When was the last time you were with your family or friends and did not check your Facebook or Instagram feed? If you’re in a nice restaurant, are you paying more attention to clicking on a picture of food than eating? Do you feel stressed when uploading photos if you do not get enough likes or comments?
Technology can be a great thing, but there is also a downside. Excessive use of social media can have harmful consequences. Here are 6 ways in which social media can affect your mental health.
1. Leads to productivity losses
While social media can help us connect more easily with others during the day, it can divert our attention from the actual task and affect our productivity. As you work to get the latest Facebook posts, you’re not concentrating on the task you’re doing right now. They jeopardize the quality and accuracy of your work, ultimately reducing your overall productivity.
2. Promotes inactivity and reduces physical activity
If you spend all your free time on social media, you are not only unproductive, but also inactive. In addition, people are less prone to go outdoors, even when they need a bit of fresh air and exercise. It is important for your body and mind to break away from your social networks and be physically active. Sport increases endorphins and brain blood flow, which keeps you mentally and physically healthy.
3. Generates feelings of inadequacy
With constant access to social media, you’re always attached to what everyone else is doing – and always. So they are constantly comparing us to everyone else – all the time. What you actually see, however, are the glamor shots of anyone you compete with and therefore feel inadequate. Remember, people often share ideal portrayals. It’s not exactly a fair comparison.
4. You feel isolated
While we are “associated” with our online friends every day, waving hello on Facebook is not the same as meeting for a coffee and meeting in person. Thanks to social media sites, interacting with others has become effortless, but physically, we spend less and less time with others. When we do not spend time communicating personally, we lack the physical connection, which can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation. A fast company for your life.
5. Leads to antisocial behavior
If you spend all your time online, not only does it result in isolation, but you also lose the time you would otherwise spend making contacts and meeting “real” people in a “real world” environment. Having more friends in social media does not necessarily mean that you lead a better social life. To maintain these friendships requires an actual social interaction (not virtual).
6. becomes addicted
We now use social media to catch our messages, play games, chat with friends, or just kill time. People spend so much time on social media sites that it begins to affect the way they live their lives. Again and again, during the course of their day, they feel the need to post something or to check what others post. Studies have shown that all this use of social media can be addictive.
Using social media sites can be a rewarding experience and can improve a person’s life. It can help us to find people with whom we had lost contact years ago, to promote our company, to raise awareness of certain causes and to distance ourselves.
However, studies have shown that overuse of social media can harm your mental well-being and a break from time to time can help to increase your psychological well-being. Take a break and see how it works.