The Impact Of Social Media On Our Mental Health

Have you ever felt envious of someone else's life on social media or have you ever compared your life to someone else's life because of what you saw on social media? Well, you're not the only one because as days go by, the number of people being affected by social media is increasing especially the younger generation.

Social media has become immensely popular especially in the recent years, even though it has a number of advantages, the number of disadvantages and the effects of social media can not be ignored and forgotten.

On social media people only put their best foot forward, they only broadcast the positive qualities and reduce the negative characteristics by using filters. The one's who self-doubt and second guess themself get influenced by these posts and start comparing their lives with others. this self-doubt increases and affects the mental health of these individuals.

Connecting through Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and all the other social media apps can include harsh judgements, comments and comparisons because it is always easier to make harsh comments behind a screen than face to face. Digital communications can also lead to misunderstandings, they are fast but can cause havoc.

Fat-shaming, body-shaming and slut-shaming is very much prevalent on social media which plays a major role in affecting their mental health. It reduces the self-confidence and increases self-doubt. Individuals start questioning themselves and their self-esteem drops down. This is a non-ending cycle, which goes on and on and which will go on and on until we put a stop on it.

The major impacts of social media are :

• Depression : There is a link between social media and depression, although there is no cause and effect that has been found yet, it has been researched that social media intensifies the symptoms of depression in an individual. It decreases social activity and increases loneliness. Excessive use of social media decreases the self-esteem of an individual, especially in adolescents - as they are also exposed to peer pressure.

• Anxiety : Teens usually feel the pressure to have maximum number of followers or maximum number of likes on the photographs that are posted or the pressure to post perfect pictures with no flaws which causes a great deal of anxiety. Teens have tendency to do things so that they can be a part of the circle. Slut-shaming and body-shaming is also a real source of anxiety for a lot of individuals.

• Sleep Deprivation : Sometimes teens have a tendency to spend an excessive amount of time on social media which affects their health - it causes moodiness, lower performance in school, overeating which is all due to the lack of sleep. It also makes them feel tired all the time and irritable.

• Communication Gap : Although social media is a great way of keeping in contact with friends and families, it can also cause a communication gap since it is not the same as face to face conversations. The cause for misunderstandings is that the individual can not see the facial expression or hear the tone of the voice which affects greatly during a conversation. Individuals forget about the people around them because of social media which affects the friendships.

It is now important for the parents and other individuals to understand the impact of social media on the brain of an individual especially a child. Self-doubt leads to questioning oneself which leads to lowering the self confidence and self esteem - which is a never ending cycle. Until we don't put a stop on it, nobody can!

Let's save ourself from social media and also save our friends and family from it too!