Social media gives you a sense of staying connected to your loved ones all the time and helps overcome loneliness in times when no one is around. However, despite its power to help people stay in touch with each other at the click of a button or the touch of a finger, its limitations and harmful effects may outweigh its benefits.
Not meeting people in real life can take a toll on mental health and lead to loneliness, anxiety, depression and related issues.
Negative Impact Of Social Media On Your Mental Health
Here’s How Social Media Is Causing Effect On Your Mental Health
1.It’s Making You Less Body-Positive
The type of social media consumed by women especially, can really impact their perceptions of their bodies. In a ‘filtered’ age where body ‘perfection’ rather than body positivity or neutrality is emphasized, women may have worse thoughts about themselves especially if they have low self esteem and a history of an eating disorder as they compare themselves to individuals that may have edited or idealized not eating.
2. It’s Reducing Your Real World Connections
When individuals have heavy social media use, studies show that this leads them to feel less socially connected. In a study published by the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, passive engagement with social media that involved not posting, but only viewing people’s posts was associated with lower efforts to seek social connection, reduced well-being, and higher stress.
3. It’s Impacting You The Same Way That Drugs Do
Neuroscientists that study the effects of social media on the brain find that positive interactions (such as someone liking your tweet) trigger the same kind of chemical reaction that is caused by gambling and the use of recreational drugs. This is because when you get a social media notification, your brain sends a chemical messenger known as dopamine along a reward pathway, which makes you feel ‘happy’.
4. Attentional Challenge
It is a well-researched fact that those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face a need for constant stimulation and have lower self-control. The overuse of media and lack of moving their bodies makes such individuals reduce their inhibitive tendencies further, which leads to even more screen time, building a cycle that is difficult to get out of.
5. Risk Of Depression And Loneliness
As we check ‘stories’ or posts, we may worry about missing an event, an inside joke, or something that makes you feel left out. The human need to belong is so strong, that continuously feeling like this can make you develop an increased sense of loneliness or exclusion as we see people having a good time- which might only be one second of their life’s highlight reel.
Staying glued to social media and keeping track of constant flow of information can negatively impact brain.