It is a huge part of modern life. Users turn to it to keep up with friends, to share news and to be entertained. But as good as it can be, social media is also seriously bad for mental health.
Too much time on devices has many people — especially teenagers and young adults — feeling anxious, sad and stressed. In this article, we’ll discuss how social media affects mental health and provide some tips to help you avoid using it to excess.
How Social Media Affects Our Mental Health
Social-media platforms are engineered to lure us back. Each like, comment or push notification he gets hits the brain with a short shot of dopamine — the “feel good” chemical. It’s what makes apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat addictive.
But when our fellow humans turn their backs on us, people can feel the bite of rejection, low self-esteem and maybe even sadness. Study finds that people who use five forms of media are 3 times likelier than others to suffer from one of those conditions, and researchers have more nuanced finding for the Instagram generation.
Why We Keep Scrolling
The possibility of a reward is one reason you can’t put social media down. You don’t know how many likes your post will get, or who will write a comment on it. This sets up a loop that encourages more and more checking for positive feedback.
It's something adults and kids are all doing. It pressures everyone to seek validation from social media rather than derive confidence from actual relationships or accomplishments.
FOMO: Fear of Missing Out
Social media tends to depict only the good aspects of people’s lives. Users, after all, can feel left out too, if they are witnessing others having parties, travelling or celebrating without them — or if they think others are out there looking better than they do.
That feeling has a name: FOMO, fear of missing out. It generates stress, loneliness and an irresistible urge to keep checking social media.
The Damage of Comparison
Social media is awash in filters, beauty edits, and painstakingly curated photos. Teenagers look at these idealized images, feeling they should be like that. This can destroy self-image and self-esteem.
Social media is saturated with filters — beauty edits, carefully curated images. Teen-agers see this idealized image and believe they're supposed to be like that. This can be damaging to self-image & self-esteem.
Almost half of teen girls think social media makes them look ugly Teenagers who are constantly comparing themselves to their peers are left feeling insecure, betrayed and even Depressed.
Cyberbullying and Online Hate
A great many you don’t want to happen — chief among them: cyberbullying. This encompasses rude or menacing comments, getting teased, rumors or harassment on-line. The consequences of having endured cyberbullying can be emotionally and mentally crippling.
Hate content is another issue. Plenty of teenagers report encountering racist or otherwise offensive posts regularly. Such experiences can make users feel unsafe, unwelcome or targeted.
Effect on sleep and on daily life
Excessive screen time can disrupt normal sleep. Studies have found that heavy social media use can lead to suppressed sleep, insufficient focus and low energy levels during the day.
Mindline suggests late-night scrolling can also lead to less physical activity and an increased sense of social isolation. Users are spending hours online instead of with friends, outside or on hobbies.
The Pressure to Look Perfect
Apps now offer the ability to apply filters, whiten teeth and alter appearances. In time, these tools shift what people find normal or beautiful.
Some adults are visiting plastic surgeons with picture transformations from filtered selfies of themselves. This demonstrates how social media can impinge on reality and fantasy, and the pressure to constantly appear “perfect.”
Effects on Families and Children
And it’s not just teens who are affected. And parents who are on phones at meal times or around children may be inadvertently telling their kids that screen time is more important than talking to each other.
And when kids see their parents constantly online, they’re more likely to follow suit. That may translate into decreased family bonding and increased time in front of the digital world.
"5Ways to Consume Social Media in a Healthy Way.
And no, obviously, most people can’t just drop their social media presence altogether. But it doesn’t have to be that way with a few simple adjustments:
Cap screen time: Limit time to 30 to 60 minutes a day on social media.
Turn off notifications: You might have trouble not checking your phone every 90 seconds.
Follow positive accounts: Unfollow the pages or people that don’t make you feel good.
Give yourself breaks Go outside, read, be with friends.
Set boundaries at home: No phones at the dinner table or before bed.
Talk to someone If social media is making you nervous or sad, talk to a parent, counselor or doctor.
Recognize the Signs
Something’s wrong if using social media makes you feel low. You could also experiment with rating how you felt before or after using apps over the course of the week. But if your spirits are deflating, perhaps you just need to reconsider how you use them.
Look for cues in loved ones — especially children, who may struggle to sleep, feel listless and avoid social activities.
Final Thoughts
Social media is not all bad. It learns from and supports each other. By contrast, however, if you use it too much, or use it unhealthy ways, it can be harmful to mental health.
The positive news is, you're the boss here. You can do that, too, with the following tips, which aim to help you maintain a healthy relationship with social media, without it taking too much of a toll on you.
#MentalHealthMatters #SocialMediaAwareness #DigitalWellbeing #MindfulScrolling