Social media has turned out to be one of the most effective ways for people from around the globe to stay connected. With so many social media platforms, the world has become a global village. But while these platforms help people to stay connected, they have also become a major source of anxiety, depression, isolation, and other forms of mental anguish. In this article, you will learn more about social media’s role in emotional distress.
What’s the Role of Social Media in Mental Health?
Since human beings are social creatures, they need the camaraderie of others to flourish in life. In fact, the strength of your connections has a major impact on your mental health and happiness. Therefore, staying connected to other people can help you ease stress, depression, and anxiety while boosting your self-worth and providing comfort and joy. Being active on social media has proved to be an effective way to avoid loneliness and add extra years to your life.
Today, people rely on social media to connect with other people and build relationships. But this doesn’t mean that social media is a replacement for real-life human connections. But on the flip side, a lack of connection to other people through the various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, and others can cause serious mental and emotional distress. Furthermore, excessive use of social media has been proven to exacerbate mental anguish, including anxiety and depression.
So, if you spend most of your time on social media, you are likely to feel sadder, more dissatisfied, frustrated, and lonely. Although new social media platforms are coming up every day, making it difficult for researchers to establish the long-term effects, positive and negative, of social media. But multiple studies have revealed that heavy social media usage increases the risk of depression, loneliness, self-harm, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other emotional problems.
For example, social media can make you feel inadequate in terms of physical appearance and life in general. Some of the latest social media platforms offer image editing tools that enable users to manipulate their pictures to make them look more attractive. These images can easily make you feel insecure about yourself, even when you know they are manipulated. Excessive use of social media can also cause the fear of missing out (FOMO). Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can make you feel like other people are having more fun or live better lives than you are.
For more information on the effects of social media on mental health, get in touch with Redeem Wellness immediately.
