People need the companionship of others to thrive in life, and the strength of our connections has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Social media has formed a connection worldwide for quite a long time.
However, continuous use of social media has led to constant addiction, which in turn has led to undesirable impacts on users’ health, both physically and mentally; as discussed below.
Increased Number of Introverts
In the current world, a significant number of people lack social energy. These people are closed indoors daily, and most of their time is spent on social media. The disadvantage is that introverts find themselves in a position where they cannot connect with anyone beyond their small space.
In joint programs or programs requiring them to be around people, they often are unproductive or fall sick easily. Such persons would rather spend their whole lives connecting on social media than interact with others physically.
Should such persons qualify to get a job or a task that requires them to operate in a public space such as an office, the production level goes down.
Life or Appearance Inadequacy Syndrome
Even if you know that the images you’re viewing on social media are manipulated, they can still make you feel insecure about how you look or what’s going on in your life.
Constant boasting on social media by people may make you lose hope, hate yourself, or try to be like what you see on social media.
Unhealthy Sleep Patterns
Spending too much time on your screen can lead to poor sleep. Most of the time, your sleep pattern changes from bad to worse. The irregularity in the sleeping pattern also leads to a drop in productivity. It will help if you cut down on how much time you spend browsing social media.
Some people tend to have sleepless nights just because their Mac has screen issues. They may spend time searching for apps on platforms, such as – https://setapp.com/how-to/mac-screen-flickering, just trying to find solutions since they can’t imagine being away from their devices.
The thought of being away from their devices makes them feel anxious and lost hence the need to stay on. Sometimes, others will spend their time just using these platforms for fun, which eventually messes up their ability to control themselves and set up limits.
Other people use their phones in bed at night. You may convince yourself all too easily that you’ll spend five minutes, only to realize an hour later that you’ve been scrolling through social media platforms.
Causes the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
We often miss out on certain social media things. Such feelings may impact our self-esteem, trigger anxiety, and fuel even greater social media use, much like an addiction.
Fear of missing out can compel you to pick up your phone every few minutes to check for updates or compulsively respond to every alert, even if that means taking risks while driving, missing out on sleep at night, or prioritizing social media interaction over real-world relationships.
Cyberbullying
Bullying was only possible face-to-face before advancements in social media. However, it has become almost normal for people to bully others online, anonymously or not. Cyberbullying lowers one’s esteem and leads to cases of depression and anxiety.
As much as social media makes meeting new people and making friends easier, it also eases the chances of meeting cruel people to tear into others with little effort. Cyberbullies might create fake profiles and act friendly to you, then later betray and embarrass you online.
These online attacks often leave deep mental scars and even drive people to hurt themselves or take their own lives.
Conclusion
There is a constant need to reduce the amount of time we spend on social media, so as to enable us to live peacefully without fear of being disturbed mentally or physically.
The good news is that it’s feasible to limit your usage of social media. While cutting back on screen time is an excellent method to battle problematic social media use, you may require professional assistance if the addiction is too severe.
Know that we’re all in this together, and maintaining positive relationships with our online friends and neighbors is definitely possible.
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This article is published by our independent team of health and wellness pundits that publish original and informative content to empower readers to take charge of their health and embark on a physically, mentally, and emotionally balanced lifestyle.
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