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Social media is destroying your health emotionally, physically, and mentally. The internet age pushed its way into your life. A ton of events worldwide flash across your computer screen in a mega-second.
You use the internet to chat with new and old friends. Besides chatting, there are streaming live concerts, watching videos, political protesting, and more. Even businesses are now trying to sell to more people online. In addition, the internet features social media powerhouses like Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
Social media has taken over the world, with over 3.5 Billion users worldwide. Also, people spend 3 hours daily on social media, which shows how many people use it. But recent studies have reported on the health effects of social media.
Social Media Affects Your Health Emotionally, Physically, and Mentally
Social media glues you to your smartphones and PC screens for hours without taking a break. No one knows how they do it, but many ask questions and figure it out. Social media uses so much content and psychological profiling that you do not stand a chance. No one wants to say it, but the “A” word, addiction, is being mentioned in the same breath on social media. So how does social media affect your mental, physical, and emotional health?
Greater social media use amongst young adults related to online harassment, poor sleep, low self-esteem, and poor body image adversely affected their mental health.
A 2020 study involving 4,872 participants investigated the relationship between social media exposure and mental health. The study looked at anxiety and depression disorders and found a high prevalence of mental health problems positively associated with frequent social media exposure.
Many people reported mental fatigue after being bombarded by the political, epidemic, and social issues courtesy of social media. Social media creates a lot of drama and steamy gossip to keep you on the edge of your seat. The constant barrage of drama and problems eventually leads to mental fatigue and disorders.
The internet disrupts sleep and physical activities and even damages eyesight.
The world health organization found that a sedentary lifestyle and poor food choices are the leading cause of obesity. In addition, social media indirectly contributes to obesity by encouraging you to spend hours sitting at the computer. Not only does sitting cause obesity, but it also causes problems for your back and neck.
Finally, social media damages the health of your eyes. Smartphones and computers emit unnatural lights too bright for the eyes and eventually damage the retina. A 2018 study involving 30 participants concluded that long-term computer usage might cause evaporative-type dry eye disease.
Social media hijacks your emotions and sends you on an emotional high that eventually leads to emotional turbulence.
A 1999 study concluded that persons reporting compulsive computer use suffer substantial psychiatric comorbidity and show emotional distress. Social media can cause delusional thoughts, which can destroy your emotional health. You sign in to social media, and someone has set the world on fire. Just as the fires dwindle, your worst enemy shows up in your scroll, but this time they won’t get away with it because social media just brought it to your attention. Now, what are you going to do about it?
Countless studies show that social media gets us and keeps us frustrated, angry, and scared of something. Also, this is not by accident. Numerous studies show that people are more likely to respond to negative emotions than positive ones. The goal of social media is to keep you engaged. It doesn’t matter if the emoticon is happy, sad, angry, or in love, just as long as you are engaged. Finally, here is food for thought–only social media and drug dealers describe their clients as users. Now let that sink in for one minute. Yep!
Here is how to stop social media’s emotional, physical, and mental effects on your health.
The way you use social media determines the effect social media has on your health. Social media has its advantages, but it has more disadvantages for health matters. When not handled correctly, social media can hurt your health.
The best way to protect your health is to limit social media. Never spend over one hour a day on social media. Also, ignore bullies and other dramas on social media. Social media cannot hurt you if you don’t respond by commenting, sending an emoticon, or clicking a button. Find other things to do with your time – play with your kids, read a book, go for a walk, or exercise. Finally, when all else fails, turn off the smartphone or laptop and return to the real world where your life is.
