Social media and stress by Charlotte Crosby-Digital Officer
As social media becomes more prevalent in our daily lives it is important to be mindful of how it affects our well-being. Most of us know that social media can be bad for us but do not have any coping strategies for the stress of social media or an understanding of why social media makes us feel so bad. In this article, we will explore the main sources of this stress and ways to reduce it.
FOMO
FOMO otherwise known as ‘the Fear Of Missing Out’ occurs when we see pictures of people doing exciting or interesting things with others that do not include ourselves. It could be triggered by a picture of colleagues going to a pub at the weekend or an old school friend traveling the world, we have all experienced this at some point online. So how do we stop feeling like this?
- Remember that people on social media only show what they want us to see. Online we are all guilty of excluding the mundane and the flawed parts of our lives and only displaying the best parts.
- Focus on things in your own life that you have found exciting. Maybe you visited a new place or you went to a friend’s party.
- Question yourself. Why am I jealous that I was not invited to that? Do you really want that for yourself? Often we can be envious of things we think we should want or should be doing when in reality we would not enjoy it or it is not right for us.
Body image
Social media is inundated with images of beautiful people, it is very easy to scroll through posts and wonder ‘Why don’t I look like that?’. So it is important to remember to;
- Celebrate your individuality. The world would be very boring if we all looked the same and it is much more beautiful to have you in it.
- Beauty standards are impossible to keep up with because they change so quickly. Rather than constantly chasing after the latest beauty trends and being disappointed it is far more freeing to embrace your differences and love the features you were born with.
- Editing pictures and videos is an unfortunate reality of social media. You might even be comparing yourself to someone who is not real.
Disruption of sleep
We are all guilty of laying in bed for far too long on our phones when we are supposed to be asleep. This is bad because the blue light from our phones disrupts our sleep wake-cycle so it is almost impossible to fall asleep. Some useful advice would be to;
- Have at least a one-hour break from screen time before bed.
- Read a book before bed. Reading is perfect because it provides entertainment without the blue-light and the anxiety of social media.
- Activate the screen- time limit on your phone so you can not use it between certain times.
Addiction
‘Doomscolling’ is the excessive consumption of social media content for a long time. Often we can feel ourselves getting more anxious as we continue to mindlessly scroll but somehow we can not seem to stop ourselves. Often by the time we stop scrolling a lot of time has elapsed and we feel regret thinking about how else we could have used the time. The main reason for this is that by its very nature social media has been designed to be addictive as they create small surges of dopamine in our brain which encourage us to chase it more. Some ways to avoid doom-scrolling are;
- Use screen-time limits on your phone.
- Engage in an offline hobby like a sport or a craft. These hobbies make you feel relaxed and accomplished and provide a healthy source of dopamine
- Take longer breaks from social media. This may be for a week or even a month either way it gives you back a sense of control of your attention.
Disconnected
Social media was invented to connect people across the world however it also has the bizarre way of making people feel even more disconnected from each other. This is because we are bombarded with so many ways to connect with so many people online that we can neglect to nurture smaller more important relationships. Here are some ways to feel more connected;
- Avoid following people who you do not know outside social media. Often having loads of followers we do not know makes us feel more lonely.
- Spend more time with people who are important to you, nurturing these relationships strengthens them and distracts you from all the noise of social media.