THE INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA ON HEALTH THE MEDIA THEN AND NOW

Introduction: In recent decades, the Internet has assumed a dominant role in the media industry, replacing traditional media. First, the development of digital technologieshad negative consequences for print media, which significantly changed the media industry. From the late 20th to the early 21st century, the accelerated development of the digital technologies was directly reflected in the media communication methods. Traditional media (press, radio, television), which enabled one-way communication with the audience, were gradually replaced by new, digital media that enabled two-way interaction with users. Methods: The descriptive method was used in the research, which includes an integrative review of the available literature, including the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. The key search terms were "media" and "mental health". Results: According to the forecasts of the Australian entrepreneur, futurist and writer Ross Dawson, print media will become marginalized, which has already happened in the United States of America in 2017, while in Serbia this transition will be expected by 2034. On the other hand, the dependence on digital media is growing, and even children in the United States between the ages of 13 and 18 have a smartphone, and a large number of them also have a laptop, tablet or computer. Also, as many as 53% of children up to the age of 11 own a smartphone. In Europe, the situation is not much better: in Great Britain 90% of children have access to electronic media, while in Germany the figure is as high as 99%. Children aged 5 to 8 spend more than 3 hours a day in front of the screen, and a similar trend is present among adolescents. Conclusion: Media have become an integral part of everyday life. Although some authors believe that the media generally have a negative impact on the world's population, especially on mental health, others believe that they have contributed to many positive changes in everyday life. Dependence on the media, which is increasingly burdening the health system, raises the question of how the media can be used to improve mental health, especially through social media.