One of the single greatest changes in how we, as humans, interface with the world in the past two decades has been the rise of online media and, in particular, social media. Always amongst the highest trending apps, becoming part community, part news feed, part hobbyist circle, and part ideological battleground, social media has been accused of a lot of the ills of modern society. Overblamed? Definitely. Innocent? Not so much. There is significant evidence that shows social media can play an impact on your mental health, and here’s how.
Depression
Before diving into the dangers of too much social media use, it is important to recognize that online communication platforms can do a lot of good for people, helping them to connect to resources and support structures that might not exist near them. However, social media can also be a skewed window to the world, and one of the more common experiences is for people to experience depression by the distorted lens it presents on other people. It can look like other people are living much more fulfilling and fun lives on social media. Even if we are intellectually aware that this is because they are choosing only to show those parts of their lives, it can still be a bitter pill to swallow. Filtering what content you get can help you preserve a more positive feed.
Stress
Sadness and depression aren’t the only reactions we can have to the glut of stimuli always just a scroll away. Whether it’s getting into heated online debates, being targeted, even only occasionally or once, by harassment, or otherwise, using social media can be stressful. Not being able to take a break from stressful environments can result in serious stress and anxiety disorders. If you’re starting to experience symptoms of panic attacks or you feel like your diet or sleep is being affected over the long term, it might be time to seek treatment for anxiety. Social media is rarely the only cause for such reactions, but it’s important to see that it can be partly responsible.
Addiction
The dopamine hit of seeing someone engage with one of your posts, or finding your community online and seeing the content you like, can be a very compelling draw to social media. So much so that it is not uncommon for people to spend so long scrolling that they don’t take the necessary care of themselves and they miss out on responsibilities. These two outcomes are textbook symptoms of an addiction. Social media addiction, like many other addictions that aren’t driven by physical compulsion, can be difficult to spot and more difficult to understand, but you might need to enforce some usage rules for your phone if you have any of the symptoms.
If you feel like social media is starting to affect your mental health, then that is enough of an indicator that it is. Taking a break, even if it’s a temporary one, can help you get things back on an even keel.
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