Recently, I began thinking about how much technology has impacted our everyday lives and what impact it has had on us. Think about your technology usage daily, whether it's television or your cell phone, we spend an average of 24 hours per week on the internet. Think about that for a minute, 24 hours a week on the internet alone. But has it had a negative or positive impact on your mental health? The answer is both.
Let's take a look at Facebook. Facebook is a great way to reconnect with people that you may have lost touch with, it's a great conduit to help people find each other. It's also great to promote events you may have and I've found is that Facebook is a great place for support groups. Yes, you read that correctly, support groups. Name it and I bet there is a Facebook group for it. I found this out first hand when I was in need of support when my son went off to boot camp. I connected with other parents who sons were in the same boot camp company as my son and we encouraged each other for the 13 weeks. It was a great support and it was, at that time, I saw social media in a whole new light. When used for that purpose or to keep in touch with friends and family, Facebook can be an excellent tool. It can help one not feel so alone and that there are people out there who care.
Now, there are also some downfalls that come with social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc...). According to the American Psychiatric Association, young adults have a higher risk of depression and anxiety based on their use of social media platforms (https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2017.1b16). To me, this isn't surprising. How many of us have looked online and saw friends having fun on vacation or dancing the night away, while the rest of us are at home in our pajamas surfing the internet. Social media can give the illusion of a perfect life, with a perfect relationship and perfect friends. But what you are seeing is just a snapshot of their life, a moment in time. Most people only show the good, not the struggle they may be going through. While looking at our friends online, it's easy to let the negative thoughts intrude and lower our mood. The key is to understand that what you are seeing online, in many cases, is not the full story and so it's important to keep it in context. The danger happens when young people measure their worth based on how many likes they have or how many friends they have.
There are some things that you can do to help mitigate some of the negative feelings you may have due to over usage of social media.
1. Limit the amount of time you are on social media and stick to that. You'd be surprised at how free and content it makes you feel.
2. Take a break from your phone or computer for extended periods of time. We are all so available to everyone that there really is no down time or time to decompress. Taking a break on the weekend is a good start.
3. Do not use any electronics at least two hours before bed. It has been shown that the blue light from phones and computers can impact sleep.
4. Go outside. Spend some time out in the sun as vitamin D increases your mood. While you're outside, go for a walk, exercise can also increase your mood.
5. Most importantly, spend time with friends and family. In this age of technology, we have become disconnected from human interaction. I've seen families sitting at the same table, all on their phones and not talking to each other.
They key is that all things should be done in moderation, too much of a good thing can be bad.