Anxiety and Social Media
Excessive use of social media can impact our mental health, particularly if we struggle with anxiety.
Social media can have many benefits to our lives – it can help us feel connected to others, to express ourselves, and to be creative. However, at times we might become too caught up in social media and might have concerns about how this impacts our mental health.
Research shows that excessive use of social media – like anything – can impact our mental health, particularly if we struggle with anxiety.
How does social media impact anxiety?
Have you ever had the experience of opening your phone to check something, only to find minutes later that you are scrolling through social media and have completely forgotten what you were going to check?
Don’t worry, it’s not just you!
One of the main goals of developers of social media platforms is to get people to use their platform for as long and as frequently as possible – that is, social media is designed to be addictive.
For many people, there is a strong urge to repeatedly visit social media, particularly when there are notifications to check. This urge can cause feelings of anxiety, and the more we open our social media apps, the more we feed this anxiety.
One of the main goals of developers of social media platforms is to get people to use their platform for as long and as frequently as possible – that is, social media is designed to be addictive.
Another concern with social media use is that we might compare ourselves to others.
It can be easy to forget that people often only post the highlights of their life, and we might think that someone is so much better off than we are. These social comparisons can make us feel bad about ourselves and our lives.
On top of this, sometimes people can be less considerate when there is a screen separating them from you, meaning you might be more likely to experience criticism or opposition on social media, and this can also contribute to anxiety.
Finally, it can be good to be mindful of the type of information you are seeing on social media. Research shows that large proportions of people – as much as 70% in some countries – rely on social media as their primary source of news.
While it can be good to be up to date with current events, the news is often focused on negative information, which captures more attention than any other information. So, if your main source of news is the same app that you are opening repeatedly throughout the day, you are likely receiving a constant flow of negative messages.
What’s more, when you pay attention to something on social media, the algorithms are designed to show you more content similar to that – meaning the more you look at the negative attention-grabbing content, the more of it you will see. This unhelpful cycle can worsen feelings of anxiety.
How can I reduce the impact on my mental health?
As with many addictive behaviours, a little bit is ok, but too much becomes a problem. If you are finding that social media is having an impact on your mental health, there are some strategies you can try.
One option is to try cutting back your social media use by restricting it to certain times of the day (e.g., on a work break or on the train) or having a time limit (e.g., 30 minutes/day). It might even be helpful to take the app icon off your home screen on your phone, so you have to go through extra steps to get to it.
Another strategy might be to try going cold turkey – take a week or a month off social media by temporarily deactivating or signing out of your accounts. If you choose this option, it can be good to plan some replacement behaviours to help you if you feel discomfort.
Try reflecting on what social media does for you.
Is it to relieve boredom? Is it to feel connected with friends or your community?
If you can identify the reasons that you use social media, it will be easier to think about replacements. Perhaps you can listen to a podcast or read a book if you are bored, or you could reach out personally to your friends or join a community group for a sense of connection.
Try reflecting on what social media does for you – is it to relieve boredom? Is it to feel connected with friends or your community? If you can identify the reasons that you use social media, it will be easier to think about replacements.
Another tip is to consider finding another source for your news updates outside of social media.
This way, you can be more selective about what sorts of information you would like to pay attention to and have more control over when you are exposed to that information. Not only will this help to clear your social media feeds of negative content, you can also ensure that your information is coming from a source that you trust – which is not always going to be the case on social media.
Finally, instead of spending 10 minutes mindlessly scrolling social media, you could spend 10 minutes on Mind Ease doing an activity that will help you to feel calm and focused.
Making small changes like this to how you spend your time could be a game changer in improving your mood, productivity, and overall wellbeing.
