“Facebook depression” surprisingly common among middle-aged adults as they dwell on what they don’t have

A new study suggests that middle-aged people between the ages of 30 and 49 that spend time on social media are more likely than millennials to report mental health problems.

The reason for this is because those over the age of 30 are more likely to dwell on the direction in which their life is going and whether or not they have achieved their personal goals. “In their desire to validate accomplishments, many middle-aged adults may look to high school peers (i.e. those who roughly had the same starting line) as a point of comparison,” wrote the study’s authors, led by Dr. Bruce Hardy of Temple University, in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

The study, which was based on data collected from a social survey of nearly 750 people, went on to explain, “As most people present themselves hyper-positively online, social comparisons are unrealistic and may deteriorate self-worth and mental well-being.”