Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

Social media is an effective tool for building connections and gathering meaningful information. However, it feels like that slowly drifts into an unrealistic path in these modern days.

Is there any connection between social media and mental health? Yes, let’s discuss social media's influence on mental health in this blog.

How Social Media Influences Mental Health

Comparison

People have developed a long-standing habit of comparison. As we say, “Everyone is unique in this world," the power of uniqueness needs to be realized. In social media, only the perfect moments are portrayed in the maximum amount of time, such as marriage, couples photoshoots, new product purchases, and much more.

It is everyone’s own independence to post on social media. There is nothing to criticise, be jealous of, or compare yourself with others. Of course, posts like feeding poor people, fitness, and following a diet routine are suggested to be taken as inspiration or examples to follow in their own lives.

Comparison always leads to underestimating one’s potential. The study found a “correlation between the amount of time spent on social media, the level of social comparison, and an increase in depressive symptoms." This study shows that the more people compare themselves to others on social media, the more it impacts their self-worth directly.

Seeking Validation

Looking for validation from people has become more common in this modern digital era. As we all know, self-validation is more important than expecting validation from the outside world. It is a proven fact that humans crave attention starting from childhood.

Attention-seeking behaviour is not so bad; that is a natural phenomenon developed in the baby days, but there is a frequency limit for any habit. Being yourself keeps you secure in any way in relationships, the workplace, and family.

Being secure helps you stay away from negative emotions like mental stress, anxiety, and overthinking as well. Mental health purely depends on the habits we follow in our regular daily routine.

Chasing likes and appreciative comments will not help us anymore. Certainly, if you are using social media as a promotion for building your brand or product, that will elevate your brand goals through likes and comments.

However, posting your picture or consistent social media updates on your personal life makes you addicted rather than boosting your mental health.

Influencers and Celebrities

Setting unrealistic standards based on influencers and celebrities that we see on social media is another myth that affects our mental health.

How does it affect mental health? Yes, it will, because, in the end, influencers and celebrities need money and visibility, no matter what! People follow them blindly rather than looking at the business involved behind it. 

User perceptions change only through their social media presence and by setting unrealistic standards. Working hard just because we see our favourite celebrity shine will lead us nowhere except frustration and depression.

Influencers, or celebrities, are just another human being that needs to be realised by the common people. Considering their achievements as a reference is good, but following them blindly and trying to change as if they were them will keep you away from the goals. 

This could be one of the mental issues that many could face to achieve their goals; instead, it will only create pressure to keep you scrolling through the feed on social media rather than setting realistic goals.

Negative Interactions

The influence of negativity has spread everywhere drastically since social media started booming. Yes. Of course, social media helped us a lot to reach the news instantly. Simultaneously, it has impacted negativity as well.

Negative comments and online bullying also destroyed many individuals' self-esteem. Seeking validation behaviour could have been harvested from the comments section. Why is it so? Yes, indeed, many were not ready to accept the critics.

Body shame is another important topic to be addressed here because it harms, creates unnecessary doubts, and makes one feel ashamed about one’s looks. Mean comments could really disrupt the self-confidence of a person, though the people who have given mean comments are directly unknown.

What is FOMO?

FOMO means Fear of Missing Out, which develops negative feelings such as stress, anxiety, jealousy, and dissatisfaction. How does it develop? For example, when you are browsing social media posts, you could see many different types of posts like vacations, parties, get-togethers, sharing their highlights, trip experiences, couple goals, and the list goes on. 

The first thing is that it kills time and indirectly creates a missing-out feeling in you that many individuals need to be aware of, especially while using social media. The missing-out feeling takes you into depression and frustration and keeps you questioning why you’re unhappy. 

So there are many activities to enjoy in life rather than sitting and scrolling through social media. Promoting our mental stability would always be beneficial to boost our happiness and growth mindset.

How do you leverage social media positively?

So far, we have discussed the negative impacts of social media on mental health. Now, let’s discuss how we can use it positively to improve our mental health and well-being. The first notable point is mindfulness.

Being mindful and aware of the content we consume daily is essential. Focusing on the positive and productivity helps us grow in our lives. Following informative social media channels related to your subject or the fields you work in could elevate your career perspective on your life.

Gathering in relevant groups would be helpful to build a good connection, but before doing this, the goal should be identified. Goals represent the person’s needs, which are essential for every man and woman. 

Sharing your achievements, building your own brand, and Sharing informative content on social media could really positively impact users and individuals. In earlier days, starting a business or creating our own brand was tougher to reach.

Now, social media is a powerful tool that everyone has in their pockets. Utilising it in the right way is always in our hands. 

The choice is yours!

If you are really interested in learning more about mental health, please take a look at our blog on mindfulness and mental health.

I hope our readers find this blog interesting and thoughtful. Let’s see you again in our next informative blog!

Please share your thoughts in the comments section!