The endless cycle of interchanging between your social media apps, aimlessly scrolling in order to fill some time up during the day. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, Twitter, repeat. But how reliant are you on such apps? All you need to do is wait for one of them to crash and see swarms of taking to Twitter (shock, a social media app) to vent their frustration and to find out whether they’ve just been an unlucky sole or others are experiencing the same issues.
Spending too much time on social media can have a negative impact on our mental health. In this blog, we will discuss how staying off social media can help improve your mental health.
- Reduce anxiety and depression
Social media platforms can be a breeding ground for anxiety and depression. The negative comments and criticism which can be leveled at your on a daily basis by anonymous blank profiles can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression.
That, tied in with the pressure of constantly feeling like you need to present the perfect life and feeling sharp sting of disappointment when you haven’t quite received the reaction from a post you were hoping for; leads to a cocktail of negative thoughts. By staying off social media, you can reduce these triggers and help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Improve sleep quality
For many, scrolling before bed is a given. You’re going to be asleep for 7-8 hours, you ‘need’ that last kick of dopamine, but that comes a detrimental cost to your sleeping pattern. Staring at a screen before bed can disrupt your sleep patterns and make it difficult to fall asleep. Social media is designed to the keep the user engaged & keep them on the app for as long as possible. How many times have you tried to have a ‘quick look’ on TikTok, then the next thing you know its half an hour later? You’ve followed 20 new accounts and your like list has doubled?
By staying off social media, you can improve your sleep quality and wake up feeling refreshed and energized.
- Enhance real-life connections
It’s all too easy to drop a friend you’ve not seen for a white, a quick message asking after them then make depth-less plans which you both know neither will follow up on. Taking that step away from social media and relying on face to face catchups with friends and family can be monumentally beneficial to your mental health not only because real life interactions are so much more meaningful than messages, but the plans will usually involve you having to leave the house, getting out in the world and having great time out of the house!
Ditch the DMs and focus on building and maintaining real-life connections.
- Boost productivity
As we’ve mentioned previously, ending up down a social media wormhole happens to the best of us. Not only can this lead to you losing minutes or even hours of your day, it can cause productivity issues.
Getting started in the office for the day ‘ A quick look on social media won’t hurt’, an assignment to complete ‘I’ll take a 5 minute break’, an important email to send ‘I’ll do it just after a speedy scroll’. We’ve all be guilty of using the social media excuse to dodge a bit of work.
If you can stay off the apps and just get finished the tasks you have in front you, you can spend as much time as you desire catching up on the goings on of the day, liking animal videos & getting your social media fix, knowing all your tasking are complete.
- Reduce comparison and self-esteem issues
The worrying amount of young children and teens who want to grow up and achieve the ‘idyllic’ life of an ‘influencer’ is in perfect correlation with the way in which their lives are portrayed online. The parts of their existence which are, of course, missing from this seemingly perfect way of living are constantly on your phone finding the perfect angle as opposed to living in the moment, the staged non-geniune moments fabricated in order to continue the false perception of their life. Now look, we aren’t saying this is the case for ALL influencers but to think it does not occur is extremely naive and needs addressing.
Remembering the aforementioned factors the next time you come across one of their posts is integral in reducing the comparisons between their lives and yours.
Totally abandoning social media is certainly for the few, not the many. But reducing the time you send on social media will undoubtedly help your mental health in the long run. Of course, social media can be a useful tool for staying connected and informed, it’s balance is key.
