The Realm of Manufactured Anxiety

Evolving Understandings of the Internet’s Effect on Mental Health Across Generations

Trends have been emerging across generations with respect to their use of the internet and increasing globalization of media. There are many studies that have been done and are ongoing regarding the impact this change is having on the human mind and we are constantly understanding more about how to healthily navigate it. What we are seeing is that the impact internet media consumption has is not in only one area or of one type. Below we will walk through perspectives on the unique impacts current day media consumption has between youth and older generations. Hopefully, by doing so you will have a better understanding of how to more intentionally engage with it to protect yourself from becoming lost in the churning of the emotional sea of information. 

Risks to Youth

Many blog posts, research articles, and news stories have laid out the reasons unrestricted internet access creates problems for healthy development and increases the risks for mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression among young people. The path to such ends can look different child to child but among the primary sources is social media. Children’s development is centered around the growth of a ‘self’ by asking questions, testing limits, and finding answers from the community they are in. Social media broadens and distorts that community into an echo chamber filled with messages, both real and not, that influence the developing mind in ways it would otherwise be protected from later in life. This is not to say children should not explore the world, they should; but they cannot do so effectively and in a regulated manner without appropriate boundaries.

Adult “Immunity”

I think we all know adults are not immune to the negative effects of unregulated internet usage. Age does not beget wisdom, experience does (and diverse experience at that). Nearly everyone has at least a few examples of adults in their life who have been negatively impacted by their use of the internet in some way. Often we think of the internet as a risky place for young people because we assume they are somehow more gullible. Parts of that may be true, but we are also seeing an increase in a lack of critical analysis skills in aging generations leading to the rise of misinformation and disinformation (the former being information shared with or without the purpose of misleading while the later is meant with the specific intent of deceiving). It is this world of hyper-contoured information that is making clearer the unique risks to adult populations with respect to the internet. It is a different yet just as impactful form of fear of uncertainty entrenching us ‘matured humans’ into the same mental struggles as the younger generations. 

Comparison and Uncertainty

The common challenge for youth is comparison as their primary goal is identity. We all work on developing an identity across our early years with a mix of differentiation and assimilation (think cliques in high school). Having an infinite flow of incoming information, more than any human could possibly process in a lifetime, let alone a childhood, understandably brings about negative mental health impacts. Taking the same formula, adult life is similarly about identity but rather than making one it is about being certain that the one we have spent so much effort investing in is right. We may fear uncertainty that what we have made of ourselves and our impact on the world is not what we thought it was. The internet has become a place populated with media, especially news, designed to keep us engaged through emotional manipulation and often through that exact fear. By engaging with the internet, exposure to distressing content is almost guaranteed. When regularly exposed to such media a response of negative emotions or cognitions can cause a compulsion to protect oneself from uncertainty ending in a cyclical degradation of mental health (Kesner et al., 2025). This often looks like anxiety to avoid uncertainty by compulsively looking for thought reinforcing content but can present in other forms as well. 

Do Not Consume stress 

Imagine being offered time in a room where a simulated tiger would be hunting you - I imagine for many of us that would not be the idea of a ‘relaxing night in’. Even for the more extreme thrill-seeking individuals among us it would be a novelty rather than a daily lifestyle. So why do it through scrolling our phones, tablets, computers, or TV’s? It is our choice as individuals whether or not to go into that room and activate our stress responses.

Managing the negative effects of internet usage in today’s world is not an easy task and the more you work on it the more you may find the ways in which it has become everpresent in daily life. Nonetheless, doing so is a necessary tool against worsening mental health symptoms and there are a few ways that show more promise than others. Obviously, limiting time on the internet is a primary tool as it directly removes the root cause; but, in the short term it can increase anxiety about uncertainty so it should not be the only tool. We can add in more nuanced options like being more intentional about reading and thinking deeply about any given content rather than just skimming attention grabbing titles as well as improving media literacy skills (Kesner et al, 2025). Media literacy in particular is a tool that not only slows consumption as a result of the necessary increase in attention to process but also provides an armor against triggering headlines by preventing blind belief of such ‘emotion economy’ posts.  

Protecting Your Mental Health in the Midst of Uncertainty

Whether you are young and working through the anxiety of obsessive comparison or an adult feeling trapped by a cycle of uncertainty, we all have a responsibility to ourselves and our health to moderate the emotionally triggering design of today’s virtual world. Hopefully, through a perspective of shared difficulty we gain compassion for each other and a camaraderie towards prioritizing self-care. Whether it be through limiting internet time, diving deeper into critical analysis of content, or gaining media literacy skills; we can all become better stewards of our mental health. 

At RAFT Counseling, we want to support your efforts towards your mental health goals with compassion and resilience as we all learn to healthily engage with the world. If you or a loved one needs that support simply visit our website or contact us to get connected with our team to help you on your mental health journey.

Resources for Further Reading
 

• Kesner, L., Juríčková, V., Grygarová, D., & Horáček, J. (2025). Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. JMIR Mental Health, 12, e68640. https://doi.org/10.2196/68640