Our generation’s lifestyle is immensely dependent on social media for a number of things. From advertisement, political propaganda, to personal relationships- these sites take up a huge part of a large majority of population both in India and globally.
With increased online platforms where you are able to update constant ‘stories’ and your private lives, your meals, your shopping, etc., become a performance for the world to see through pictures and videos, a huge number of social and mental issues have come into the picture. Here are some of these problems:
Loneliness
It seems that the huge ‘friend-lists’ and ‘likes’, ‘loves’, ‘care’, ‘angry’ and ‘comments’ becomes an illusion, when a person who depends on social media attention turns towards real life. Sometimes when the expected amount of attention is not recieved, the person may feel extreme sadness or void.
Once the person is forced to come back to real life for real help, conversation or a companion, the feeling of loneliness may strike, and lead to a number or other problematic behaviour..
Social media causes anxiety
A lifestyle that depends majorly on social media may lead to different forms of anxiety. People who constantly scroll through instagram, Facebook and Twitter, go through phases of envy, or feelings of inadequacy.
Often people are unable to fight these fears and cause a number of psychological problems. If you find social media platforms quickly affect your mood, boost your self-worth, or bring you down- you may want to go for a reality check and keep your smartphones away for a considerable part of your day.
Decreased Self-worth
The age of filters, effects and hundreds of editing options to attain a ‘perfect’ face/ skin/ background is now unstoppable. Often these posts, of celebrities or your own friends, could make you feel inadequate about your appearance! The perfection in all photos, the cool places your ‘friends’ hangout in- mostly hide the reality in many ways.
However, constantly seeing these posts DO make you sad. We must remember that every person tends to use social media for their own claim to validation. Mostly, people share their achievements or highlights, and rarely their low points, or the lesser perfect activities.
We fail to distinguish reality from the screen-life, and often fall into the trap of a decreased self-worth, often charming ourselves beyond our knowledge.
Self-harm
All the above dangerous effects that social media has on our lifestyle may lead to a large part of the youth, mainly into suicidal thoughts and self-harm. Cyber-bullying, fake accusations, breach of privacy, are among the many reasons that drive people into an unescapable loop-hole.
Unknowingly or knowingly, we all stumble upon posts of aggression, violence and abuse, which does disturb our minds. Moreover, exposure to a variety of networks who deal in drugs’, attempt dangerous pranks for likes and comments, or the feeling of having so privacy can form several anxieties in our minds that lead to self-harm.
Risk for increased vulnerability to depression
Social-media absorbs our lifestyles by keeping us one-hundred percent engaged throughout. First, it keeps us distracted from whatever we try to do, for example, conversations, classes, study, work, sleep, meals, etc.
No matter how much we try, when our phones are around us, the notifications seem too tempting. Second, if you scroll through social media pages at night or in bed, you may find it very difficult to fall asleep. Nights and nights of this practice leads to a disturbed sleep pattern, and often, insomnia.
Moreover, it may change your entire lifestyle to a point where already existing anxieties, or feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy may become more intense. Rather than the initial and temporary alleviation of loneliness, just after the use of social media, you are likely to feel more lonely or depressed.
So, be sure to check your social media usage, and don’t forget to keep smartphones away from bedrooms, children, and your REAL lifestyle!
Read for tips on reducing online time:
Social Media and Mental Health – HelpGuide.org
Social Media Increases Depression and Loneliness (healthline.com)
