A Taiwan-based adolescent therapist investigates the psychological effects of modern social media on today’s youth and provides practical advice and strategies about how Asian parents and educators can help their children rebuild their identity and sense of security.

The ubiquitous internet, while transforming the way we communicate and learn, has with the advent of today’s ever-present smartphones, tablets, and social media brought an exponential and continuing rise in the number of adolescents with physician-diagnosed psychological issues. It is this phenomenon that spurred the author to call the internet-suffused adolescents of today the “overexposed” generation.

Chen Pin-Hao, a long-practicing psychotherapist with extensive experience counseling adolescent patients, recognizes children as particularly susceptible to the opinions of others and peer pressure and sees social media as designed to train user attention on the latest status of peers and other influencers. This unhealthy relationship is a Petri dish for self-contempt, jealousy, and anxiety, robbing teens of a natural sense of security in their interpersonal relationships and, if pressures go unchecked, leading to serious repercussions.

The author continues first by highlighting key psychological issues faced by adolescents across a spectrum of typical parent-child conflicts. Then, he provides parents and educators easy-to-implement strategies and solutions to assist children to cut unhealthy ties with social media, enhance their resilience against others’ criticism, and rebuild their authentic self-identity.

Chen’s rational approach to this subject eschews criticism and instead treats everyone’s unique situation with empathy and understanding. His use of everyday examples and situations, in addition to making analyses and explanations easier to understand and digest, allows parents and teachers to think more deeply about how to promote healthier perspectives on internet use and selfhood.