Digital manipulation of the mental health of modern youth

This article actualizes the problems of destructive, namely, manipulative influence of communications on the Internet on the mental health of Russian youth, which have been discussed in specialized literature for a long time.

The author emphasizes that in the modern “digital” world, the significant role of mass media in relation to the formation of mass preferences, reactions, value norms and perceptions of reality is largely determined by information overload, in which huge amounts of information cannot be structured and ordered by a simple layman. As a result, a kind of informational chaos is formed in his mind, and ultimately, a person finds himself in captivity of constructed images that create a new world, which is a semblance of genuine reality. The indicated trend largely affects the state of the psyche of young people, entails the development of serious mental disorders.

The article examines technologies of manipulative influence of digital media on the mental health of young people by the example of the formation of ideas about the “ideal appearance” and about the “correct parameters of the body”, highlights key mechanisms and tools that promote unhealthy ideals of external attractiveness in society. It is emphasized that a significant contribution to dissatisfaction with the body is made by attitudes to a certain type of female beauty. The main ones are objectification and self-objectification – the tendency to identify one's body and personality, to monitor physical attractiveness to the detriment of inner feelings and objective health indicators.

Under aggressive manipulative media influence, the widespread dissatisfaction with a normal body from the point of view of medicine, especially among adolescents, girls and young women, has acquired the scope of an epidemic. This circumstance leads to a range of serious mental problems, including an increase in anxiety and expectations of rejection on the basis of appearance, fear of a negative assessment of appearance by others and shame towards the body.

The article presents studies that establish a strong connection between the ideal of physicality, actively promoted by digital media, and eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and continuous diets. Features of anxiety about appearance include excessive concern about appearance and time-consuming behavior to hide or disguise imaginary flaws, which ultimately leads to serious mental and behavioral disorders.

1. Benedict R. Anthropology and abnormal // Journal of General Psychology. 1934. Vol. 10.

2. Cobb G. This is not pro-ana: denial and disguise in pro-anorexia online spaces // Fat Studies. 2017. Vol. 6. N 2. P. 189–205.

3. Dismorfomaniya i dismorfofobiya u podrostkov: prichiny, simptomy, lechenie [Dysmorphomania and dysmorphophobia in adolescents: causes, symptoms, treatment]. URL: https://cmzmedical.ru/stati/dismorfobiya-u-podrostkov/ (in Russian).

4. Dunas D.V., Salihova E.A. Socializaciya i samoaktualizaciya kak klyuchevye motivy mediapotrebleniya rossijskoj molodezhi [Socialization and self-actualization as key motives for media consumption of Russian youth] // Zhurnalistika v 2019 godu: tvorchestvo, professiya, industriya: sbornik materialov mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii MGU imeni M.V. Lomonosova. Moskva, 6–8 fevralya 2020 g. M., 2020 (in Russian).

5. Ekologiya, ohrana prirody i ekologicheskaya bezopasnost’ [Ecology, nature conservation and environmental safety] / Pod obshch. red. V.I. Danilova-Danil’yana. M., 1997 (in Russian).

6. Gafiatulina N.H. Zdorov’e molodyozhi rossijskogo obshchestva: sociologicheskij analiz neblagopriyatnyh tendencij [Health of the youth of the Russian society: sociological analysis of unfavorable trends] // Vestnik Instituta IAE. 2016. N 1 (in Russian).

7. Gladysheva A.A., Kantonist V.S. Zdorovyj obraz zhizni glazami sovremennoj molodyozhi [Healthy lifestyle through the eyes of modern youth] // Molodaya nauka Sibiri. 2022. N 2 (16). URL: https://ojs/irgups/ru/index.php/mns/frticle/view/613 (data obrashcheniya: 13.05.2023) (in Russian).

8. Gosudarstvennaya programma Rossijskoj Federacii “Razvitie zdravoohraneniya” [The State Program of the Russian Federation “Health Development”] // Utverzhdena postanovleniem Pravitel’stva Rossijskoj Federacii ot 26 dekabrya 2017 goda N 1640 (v redakcii, vvedennoj v dejstvie s 1 yanvarya 2023 goda postanovleniem Pravitel'stva Rossijskoj Federacii ot 29 noyabrya 2022 goda N 2161. URL: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/556183184 (data obrashcheniya: 15.05.2023) (in Russian).

9. Hass M. After the after: the biggest loser and post-makeover narrative trajectories in digital media // Fat Studies. 2017. Vol. 6. N 2. P. 135–151.

10. Holand H., Tiggemann M. Strong beats skinny every time: disordered eating and compulsive exercise in women who post inspiration on Instagram // International Journal of Eating Disorders. 2017. Vol. 50. N 1. P. 76–79.

11. Holland K., Blood R.W., Thomas S., Lewis S., Komesarof P., Castle D. Our girth is plain to see: an analysis of newspaper coverage of Australia’s future “fat bomb” // Health, Risk & Society. 2011. Vol. 13. N 1. P. 32–46.

12. Kajt L., Kajt L. Bol’she chem telo. Prinyat’ i polyubit’ [More than the body. Accept and love]. URL: https://theoryandpractice.ru/posts/19196-chto-takoe-obektivatsiya-ili-kak-cheloveka-prevrashchayut-v-veshch (data obrashcheniya: 13.05.2023) (in Russian).

13. Kasavina N.A. Chelovek i tekhnika: ambivalentnost’ elektronnoj kul’tury [Man and technology: the ambivalence of electronic culture] // Epistemologiya i filosofiya nauki. 2019. T. 55. N 4 (in Russian).

14. Kataeva O.V. Cifrovizaciya i virtualizaciya zhiznennogo mira: ocenki i pozicii [Digitalization and virtualization of the life world: assessments and positions] // Intellekt. Innovacii. Investicii. 2020. N 6 (in Russian).

15. Kirillova N.B., Pestova A.V. “Virtual’nyj chelovek” kak fenomen novoj kul'turnoj civilizacii [“Virtual Man” as a Phenomenon of a New Cultural Civilization] // Kul’tura i civilizaciya. 2017. T. 7. N 4 A. S. 628–641 (in Russian).

16. Kohannaya O.E. Cifrovye media kak faktor, provociruyushchij deviantnoe povedenie nesovershennoletnih [Digital media as a factor provoking deviant behavior of minors] // Nauchnye trudy moskovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. 2022. N 1. S. 30 (in Russian).

17. Kryukov R.V. Virtualizaciya obshcheniya kak cennost’ i fenomen sovremennogo obshchestva [Virtualization of communication as a value and phenomenon of modern society] // Idei i idealy. 2016. N 3 (29). S. 55–59 (in Russian).

18. Lavell C., Zimmer-Gembeck M.J., Farrell L.J., Webb H. Victimization, social anxiety, and body dysmorphic concerns: appearance-based rejection sensitivity as a mediator // Body Image. 2014. N 11 (4), Р. 391–395.

19. Lenuar R., Merl’e D., Pento L., Shampan’ P. Nachala prakticheskoj sociologii [Champagne P. Beginnings of practical sociology] / Per. s fr. otv. red. i predisl. N.A. Shmatko; poslesl. A.T. Bikbova. M.; SPb., 2001 (in Russian).

20. Lerner M. Razvitie civilizacii v Amerike [The development of civilization in America]. M., 1992 (in Russian).

21. Lupton D. Digital bodies // Routledge Handbook of Physical Cultural Studies / Ed. by D. Andrews, M. Silk, H. Thorpe. L., 2017. P. 200–208.

22. Lupton D. Vitalities and visceralities: alternative body/food politics in new digital media // Alternative Food Politics: From the Margins to the Mainstream / Ed. by M. Phillipov, K. Kirkwood. L., 2018.

23. Lupton D., Thomas GM. Playing pregnancy: the judification and gamification of expectant motherhood in smartphone apps // М/С Journal. 2015. Vol. 18. N 5. URL: http://joumal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/ viewArticle/1012 (accessed: 29.08.2017).

24. Milner R.M. The world made meme: public conversations and participatory media. Boston, 2016.

25. Miltner K.M., Highfield T. Never gonna GIF you up: analyzing the cultural significance of the animated GIF // Social Media + Society. 2017. Vol. 3. N 3. URL: http://dx.doi.org/I0.1177/2056305117725223 (accessed: 12.08.2017).

26. Monson O., Donaghue N., Gill R. Working hard on the outside: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of the biggest loser Australia // Social Semiotics. 2016. Vol. 26. N 5. P. 524–540.

27. Osipova N.G. Social’noe konstruirovanie obshchestvennogo zdorov’ya [Social construction of public health] // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 18. Sociologiya i politologiya. 2016. N 4. S. 119–141 (in Russian).

28. Osipova N.G., Elishev S.O. Molodyozh’ v sisteme social’no-gumanitarnyh nauk. Monografiya [Youth in the system of social sciences and humanities. Monograph]. M., 2022. S. 210–223 (in Russian).

29. Popova E. Samoob’’ektivaciya: pochemu nam stoit men’she bespokoit’sya o vneshnosti [Self-objectification: why we should worry less about appearance]. URL: https://www.thevoicemag.ru/psychology/psychology/samoobektivaciya-pochemu-nam-stoit-menshe-bespokoitsya-o-vneshnosti/ (data obrashcheniya: 13.05.2023) (in Russian).

30. Raisborough J. Fat bodies, health and the media. Houndmills, 2016.

31. Shkondin M.V., Svitich L.G., Smirnova O.V. Rol’ zhurnalistiki v mediatiziruyushchemsya zhiznennom mire povsednevnosti [The role of journalism in the mediatized life world of everyday life] // Voprosy teorii i praktiki zhurnalistiki. 2020. N 4 (in Russian).

32. Usachyova O.A. Seti grazhdanskoj mobilizacii [Networks of civil mobilization] // Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost’. 2012. N 6 (in Russian).

33. Volodenkov S.V. Mediatizaciya i virtualizaciya sovremennogo prostranstva publichnoj politiki [Mediatization and virtualization of the modern space of public policy] // Kommunikologiya. 2016. N 4. S. 125–136 (in Russian).

34. Zhuravleva I.V. Otnoshenie k zdorov'yu individa i obshchestva [Attitude to the health of the individual and society]. M., 2006 (in Russian).

35. Zhuravleva I.V., Ivanova L.Yu., Ivahnenko G.A. i dr. Zdorov'e studentov: sociologicheskij analiz [Health of students: a sociological analysis] / Otv. red. I.V. Zhuravleva. M., 2014 (in Russian).