Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health and How to Set Boundaries
Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health and How to Set Boundaries
Written By: Rose Mardiah Mazlan (Content Moderator)
Verified By: Kelly Chan Jia Li, Clinical Psychologist (MAHPC(CP)00353)
The reality behind social media usage has been discussed all over the place. Many have covered the downside of social media despite how seamless and modern it is. However, it is a must to acknowledge how social media can downplay your mental health. Identifying its impact will give some input on how much you are affected by the whirlwind of social media. Moreover, social media has been part of your life, effortlessly accessible through your fingertips.
Why Social Media Is Inseparable From Life?
Your device– the smartphone has been in your grasp starting from waking up from sleep until at the end of your day. The purpose of social media is varied across individuals. What you might find in common is that you want to interact and communicate. These interactions are so seamless that the only thing you must do is just swiping.
The interactions are becoming limitless. You can even catch up to your favorite celebrities, connect with your old classmates and know several influencers. The wide range of users makes the social media world turn colorful and fulfilling. But, that fulfillment can become a void in users who use social media without clear guidance or are swept over by unwanted influence from it.
What Makes Social Media Harmful For Your Mental Health
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
While scrolling through someone’s stories, or posts, have you felt that they are doing better than you? You feel you did not get to do the same thing, which leads you to feel missed out from the fun? You are not alone in this boat. However, what was showcased in social media is usually curated and does not depict reality. Travel vlogs do not show you the real struggle behind traveling.
Even daily vlogs are edited based on what the uploader wants to show. What seemed perfect on screen might lead you to feel inadequate, and dissatisfied with what you could not experience the same.
Impulsive Buying
There are various online shopping platforms that offer various products to be purchased. These products nowadays can be purchased simply by adding them to cart and pay. Not only that, these products are also promoted by influencers, which will attract you to buy them. You tend to purchase them within spur-of-the-moment, attracted by how engaging the ads are. Chances are, you might regret your decision later because it turns out that product is not much needed. In the end, these purchases cause financial strain and accumulate stress.
Body Image Dissatisfaction
Many social media posts emphasize unrealistic beauty standards through heavily edited or filtered images. Certain pictures are also captured in a certain angle, which will focus on the prominent feature of the person in the picture. This pressured you to believe that beauty has to be perfect on camera, limiting the standard. Your self-esteem will drop, might even cause eating disorders just to achieve the ideal body type. The behaviors are unhealthy and deteriorating to you.
Depression and Stress
The interplay between the harmful effects mentioned earlier may cause you to succumb to depression and stress. You felt left behind by the achievements posted by your friends. Or you are trapped in the race of gaining likes and followers for the sake of validation, becoming your source of stress. You may also receive negative comments or harassment from someone across the cyber, making it harder for you to escape from the pressure.
Lower Sleep Quality
It takes less effort for you to spend time with your phone while in bed. While it starts from only checking out the updates, you get addicted to scroll more contents and watch other varieties of funny videos to fill in your night. Eventually, your sleep gets delayed and disrupts your sleeping schedule. Your sleep quality will also drop because of the blue light emitted by the screen. Blue light will disturb the production of melatonin, which is an important hormone for a good sleep.
Addiction to Instant Gratification
Short videos are a common format for today’s platform. They are short to consume, making it faster for you to enjoy the content. However, this will be quick entertainment for you, creating a dopamine rush, and becomes a shortcut reward system. Same goes to the impression of having likes and views. You might think that likes are important for you to enjoy the thrill of validation. Posts that gain more likes grants you to feel seen, triggering the dopamine rush. These incidents will eventually reduce your focus on long-term goals or derive joy from activities that require effort and patience.
Setting Boundaries to Protect Mental Health
Limit Screen Time
You might find spending time with a phone is something irresistible. But, this habit can be fixed slowly. You can start by setting the time limits for social media use using their own setting or installing a well-being app. It does not necessarily mean you have to cut down your screen time significantly from 9 hours to 3 hours. You can begin with a low count and progressively reduce it more.
Unfollow Negative Accounts
Notice what accounts that have been promoting toxic content, unrealistic beauty standards or unhealthy comparisons. If you notice these contents have been taking over your feed page, consider unfollowing them. You can also mute the keywords to filter out these kinds of videos. This way, you can take a breather while scrolling your social media. Even better, you can start following accounts that create uplifting contents that will promote positivity and healthier expectations.
Establish Tech-Free Zones
Choose any specific areas in your home where you can restrict phone usage. It could be the bedrooms or dining table. This can help create an engaging environment where you can have meaningful conversations with your loved ones without interruptions. This way, you can unconsciously associate those areas to be a place where you enjoy being physically present instead of losing yourself to the online world.
Turn Off Notifications
Notifications are the strongest hook to pull you to surf the apps. You will find yourself starting to scroll even though you just wanted to check out the updates. This mere curiosity has trapped you to further rewarding entertainment. By turning them off, you can minimize the distractions. You will notice your phones will be more spacious from those unnecessary details.
Schedule Social Media-Free Days
It is almost impossible to get rid of your social media in a single time. You can start small by taking breaks for a day or two in each week. While doing so, you can spend time with offline activities and recharge mentally. You can have the space since you are no more limiting your life around social media only.
Engage in Offline Hobbies
Limiting your time with social media might leave you bored. Spending time offline can be fulfilling if you do something you enjoy. Engage in hobbies you prefer like reading, dancing or knitting. Your life pace will become slower to savour in the moment and improve your overall well-being.
Seek Professional Help if Needed
Upon reading this article, you may have tried any of these initiatives but you still struggle to build boundaries with social media. If it causes your mental health to deteriorate, it is suggested for you to talk to a therapist to voice out your concerns. Sometimes, your struggle could stem from something deeper. Therapists will assist you in a safe space to come up with a personalised coping mechanism.
Conclusion
Reducing social media usage does not necessarily mean that you need to restrict it totally. Social media is still beneficial in its own way. Struggling with it also does not indicate any of your weaknesses in controlling yourself. Starting a habit requires you to start small, simplest with turning off distracting notifications and reducing the screen time step by step. It is a matter of leveraging your lifestyle and managing your social media space.
If you enjoyed reading this, why not broaden the horizon of knowledge by learning about "Body Image: Issues Pertaining Dissatisfaction"? You can read the blog here.
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