Social Media : How it takes a toll On Mental Health
Social media has become firmly integrated into a lot of people’s daily lives. People ( including me) turn to these platforms for entertainment, to communicate and share with others, and to keep up with the fast-paced world around them.
These days, it's hard to imagine life without online resources such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But when we use social media too much — in particular, overuse — it can negatively affect our mental health. We have all recognised, at one point or another, the cumulative toll that overuse of social media can take on our mental health.
Social media can be a double-edged sword — at least when it comes to mental health.
Team illustrations by Storyset
Social media may be a blessing to some, but most likely it causes its fair share of curses. Studies have shown that excessive use of social media can trigger feelings of inadequacy. People may feel inferior and envious comparing their lives or appearances with others on social media, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction with their own lives. Having a glimpse into the fancy and happy lives of others, we feel that we have less privilege in our own. And then, there’s a feeling of discontentment. Somehow we forget the fact that whatever we are watching online is all virtual and we don’t realise the struggles behind and have no idea what the other person encounter in their life.
It can be easy to forget that there are millions of people in this world who don’t have the privileges we have. But it’s important to remember that everyone is unique and beautiful.
Social media has changed the way we live and work. The productivity of our time has gone down due to this technology, as we spend more time on social media rather than productive tasks. When the time we spend in social media and online surfing take our focus, it becomes difficult to get things done at all. We have become more lazy to work on our productivity and rather find it easier to just scroll and surf endlessly.
Team illustrations by Storyset
When we think back to our childhood and school days, there are a lot of memories that come in our mind. A lot of things like stories told to us by our parents and teachers, playing different indoor and outdoor games, books we read and even craft work. All these activities used to work as a booster to our mind, body and imagination. I rarely find this in today’s generations.
Children today prefer to watch YouTube videos, different shows on tv, rather than playing and doing some brain stimulating activities. With children's attention all on screens, we're seeing a rise of inattentive behaviour and they don't seem to care about school work and focus needed activities. Also the attention span of children have reduced drastically and they can’t focus on things for more than few seconds. It is concerning that children are more striving for quick results rather than slow and steady progress in their daily lives.
It's not just kids. Adults are turning to YouTube, too! They want to be entertained and challenged but don't have the time or energy for traditional activities like reading and playing games with friends. Most people spend a large chunk of their times on these media platforms and could lead to health issues too. It is time that we should start moving towards a more healthy living without compromising on our entertainment and other needs.
We can’t totally cut the use of internet and social media from our lives but it is high time we need to limit its usage. The internet is a hugely powerful tool which has revolutionised the way we live, what concerns me is the way we use it.
It is time we need to think beyond technology.
Team illustrations by Storyset
The best way we can use social media is to serve our needs and not to make it serve us. If you are finding yourself in a hole, stop digging. Internet and social media, like any other thing, has both pros and cons. But mental health should always be our priority and we just have to learn how to use internet and social media properly, so that it does not takes a toll on our mental health and wellbeing.
Love & Peace.