Clear Social Network Problems Affecting Your Mental Health
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We all know how difficult it is to keep up with social media. Online social networking is part of our everyday lives, however, there are social network problems as well. You may scroll endlessly, comparing your life to others and worrying about what people think of you. This can be a tremendous problem for those who live with mental illnesses like depression or anxiety.
Social media can make symptoms worse because the posts on these networks often focus on the good things in someone’s life that we don’t have: perfect weather, vacations, new cars, etc. The pressure of keeping up with these “highlight reels” can overwhelm and lead to feelings of inadequacy or sadness that are hard for some people to shake off. We use it for work, staying in contact with friends and family. We even use it for games. Sometimes, however, social media can have a negative effect on our mental health.
We’ve all heard stories about cyberbullying. While cyberbullying is horrible and triggers negative mental health, so do other things.
We see things like crime, politics, arguments that can trigger a mental health episode. Envy is big as well. We all exaggerate things. When you see things on social media that a friend or acquaintance is bragging about. This can trigger depression in us if we are not in the same place financially or in life. We can think, why can’t I be happy? Why can’t I afford XYZ? Why is so and so always going on vacation and I’m struggling to pay my bills?
While we all have those flitting moments of those thoughts when we see our friends post things along those lines, for others it can trigger negative personal thoughts. It can start negative thoughts of self-worth and make some people feel that their own self worth is not good, and that is why they can not achieve the goals in life they want.
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Social network problems can be dangerous to sensitive people.
Sometimes a person’s anxiety can be triggered if they read about news stories of trauma or terror attacks. They don’t even have to happen in their area. It’s just a matter of reading and seeing pictures can trigger their anxiety.
People fight with name-calling involved a lot on social media as well. It’s easy to be brave and act like someone you are not from behind a computer screen. I call these people “keyboard warriors”. I’m not sure if they act this way because they have their own mental illness, or if they are bored, or for some other reason.
Personally, I act the same way online as I do in person. I make friends easier online because it’s not face to face. I live with depression and anxiety. I find it’s easier to open up and be myself when I am not facing to face someone. I don’t act like someone I am not, though.
What percentage of the population has a social network addiction?
5 to 10% of Americans meet the criteria for social media addiction today. I am on social networks for most of the day for work. Sometimes I scroll too much and work less. There are other times that I notice it makes my depression to flare up. There are ways to recognize a social network addiction.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your mental health? If it’s not where you want it to be, there may be an underlying problem. Here are some social network problems we found that could cause issues with your mental wellbeing and what to do about them. For more information on this topic, check out the full blog post here! Have any of these caused trouble for you in the past or present? What have been some ways that helped resolve these issues? We’d love to hear from our readers through comments below if they can relate!
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