Mathematical modelling, analysis and numerical simulation of social media addiction and depression

We formulate a mathematical model of social media addiction and depression (SMAD) in this study. Key aspects, such as social media addiction and depression disease-free equilibrium point (SMADDFEP), social media addiction and depression endemic equilibrium point (SMADEEP), and basic reproduction number ( R 0 ), have been analyzed qualitatively. The results indicate that if R 0 < 1, the SMADDFEP is locally asymptotically stable. The global asymptotic stability of the SMADDFEP has been established using the Castillo-Chavez theorem. On the other hand, if R 0 > 1, the unique endemic equilibrium point (SMADEEP) is locally asymptotically stable by Lyapunov theorem, and the model exhibits a forward bifurcation at R 0 = 1 according to the Center Manifold theorem. To examine the model’s sensitivity, we calculated the normalized forward sensitivity index and conducted a Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient (PRCC) analysis to describe the influence of parameters on the SMAD. The numerical results obtained using the Fourth-order Runge-Kutta (RK-4) scheme show that increasing the number of addicted individuals leads to an increase in the number of depressed individuals.