In 2017 users spent approximately two hours a day on social media. Surprisingly, this amounts to five years and four months of a person’s life spent solely on social media [1] There have been connections made between mental health concerns and social media consumption throughout the years. What is triggering these links with mental health issues, is it the consumption of data? Is it healthy to have an abundant of data on the internet about ourselves? What effect does this copious and uncontrollable data have on our society?
The Problem
Social media creates a malleable platform for people to connect to others, but how does this constant barrage of information about others affect our mental health? There are three main problems when dealing with social media and mental health: the blurred distinction between real life and life on social media (social media becoming an extension of ourselves), the addiction/attachment to social media and the stigma that comes with social media.
What is Mental Health?
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Mental Health as “a state of well-being in which individual can realise his or her own potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively, and make a contribution to the community”[2]. It has been noted by The World Health Organization that depression is “…one of the main causes of disability worldwide. Globally, an estimated 300 million people are affected by depression. More women are affected than men” [3].
Signs of depression can be: “sad, despairing mood that”:
- is present most days and lasts most of the day
- lasts for more than two weeks
- impairs the person’s performance at work, at school or in social relationships.
Other symptoms of depression include:
- changes in appetite and weight
- sleep problems
- loss of interest in work, hobbies, people or sex
- withdrawal from family members and friends
- feeling useless, hopeless, excessively guilty, pessimistic or having low self-esteem
- agitation or feeling slowed down
- irritability
- fatigue
- trouble concentrating, remembering and making decision
- crying easily, or feeling like crying but being not able to
- thoughts of suicide (which should always be taken seriously)
- a loss of touch with reality, hearing voices (hallucinations) or having strange ideas (delusions).” [4]
What is Social Media?
“We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.” danah boyd and Nicole B. Ellison [5]
Social media allows people to easily connect with others. From old to new friends, family and colleagues these connections can occur at any time anywhere in the world. Social media provides a platform that allows for conversation to be created and discussed through an online community. Social media opens new communication avenues allowing novel ways for relationships to develop. Despite these benefits, there are concerns with Social Media which include:
Extension of Ourselves
An imbalance exists when people are consuming too much social media in their daily lives. Phones/devices have become an extension of ourselves and have blurred the boundaries between real life and life on social media [6].
Social Media can act as a middle ground for people to connect with others without having to physically interact. This may benefit people with some disabilities such as those with hearing loss, physically challenged, autism or social anxiety [7], but it does not fulfill the need of physical social interaction that many humans require [8].
Society has become reliant on social media to provide world event updates (such as Canada’s recent implementation of mobile emergency alerts) and self-promotion [9]. As social media becomes more engrained in society the blur between what we see and do in real life and what we post and say on social media as an extension of ourselves will dissolve and become indistinguishable [10]. It is important for social media users to be aware of these concerns.
Addiction to Social Media
“To a social media addict, every event in life is a chance to post. To a smoker, every gap in the day is a chance to light up a smoke.” Judson Brewer [11]
Do you find yourself mindlessly opening your phone or computer and automatically checking Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter? If so, you are not alone. Social Media has addictive qualities and users feel compelled to constantly check what is going on with their peers and in the world. But is this addiction to sharing data good for our mental health?
CMHA has stated that social Media has the tendency to “…[alter people’s] mood, motivation, concentration and producing a dissociating and disinhibiting experience for users” [12]. Though the addiction of social media users are more likely to gravitate towards addictive and compulsive behaviours [13].
We lack cognitive control when we have bad habits or addiction “….[with] cognitive control, we’re using cognition to control our behaviour. Unfortunately this is also the first part of our brain that goes offline when we get stressed out which, isn’t that helpful” [14].
We are addicted to social media because we are trying to create the best versions of ourselves through social media. We want to promote ourselves through a brand that we think we are and if we do not get the feedback we want to receive it affects us emotionally [15]. “We curate a self online that is the self we want other people to see. We preach authenticity but practice self-curation. We alienate ourselves from who we really are” [16].
Stigma of Social Media
Studies have indicated that some users of social media have attempted or questioned eradicating social media entirely from their lives [17]. This however, is neither common nor easy to do. There is a stigma that suggests completely removing social media signifies that there is a problem with the user (who becomes an outsider), and that they will become uninformed (missing out on vital things). Is this stigma true?
Social media encourages the FOMO (fear of missing out) phenomena. People fear if they do not post something or go on social media they will be missing out on important things, or will be forgotten. This is especially true at events which feature music, food and fashion.
Taking advantage of this stigma, businesses have designed their restaurants and stores to be aesthetically pleasing, which encourages users to take photos of their environments to entice others in what they are missing. Reinforcing this mantra is the popular slogan “Instagram/Snapchat it or it didn’t happen.”
Social gatherings in general have changed due to social media, altering people’s perception and making comparisons between ourselves and others easier. Social norms now include posts about your every activity and outings allowing others to gage your standard of living. With these norms, it’s not surprising that privacy concerns are becoming threatening. If North Americans are exhibiting an unhealthy reliance on social media, what can be done to make this healthy?
Solutions
There are no easy solutions to a social media addiction. However, there are steps that can help. Below is a list of suggestions:
1. Disengage yourself from social media by putting your phone on airplane mode, deleting your social media apps from your phone or hiding your social media apps in folders making it harder to access.
2. If you are out with friends or family try leaving your phone at home or not within easy reach.
3. If you use social media for work purposes, try scheduling your posts ahead of time. You can also try setting aside one hour in your day to reply to all social media queries. Leave the rest of your day for other mindful tasks.
4. Use one or more of the apps below to remove yourself from technology:
- Social Fever
- Offtime
- QualityTime
- SPACE-Break Phone Addiction
- Flipd: Distraction Blocker
- Mute
- Moment
- Forest
- Hold
5. Apps to enhance your mindfulness and reduce your social media dependency include:
- Headspace
- The Mindfulness App
- Calm
- Mindbody
- Insight Timer
- Aura
- Omvana
- Stop, Breathe & Think
6. Try practicing Mindful Social Media: https://www.mindful.org/before-you-scroll-try-this-social-media-practice/
Social media is now fully engrained in our society and is something we must contend with. Learning how to overcome the barriers that create mental health issues is crucial. When dealing with overwhelming quantities of social media posts each day, remember to take time aside for mindfulness and practice being in the present moment.
Further Reading:
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
Mindful tech: how to bring balance to our digital lives by David M. Levy
The big disconnect: the story of technology and loneliness by Giles Slade
People said…