Exploring the Psychological Effects of Social Media on Bereaved Adolescents After the Pandemic — A South Asian Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global grief crisis, orphaning over 7.5 million children. In South Asia, adolescents faced this loss within cultures that stigmatise emotional expression, intensifying psychological distress. This conceptual literature review examines how social media has influenced adolescent grief during and after the pandemic. Drawing from developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cultural studies, the paper examines how algorithm-driven platforms enabled expression but also promoted aestheticized mourning, emotional overexposure, and retraumatization. Findings highlight neurobiological disruptions, performative grief, digital invalidation, and cultural mismatches in grief models. The review calls for grief-informed digital practices, trauma-sensitive interventions, and culturally grounded support systems. Without structural empathy, bereaved South Asian adolescents risk being emotionally adrift and excluded from academic and clinical discourse.