Nowadays, social media has taken a huge part of our daily lives. Only very few people are exceptions in that they don’t use social media on a regular basis.
Especially, the young generation is getting more addicted to it.
People are using social media to share their feelings, emotions, thoughts, photos, and videos. Users interact with social media through web-based software or applications on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Research says that more than 4.5 billion people use these platforms as of October 2021.
Even several businesses took advantage of social media’s popularity to reach customers. Social media lets you connect and share information with anyone on Earth or many people at once.
How Social media and Mental health are related to each other-
We frequently hear about the bad effects that social media can have on our well-being, but we don’t normally consider the possibility that how we feel may have an impact on how we use social media. This is because we don’t typically think about it in the opposite way.
In a study, it is found that the use of social media and people’s well-being both have effects on each other. When people have psychological disorders or poor lifestyles, that might be the impact of increased use of social media. On the other hand, when people have high usage of social media, the cause might be psychological disorders of dissatisfaction in their lives.
According to some findings, people who aren’t doing well might be using social media more, maybe as a way to deal with their problems, but this doesn’t seem to help. Unfortunately, and ironically, turning to social media may make the feelings and symptoms that a person is trying to get away from even worse.
How to use social media
Using social media is not always bad. Hence, it is important to know how we use it and for how long. Also, we should know the key to control and restrict ourselves.
Utilizing social media to interact with other people or for amusement purposes has been associated with enhanced well-being. But the moment, we start comparing ourselves with each other, that practice is harmful to us.
Additionally, scrolling on social media platforms without any purpose is also not good for our mental health. According to research, inactive use of social media also has an adverse effect on our well-being than active use.
Hence, think wisely and restrict the usage of social media.
In 2015, a study with more than 1,000 people found that taking a one-week break from a particular social media platform even made people happier with their lives.
Here are some ways to manage the adverse effects of social media.
Do not substitute social media with other things- The key to success in life is striking a healthy balance, thus it is imperative that you continue to engage in significant, health-promoting activities that take place away from your phone. According to research, spending time in nature, exploring your hobbies, and being physically active can all help improve one’s overall health and well-being.
Limit the use of social media– Create a time schedule on your own and decide how much time you will spend on social media. If you limit the use of it, you may find that you are getting ample time to do other necessary jobs in a better way.
Distract yourself– Currently, most of us are active on social media over mobile phones. So, whenever we feel to check our phones without any reason, we must stop ourselves from doing it right there. However, this might be difficult at first, but thinking of something else or listening to music, or reading something can gradually change the habit of checking our phones now and then.
Social media has both positive and negative effects on us. Have we ever thought that what would happen, if there were no social media during the pandemic?
During the pandemic apart from doing household chores people used to spend a long period of time using social media. Sometimes, it brought happiness amidst distress. On the other hand, some overhyped and fake news running on social media regarding the pandemic also made people confused and perplexed.
Conclusion –
Social media platforms are made to make you want to use them more and more, which can be bad for your mental health. Even though it would be easy to just tell you to delete your social media accounts and apps, that’s not a reasonable request in the modern world. Instead, if you use social media in a balanced way, it can be beneficial for you and your overall well-being.
