Who would have thought 5 years ago that the implications of social media would be discussed during a presidential candidate debate?
Not me! And yet while I sit here and reflect on the implications that it has had on so many individuals’ mental health, I’m glad it was. If you have ever taken a statistics class, you know that correlation doesn’t always mean causation but, in this case, the relationship between the increase in social media use and the corresponding rise in depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidality is pretty apparent.
So why do we stay on it? How do we make it a safer place for our well-being and for future generations?
There have been multiple discussions at the government level around implementing age restrictions to social media sites, and the state of Montana has even banned Tiktok altogether. Now do I think banning social media in adolescents under the age of 16 is realistic? Maybe, maybe not, but that’s beyond my expertise so instead, I aim to spread awareness about the potential harms of social media, ways we can reduce toxic exposure, and help people understand that they are not to blame for their mental health struggles, nor are they alone in these feelings.
If you’re reading this, I can just about guarantee that you not only have one, but probably have multiple different social media outlets that you check multiple times a day. And I can also probably guarantee that after scrolling through your feed you have set your phone down and at times felt less than, or maybe behind in life, not skinny enough, not successful enough, not cool enough, not stylish enough, the list goes on and on and on. I’ve been there, but through changing my behaviors, unfollowing those that did not serve me, and limiting the time I spend online, I no longer feel drained after checking my Instagram account.
While we can’t control what others post, we can control what we choose to ingest and our behaviors online.
1. Stop dming your friends’ hateful messages about other people. Take a second and ask yourself why you feel the need to trash talk someone else. I can guarantee it doesn’t make you feel any better and is often a reflection of something you are jealous or resentful of. So instead, unfollow that person or mute them and look inward on what triggered that reaction.
2. Go through who you follow and be really honest with yourself regarding who makes you feel better and who makes you feel worse. Unfollow or mute people that don’t build you up and inspire you.
3. Set limits with yourself. Studies have found a link between increased levels of anxiety and the constant need to check social media accounts. This feeling of always needing to be plugged in can cause unease and irritability. It has even gained a clinical name for it, phantom vibration syndrome. Use the screen time limit option on your phone and stick to it.
4. Avoid scrolling the popular page. We often follow people we enjoy keeping up with but can end up trailing to the popular page that is filled with very carefully targeted posts that can be triggering and toxic to our mental health.
5. Stop multitasking on social media. When you’re at a red light, on a walk, eating dinner, or even watching a movie, we so often are also scrolling through social media simultaneously. This inability to truly be present and lack of mindfulness is one of the leading causes of anxiety in young adults. So please put your phone away when you are doing something else because I promise it can wait.