Social Media and Mental Health

[Moderator ★]

We all know that social media has an affect on our mental health. It could be the amount we spend on apps, how often we compare ourselves to others, worrying about how to speak to someone online, or putting too much emphasis on notifications and how we present ourselves on our profiles. It’s impossible to completely go off-the-grid however, since social media is such an important part of our daily lives. What questions do you have about using social media and making sure that it doesn’t take a toll on your mental health?

To get you started, check out some of our articles about social media and how it can affect your mental health:

Screen Time and Mental Health

Do Notifications Heighten Your Anxiety?

Discussing Mental Health Through…Memes?

TMI

As a reminder, please make sure to stay anonymous. Please do not share any information which can identify you like: your name, where you live, your contact information, or other personal details.

[sovastateofmind]

I got rid of all my social media (except snapchat) two years ago. This really helped with my body image issues and the constant need to compare myself to others I saw online. Instagram in particular, at least in my opinion, is a very damaging site. People only ever share the most glamorized, amazing photos that are never representative of who they really are. Is this everyone else’s experience with the app too? Or am I just maybe looking in the wrong places?

[TheWomanInMyMind]

I definitely have noticed that social media can poorly contribute to my mental health. I often fell victim to comparing myself to other posters or feeling like I was not experiencing the same “glamorous” lifestyle as other people. One thing that REALLY helped me was being open on social media about my struggles. I occasionally post the “unglamorous” moments of my life with a note reminding others that someone’s life isn’t just what they post on social media – everyone struggles whether they share it or not. I have gotten such positive feedback from people about being “real” with my daily struggles. This has helped me to stay true to myself because I feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives. Another thing that helped me recently was Instagram adding the option to hide like counts on posts. I used to be OBSESSED with the number of likes I got on pictures and would feel embarrassed if the number was small because everyone who follows me could see the minimal likes as well. Now, I always enable the “hide-likes” feature and it has helped tremendously as now I don’t even think about like counts at all! It is good to see that social media platforms are becoming aware of how their platforms affect people and are providing options to alleviate some of the stress.

[Mower23]

I gave my phone to my friend for lunch one day and when I got it back my TikTok account had been banned. Whatever they did aside, I realized how much I rely on TikTok because the minute I no longer had it, I got super anxious. I have it back now but it was really eye-opening.

[Rosesarered]

I have noticed, especially on Instagram, people post only when they are very happy. Even if they’re not truly happy in the moment, the candid laughs and the forced smiles make us think so. This gives us the idea that if we are not happy all of the time there’s something wrong with us. It’s normal to have negative emotions too but society doesn’t accent them.

[sovastateofmind]

I can relate to all the comments here. I’ve found that utilizing the phones built-in settings such as “do not disturb” and “night” mode really help me control any compulsions I have to go on my phone (when I know I should be sleeping).

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