Social media is a great way to stay connected with friends, family and the world. It’s also an extremely valuable business tool. However, it can also be a source of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues if you aren’t careful about how you use it. If you spend too much time on social media or if certain features trigger negative emotions in you, then chances are high that your mental health will suffer. In this article, we’ll look at some of the mental health dangers presented by social media, and some tips for looking after yourself while still enjoying the odd scroll.
The risks of social media
There is a disclaimer here, that not all social media use leads to mental health problems. In moderation, it can be a fantastic thing. However, these are some of the issues people may experience as a result of the way they use social media.
Addiction to social media
Social media is a wonderful tool, but it can be addictive. The more you use it and the longer you spend on social media, the more likely you are to want to keep using it. You might also find yourself spending less time with friends and family in real life due to your addiction to social media.
The very nature of social media leads you to check your feed regularly. This simple act of scrolling becomes a habit, something that you do whenever you have a spare minute. As such, it becomes addictive and distracts you from more important things in life.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or uneasiness that can be caused by stress and can lead to depression. Unfortunately, social media platforms are known to trigger a level of anxiety in some people. The issue is, you’re never quite sure what you’ll see on social media. Something may trigger you to become anxious, whether it’s a shared post about family violence or simply a picture of a colleague’s holiday.
Everybody has different triggers, so even good things on social media can cause anxiety. You might see a friend’s post about their great new job and start feeling anxious that you’re not succeeding the way others are.
Depression
Depression is a serious mental illness that can be triggered by social media use. Much like anxiety, depression can be brought about by too much social media. Whether you’re constantly comparing yourself to others or simply being brought down by negative content on your feed every day, social media can certainly lead to feelings of depression.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a term used for any form of bullying that takes place online. Cyberbullying can take many forms, and it doesn’t need to be overt. Sadly, social media is full of trolls — people who like to bring others down in order to feel better about themselves. For those on the receiving end, it’s never a good experience.
Cyberbullying can be something as simple as a negative comment on a post, through more serious things like constant harassment through direct messages.
FOMO
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a common phenomenon among social media users. It often surfaces in a feeling that everyone else is having more fun than you, doing better in life, making more money or enjoying more experiences. Much like the issues above, this can lead people to feel down about their own lives.
In addition, FOMO occurs simply through the act of scrolling through your feed. The fear of something happening online that you’re not involved in leads to increased social media usage, regular checking of feeds, and being more concerned with what’s happening on a social media platform than the real world.
Low self-esteem
Social media can make you feel worse about yourself. When you see other people’s posts, it may be easy for you to compare your life with theirs and feel like yours isn’t as good or successful. This can lead to low self-esteem and the feeling that nothing is going right in your life, even though this may not be true at all.
The reality is, most people only post the highlights of their lives. So, when you see someone posting about buying a new car, what you’re not seeing is the financial strain they may be under, the issues they have in personal relationships and all of the more negative things that most people experience. As such, a social media feed is an extremely unrealistic thing to compare yourself to.
Social isolation
When you spend a lot of time on social media, you tend to change the way in which you access social contact. In years gone by, people would make plans and catch up with each other in person. Now, some people become so entrenched in social media that many of their relationships exist online rather than in the real world. This leads to social isolation, which is ironic because one of the best things about social media is the fact that you can keep in touch with so many people.
Everyone has access to the best NBN plans today too, which means it’s never been easier to immerse yourself in the online world. It might be through gaming, streaming, social media or something else. But don’t forget about the real world out there too!
Sleep problems
Sleep is the foundation of mental health. If you’re not sleeping well, it can lead to problems with concentration, memory and mood. Social media use can disrupt your sleep by keeping you up late at night, and also due to your usage before bed. We’ve heard a lot about how blue light affects our sleep, so if you’re scrolling social media before you go to sleep, you may not get the rest you need. Staying up late to interact with people in other time zones is also something that occurs when someone uses social media heavily. On top of that, if you don’t turn off your notifications or at least turn your phone on silent, you can literally be woken up in the middle of the night by social media.
Tips for managing your mental health on social media
Many people wish they could simply discard social media altogether. However, there are social pressures applied that force many people into the social media trap. Even people who need to use it for business may not be interested in the social side of things, yet can still get caught up in it. So, here are some tips for managing your mental health on social media.
Stop using your phone an hour before sleep
One way to limit your social media use in general and protect your health is to stop using the phone in bed. Laying awake and scrolling through social media stimulates your brain, which is exactly what you should be avoiding before sleep. Most people are unlikely to turn their phones off completely, as they may use them for an alarm in the morning, or they just want to be contactable in case of an emergency.
However, most smartphones now allow you to easily turn off notifications for a certain time period. Set a time, and switch those notifications off so you can let your mind relax and prepare for sleep.
Set usage limits per day
The first step to protecting your mental health is setting limits on how much time you spend on social media. While some smartphones allow you to set time limits for certain apps and social media platforms, it’s better to try using willpower. It might sound overly simplistic, but come up with a plan that works for you.
Something like: I will only check social media in the morning, on my lunch break, and for an hour in the evening. Try to stick to this, and if your smartphone offers a way to restrict your usage further, then use it to your advantage.
Connect with people in real life
One of the best ways to protect your mental health from social media dangers is to get out of the house more often. There are so many mental health benefits to getting out of your house. Whether you meet with friends, take up a sport, attend the gym or even just go for a walk, it all helps. Find opportunities to connect with people in a real-world setting, rather than just through social media. It’s great that we can keep in touch with people who aren’t nearby, but don’t forget about your relationships outside of social media.
Curate your social media feed with things you enjoy
If you’re tired of the negativity on social media bringing you down, then perhaps it’s time for some careful curation of your feed. Here are some ideas for making your social media feeds a more positive place.
- Follow people and pages that inspire you.
- Follow pages that give you valuable information about things you’re interested in (music news pages or joke pages.
- Be ruthless with your friends list. If people don’t bring anything good, remove them. If you don’t want to sever all ties, you can curate your feed so that certain people’s posts don’t show up as often (or at all).
- When you see content you don’t like, hide it. Most social platforms allow this because it helps the platform deliver more suitable content to your feed.
Restrict your privacy settings
Just because you use social media, that doesn’t mean the whole world should be able to see your activity. Or even find you in the first place. It’s perfectly reasonable to use social media to simply connect with the people who matter most. So, spend some time tweaking your privacy settings. You can go from being completely public where everyone can see everything you post, down to being completely private so that people can’t even find your profile in searches. Every social media channel is different, but keep on top of the privacy settings so you can’t be harassed or bothered by unwelcome messages.
Maintaining safety and mental health online is a huge issue for people of all ages. Don’t let your mental health suffer, because there are ways to enjoy social media the way you want to without the negative effects. Follow the tips above, and start enjoying the occasional social media scroll again.
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