Abstract
This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to investigate the mental health challenges associated with increasing social media (SM) usage. The review compares these effects across youth and adult age groups and explores how mental health issues related to SM use have evolved before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a comprehensive search of databases including ProQuest, Scopus, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, 43 relevant articles were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that social media usage exacerbates mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, fear of missing out (FOMO), social and financial comparisons. The COVID-19 pandemic notably increased social media engagement, intensifying these challenges. The study also identifies several mitigation strategies, including raising user awareness, 'social media detoxes', and leveraging sentiment analysis. While these issues may not be entirely preventable, educating users on healthy social media habits and the early signs of mental health distress, especially across youth and adult age groups, is critical. Given the emergence of new platforms like TikTok, addressing these challenges now is crucial to minimize future mental health impacts
