Did you know Frequent Ghosting Online Heightens Self-Harm Risks in Teens, Study Reveals

 

A new research published in Death Studies found that adolescents which get ghosted online frequently are more likely to do non-suicidal self harm. This is because when they get ghosted online, it increases social avoidance in them which then turns into depressive symptoms. These depressive symptoms are the reason why adolescents tend to self harm. Ghosting is defined as cutting communication suddenly while engaging in an online relationship which leaves the person who is ghosted confused and hurt. The person who ghosts mostly does so because they don’t want to feel discomfort and uncomfortable while explaining why they decided to cut communication which results in having no closure of the relationship.

Adolescents can easily be impacted by ghosting because they are at a period in their age where they are experiencing emotional, cognitive and social changes while transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Their prefrontal brain regions which are responsible for complex emotional regulation are still maturing and that makes them vulnerable and impulsive. Adolescents do self harm without any suicidal intent as their response to extreme social distress as they are unable to regulate their feelings. Some common methods they use to self-harm after ghosting are scratching, cutting or burning the skin.

To know more about the relationship between ghosting and self-harm among teens, the researchers gathered 887 senior high school students in China with average ages of 16-17, and 65% of them being females. The participants were asked to do the survey with questions about how many times they have been ghosted and some questions about self-harming themselves too. Participants of the survey were also asked to complete assessments about social avoidance so the researchers could know how lonely and depressed they feel.

The results of the survey showed that the participants who had been ghosted in the past six months, showed more signs of depression, social avoidance and higher levels of non-suicidal self harm. The researchers then concluded all of this in a statistical model and showed the sequence of how ghosting can lead to self harm in adolescents. Frequent experiences of ghosting leads to social avoidance, which leads to depressive episodes. With depressive episodes, there comes a strong likelihood of adolescents self-harming themselves to fill the void. The researchers say that ghosting doesn't always lead to self harm, it just happens when feelings and emotions in adolescents are intensified.