hardships, concerns regarding medical treatment, family breakdown, and the overwhelming academic pressure to achieve outstanding results all play a part contribute to this stress. Recently, researchers have pointed out that the concurrent use of smartphones and social media might also be exerting a negative impact on students' mental health. Social media exerts negative impacts on students in multiple aspects. It gives rise to leads to decreased real - world social support, a shortened attention span, impaired cognitive function, and addictive propensities. This paper will conduct a comprehensive exploration of the underlying causes of these adverse effects on students' mental well - being, evaluate the severity of these impacts, and propose practical and actionable suggestions and strategies to address this urgent issue.