Many social media apps fill our time and capture our attention with easily digestible content. Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and other apps can waste a lot of time and lead to damage to your mental health. Those with mental illness are also more susceptible to the negative effects of social apps because of comparison and altering reality. Many factors around social media can alter your brain and cause mental issues for adults and teens. This blog will discuss some of the reasons social media is dangerous for your health and how you can limit its effect on your mental stamina.
Addictive Nature
Social media apps have been created to hook your attention and keep you coming back. Many of the apps are addictive and help serve the part of your brain that loves rewards and releases dopamine. Apps try to target your brain’s reward center with consistent likes or a constant stream of information that triggers chemical releases in our brains, similar to sex, food, hobbies, or winning something.
The idea of a future reward or the dopamine from comments or likes is what keeps users coming back. The possibility of your desired outcome will always be a tether that holds you to social media.
Filtering Out The Bad
The biggest lies about social media are the photo and video filters and the ability to selectively share parts of your life. Social media only shows the highlight or what people curate specifically for their followers to see. While some filters can be fun and give you a good laugh, beauty filters can create a false sense of reality. Seeing multiple heavily filtered photos, highlight reel videos or curated home photos can lead us to compare our lives to others.
Social media has created the goal of creating aesthetically pleasing homes, outfits, and daily activities. The reality is that life is messy. Not everyone can have a perfect home, a perfect relationship, or a curated Instagram feed. When we begin to believe that having the perfect life is what we should strive for, it becomes mentally taxing.
Feelings Of FOMO Or Failure
Fear of missing out or being left out are mental issue that can result from addiction to social media. When peers or family are using social media, you may worry about missing an inside joke, a message, a sale, a party, or other information. Constantly checking social apps can not only waste your time but can cause you to abandon your real-life connections too. Scrolling on social media to see what others are doing will take away from studying, cleaning, spending time with family, or developing a hobby.
Seeing people post about their travels or parties they are attending causes us to feel less than. Social media can put a damper on your mood when you otherwise would have been having a good time. Your activity and experiences are fun, even if they don’t “compare” to others on social media. Making connections in real life instead of watching others through a screen can be much more fulfilling.
Constantly Changing Trends
Social media continues to change and create new trends in the world. Chasing the newest trend or items is another mentally damaging aspect of being on social media. Following trends and hoping for validation will never result in a person being satisfied.
Trends can also be dangerous to your relationships or jobs. In the past, trends have targeted teenagers to damage property, eat dangerous foods, or play risky games to fit in. Trends can also cause you to be compared to others who participated in the trend.
How To Limit The Effects Of Social Media On Your Mental Health
- Plan an in-person gathering: Making in-person connections helps stop you from forming a perfect perception of someone and will show you all parts of their personality. In-person gatherings will also help you avoid those feelings of FOMO, and have a strong support system in times of need. Instead of turning to social media for likes and validation, you will have the support of those who truly love you.
- Prioritize an exercise routine: Physical activity is directly connected to mental health and can be a good break from scrolling on social apps. Exercise can help you connect with your body, spend time doing something productive, and provide an opportunity to spend time with friends.
- Take a social media break: If you notice that social media is affecting your mental well-being, it may be time to take a break. Try putting time limits on your apps, deleting them off your phone, or hiding them from your home screen on a temporary basis. Taking a social media break will give you more free time to spend on work, hobbies, or focusing on family.
- Find a new hobby or take a class: Finding a new way to spend time can help reduce the need to scroll on social apps. Take a cooking class, learn to paint, join a workout group, or volunteer instead of worrying about your feed.
- Start attending therapy: Overcoming addictive tendencies can be difficult. Working with a therapist to overcome your social media addiction can help. Therapists will also help you to develop coping skills for when the pressure of social media becomes too much.
Therapy Services From Ogden Psychological Services
Ogden Psychological Services offers therapy and counseling services for individuals, couples, and families. Working with a licensed counselor can help you achieve better mental health and give you the tools to better handle stress in your life. Ogden Psychological Services knows that life can get complicated, so therapy can be a great course of action for when life becomes too much to handle on your own. Whether you are struggling with social media, anxiety, comparison, grief, or another issue, our team is here to help.
