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You’re scrolling again…
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. and you look up to realize that over 30 minutes have already passed you by. You panic a bit at the time lost, remembering the thing you were supposed to be doing, and an anxiety spike happens. Yikes. What’s scarier is that this happens to a lot of us on a daily basis, and there’s no sign of it slowing down or stopping. Not only is social media use at an all-time high, it is also negatively affecting mental health for a large population of its users.
Today I want to talk about what the trends are around mental health and social media use, and then provide some ways that you can start to take some self-assessments, and potential steps back from your social media use to improve your overall well-being.
Mental Health & Social Media Use
Mental health is defined as a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. With the fast-paced, ever-changing nature of social media, it can be incredibly difficult to regulate. And although there are a lot of positives to social media, like increased communication between distant friends and family members, or the passing of knowledge on a quicker basis, we also see an increase in depressive symptoms, fear in loss or missing out, and anxiety surrounding responses to things posted.
We tend to see that females have a higher percentage of use of social media, being more “addicted” to checking their socials than their male counterparts. We have seen social media use extending to younger and younger ages, meaning that screen time is increasing exponentially over time. Research points to scrolling and reading versus being more active with posting is indicative of more depressive behaviors. Some studies see an increase in negative body image with increased use of socials as well.
As with anything, there are limitations within studies. Currently, we don’t have a lot of longitudinal data on social media and mental health due to the newness of social media, and many studies aren’t showing causal effects from social media (remember, correlation does not equal causation). But– these are correlations to be aware of, and it’s worth noting that if you already are struggling with mental health (anxiety, depression, etc), that social media may be a trigger for you that causes those things to worsen.
What You Can Do
Set Some Boundaries
Whether doing so with an actual timer on your phone, or using things like the downtime settings built into your phone, setting some boundaries on the amount of time spent on social media apps is a great first step. By assessing where your use is currently and then bringing that down in small increments, you can gradually see less time spent mindlessly scrolling.
Curate Your Feed
If you find yourself constantly going down a rabbit hole on specific influencer’s pages, or comparing yourself to someone on your feed, it might be time to unfollow or simply “mute” them for the time being. This goes for people you don’t know, and people you do. Have a family member who is constantly posting negatively about a topic you’d rather not see? Mute their posts. Is an influencer’s weight loss journey causing you to spiral? Unfollow. Out of sight, out of mind.
Curate Your Feed Part 2
In the same way you may want to remove things from your feed that do not serve you, start filling your feed with the things that do. Pages that encourage healthy habits, spread educationally backed content (hello LVLTN Coaches!), and add to your life, are a great way to ensure your time spent online is beneficial.
Discover Alternate Behaviors
If you find that your morning routine starts with a scroll, or your evening before bed is the same, what can you do instead of that? Can you get up and do some breath work, or finish the night with some reading? We use social media often to fill time gaps or delay things we don’t want to do, so what if we can find use of that time for things we DO want to do instead.
Designate Unplugged Hours
This can go hand in hand with setting boundaries, but think outside of the sleeping/working hours of the day. Can you choose to make dinner a time where you don’t have your phone on you, or while watching a movie at night? Put your phone in a separate room to designate that this is an unplugged time.
With a decrease in time spent on social media, you can open up a world of possibilities for what you can use that time for (increased movement, time to meal prep, spending time with family, etc), and continue to enrich your life even further.
The goal is to find ways to decrease your time in things that negatively impact your mental health, and increase your time in things that positively impact your mental health, so you get to be the decision maker on where your time goes!
Either way, we hope that these tips help to put your mental health at the forefront, and to use your time on social media wisely!
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