Avoid Obsession With Social Sites

Pallav Bhusal

In recent years there has been a significant increase in social media use by all age groups. People use social media for various purposes including staying in touch with family and friends, gathering information, sharing opinion and following modern trends. However, research shows that the increasing reliance on social media and its usage is putting large number of people at an increased risk for feeling anxious, depressed, lonely, envious, and even ill. Study suggests that spending lots of hours in social media contributes to poor mental health.

Even though the primary motive of social media was to bring people closer together, it is having more of an opposite effect. It can make people feel isolated and alone due to the fear of comparison. People primarily use social media to display their success and achievements. This can lead people to experience feelings of inadequacy about their life and appearance. Even when people know that the images and videos seen in social media are mostly manipulated or show good moments over bad ones, they can still develop feeling of insecurity, envy, and dissatisfaction leading to mental illness.

Social media usage can lead to the feeling of jealousy of others, resulting in posting outrageous contents to gain likes and followers. This distraction can harm people's work obligations, family life, or school work. Overthinking also can impact one's self care routine, exercise and sleep pattern. Also spending more time on social media than with your real world friends and family members can ruin relationships creating mental health issues.

Another major phenomenon impacting mental health issue, which is associated with social media, is the fear of missing out. Social media exacerbate the fear that people are missing something or that others are living a better life than you are. Everybody nowadays focuses on building good image and relationship through social media. This unhealthy self-centeredness causes people to focus on crafting good online image rather than making memories with loved ones. This can lead to have psychological costs, especially if there is lack of good feedbacks online which can lead to self – doubt and self-hatred. 

Since we tend to use social media platforms mostly in our mobile phones, it can lead to impulse control issues, making sudden, forceful, irresistible urges to do something that may violate the rights of other or conflict with societal norms. This can further cause disturbance in sleeping cycle and also compromise in-person relationships. Likewise, social media can become an unhealthy way of coping with uncomfortable feelings or emotions. This means people start using social media when feeling down, bored or distract themselves from unpleasant feelings.

According to the lead researchers, using social media less than usual, can lead to significant decreases in loneliness and depression. By using self-monitoring and making changes, people can meaningfully improve their overall happiness. Detoxing from social media and spending some time offline has shown to be an effective practice to safeguard one's mental health. As a result, limiting time on social media and understanding its usage purpose can help in overcoming feelings of sadness, dissatisfaction, frustration, and loneliness. This practice will also help in rebuilding deteriorating relationships and personal growth.

If one feels like none of the solutions are working and they are still struggling with symptoms of depression or anxiety, it is important to consult psychiatrists or psychologist who can help in the treatment process. And with proper treatment, people can feel better.