To start off, I’ll put my perspective on this topic and how it has affected me.
Pre-COVID-19 pandemic statement, I was still in high school and was scrolling through social media as an escape. And so, it came to a real surprise to me that when COVID was declared as a pandemic (which was on my birthday) that social media would become a hinderance to my life.
When stuck in my room, I had no motivation to do school work which made me turn to seeing social media as an escape since school was the only other thing I knew. And oh my goodness, was I not expecting for it affect me the way it did.
Most of the posts I scroll by would have me idolise those who had more than I did and aspire to be them with none of the advantages they had and I was driven to thoughts of being inadequate and unworthiness of this world.
Now would this be a result of my own thoughts being overdramatic? Absolutely, but I’m not in this alone.
Studies
Many studies show that social media can be a detriment to one’s mental health.
Experts put out that sitting is the new smoking and that it triggers more sadness and less well-being, puts us in a vicious cycle of jealousy and gets us caught in a delusion that it will help.
Studies that span from 2017-2020 display different aspects of how it brings that dismay with a certain amount of time on it, such as:
- fair or poor mental health
- disrupted/delayed sleep (leads into depression and memory loss)
- rumours spread
- cyberbullying
Experiences
Now, laying out my experiences with social media and connecting it with studies are a decent way to convey a point, but not the most reliable source that can relate to everyone. So, for those who care to comment on whether their experiences were similar or different, feel free! I would love to know how you handle these cons or whether you do at all!
P.S. I’m not saying that all social media is bad for mental health in every way, just kinda pointing out some factors that can make it bad. I hope I don’t come off as objective.
References
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/social-media-and-mental-health
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 