Social Media: A Toll On Mental Health
Hamdan
University Law College, Quetta
This Blog is written by Hamdan, a Fourth-Year Law Student of University Law College, Quetta
Introduction:
This blog is all about the negative and drawbacks of social media that how it affects our mental and emotional health. It explains what social media is, how it is designed, what its cons are, and how it is a toll in our lives.
Social Media Platforms:
Social media is referred to the applications and websites where people were contents, participate in social networking, stay connected with each other and with the rest of the world. There are lots of social media platforms but the main ones are as follows: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, X, TikTok, and Snapchat etc.
Social Media Users:
We, human beings, are social animals. To thrive in life, we need the companionship of others. Relationships have a great impact on our mental health and happiness. Stress, anxiety, depression, self-worth, confidence etc. have a huge relationship with our social connections. Being socially connected provides comfort and joy, while lacking strong social connection can pose risk to your mental and emotional health.
Today, we mostly rely on social media platforms to stay connected with each other. Yes! It is a sort of relief and it is easy, but it cannot replace the in-person connections. The excessive use of social media platforms can make you more lonely and isolated. According to a report in 2023, there was an estimated 4.9 billion social media users worldwide. The average person spends 145 minutes on social media every day, which puts a large amount of people in risk.
Mental Impacts of Social Media:
o Design
Whenever we are free or waiting for someone or something or performing a task, we open up the social media applications and check for notifications or updates if any. And this cycle is repeated throughout the day. Most of us check social media applications before going to bed, and when we get up in the morning our
The social media applications are designed in such a way that they make users addicted to these applications. Max Fisher, New York Times reporter, in his book "The Chaos Machine" explains that dopamine creates a positive association with whatever behaviour prompting its release. It trains you to repeat them. And, when such a dopamine reward system is hijacked, it compiles you to repeat those behaviours (even if they are self-destructive). It could be: to place one more bet, to drinj another glass of alcohol, to masturbate one more time, or to spend a few more hours on these applications even when they make you unhappy.
o Fake-ness
Social media is a world of fake-ness, or a filtered world. People lead a fake life in social media. For example, Instagram and Snapchat filters, they are used to hide the imperfections of human beings. It may be the colour of skin or scars on someone's face, or the wrinkles on the face, or it may be the physique, or the shape of eyes, or nose, or mout, etc. Filters are used to cover up these. Consequently, such people start to hate the way they are, their looks. And they cannot accept themselves, we cannot acknowledge their imperfection, they cannot live with those imperfections. That is why most of the people opt for plastic surgery.
o Comparisons
Comparison has a great impact on one's mental health. Social media users compare each other with the number of likes and comments they get, and the number of followers and subscribers they have. If someone is not getting response from the audience as much as his friend is getting, then he starts to feel inferior. And this comparison leads to self-doubt, anxiety, and depression.
o Portrayal of the Best Part
Social media is the highlight of the best part of one's life. People only share their happiest moments, their glories, and their achievements, and sufferings, failures, and struggles are not posted. But people forget this fact, and start comparing their real life with the social media life of another. This comparison, which is unjust, leads to disappointment, anxiety, and depression. th
o Cyber Bullying
One of the main drawbacks of social media is cyber bullying and harassment. People bully and harass others on social media platforms. Such practices are very common and as a person is acting as anonymous with a fake ID and nobody knows him, so it encourages such behaviour. We have seen such practices on platforms, like X, where people spread hatred against a particular community, group, or race. Racism, body-shaming, and trolls are very common on social media.
o Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Fear of missing out is something that creates social or peer pressure on us to stay connected with social media platforms all the time. We feel that if we are not updated, we are left behind in office gossip, or we cannot be part of discussions with friends, or we cannot participate in social gatherings because we don't know about those things. So, we have to stay connected with social media for news, or for any update about anything. It might be related to sports, or a celebrity, or politics, weather, technically, event, movie, web series, etc. It literally could be anything. It harms out mental wellbeing.
o Time Mismanagement
One of the main drawbacks of social media is the mismanagement of time. We open an application with the intention of checking just a notification, but that ends up in scrolling social media for hours and hours.
Social media is truly meant to be engaging, but its overuse affects our relationships, businesses, studies, productivity, and mental health.
How to Control the Distraction of Social Media:
· Self-Observation
To control the distraction of social media, self-observation is a great way. We need to observe ourselves. Like, when we go to social media? We have to identify the time or the activity which ends up in scrolling social media. This is only possible by self-observation, and when we do so, then we can control the distraction.
· In-Person Interactions
We should rather meet people in-person than interact with them on social media. We need to spend more time with family and friends and discussing things that make us happy.
· Changing Focus
Changing focus is another way of controlling the distraction of social media. Change our routine and set small targets and goals, for example reading a book, jogging, going to the gym, or some other physical activity where we are surrounded by our loved ones.
· Reduce Time
We should check our smartphone, tablet, or laptop average screen time and try to reduce that. This can only be possible when we indulge in other alternate activities.
Conclusion:
Social media is, indeed, takes a toll on mental health as discussed above. But we can overcome it by getting out of our comfort zone. We got to act, and change our priorities and utilize our time in something productive.
References:
· https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health
· https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/wellbeing/social-media-and-mental-health
· https://www.simplilearn.com/real-impact-social-media-article