SOCIAL MEDIA x MENTAL HEALTH

Written by Lauren Legere, RCC + CCC - founder of latitude counselling

We are social creatures who crave social interaction, even when we self-identify as introverts. We need companionship to thrive in life and the strength of our relationships has been correlated with overall happiness and an ease in anxiety, depression, prevent loneliness and boost self-worth. Social media has played a significant role in keeping us connected over the past few years. Social media can be a way to connect with people that you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. It can be a great creative outlet, potentially allowing people across the globe to see the amazing things you are doing. It also has the ability to activate the reward centre of the brain by releasing dopamine, the feel good chemical linked to pleasurable activities such as sex, food, and social interaction, causing a reinforcing effect on social usage.

Like most things in life, however, there are two sides to every story. Social media can also have the power to be draining if you do not have boundaries in place and are not using it mindfully. Social media applications can cause us to compare ourselves, our lives, what we own, and how much we make to others. It can make us feel isolated and disconnected and create a sense of never being good enough. 

Remember, social media is a highlight reel and not everything you see is real.

It is important to check in with how you feel before and after you are on social media. If you are consistently noticing that social media is affecting your mood for the worse, it might be time to change your social media habits. 

SOME INDICATIONS THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS NEGATIVELY IMPACTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH MAY INCLUDE:

• Being distracted at work, or unable to focus

• Comparing yourself unfavorably to others-low self esteem or negative body image

• Having little to no time for self-reflection

• Spending more time on social media than with people IRL

• Suffering sleep problems

• Worsening anxiety or depression

It’s easy to spend hours aimlessly scrolling on social media apps so it is important to check in with yourself about what’s motivating you to grab your phone. If you are mindlessly grabbing your phone when you feel bored, uncomfortable or aren't aware of when you are doing it, it might be time to try to limit your screen time. While limiting social media to under an hour a day may not be realistic for some of us *cough, social media managers, cough*, we can still try to find other ways to reduce the amount of time we spend on social media.

SOME THINGS TO HELP REDUCE YOUR USAGE:

• Turn your phone onto "Do Not Disturb" throughout the day, especially when you are in meetings or working on a specific task

• Practice mindful usage. Limit the amount of checks you are doing and be intentional about when you do check

• Disable social notifications

• Don't bring your phone to the bedroom

• Track how much time you spend on social every day and see if you can set a goal to reduce it by 5 minutes each week 

• Download an app that helps set time restrictions on the platforms

There are so many benefits to having and using it! The key is to incorporate ways to improve our relationship with social so that it works for us. This will likely look different for each of us, but we have some suggestions to get you started.

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA & IMPROVE MENTAL WELLNESS:

• Recognizing social media apps as a tool  

• Get curious about your habits and relationship with social media - Are you seeking validation? Do you feel lonely? What is happening for you? 

• Practice gratitude - Integrating gratitude into your daily schedule requires intention and practice. Remind yourself about the blessings in your life and the things you are grateful for.

• Get selective - Spend some time paying attention to the kind of content that negatively impacts your mental health. Block, mute or unfollow any account that doesn't help you. Seek out content that is inspiring or uplifts you. It is your feed to curate. 

• Trade in checking your social first thing in the morning or right before bed for a mindful moment, body scan or a good book 

• Engage in activities with humans IRL that fill up your cup

• Be kind and gentle with yourself

We all may have different feelings about social media, and it may affect each of us differently so it is important to remember that our relationship with social is a practice; there may be some trial and error; we may be better at it some days more than others. There is no such thing as a perfect social media relationship but we would take progress over perfection any day! Try creating your own self care plan around your social usage with some of the suggestions above and see what works for you. At the end of the day, social media can be a great tool to connect with others but it will never replace real life human connection. So be gentle. Go slow. And stay mindful.

please follow lauren and her team on instagram @latitudecounselling