THE SOCIAL DILEMMA: VIRTUAL WORLD VS MENTAL HEALTH

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that currently, almost every owner of a cellphone has one or another social media account. As we go in for another lockdown, most of us are sitting and whiling our time away, scrolling through Instagram reels, and seeing media influencers live their best lives with captions like #lockdowngoals. We see new trends, tweets and at times fanwars as we casually swipe through our twitter feed and DM’s. Aimlessly wasting hours together and often feeling tired and lazy after the intense use of social media. PHEW! Have you ever wondered why you feel lethargic and even drained out after you use any form of media for too long?

WHAT DOES SOCIAL MEDIA DO TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH?

Let’s keep aside the boring deets of the highly scientific changes that take place in our bodies when we use any media for long hours. Usually we end up comparing and even fantasizing about our lives, at times using it to escape reality. While there is nothing wrong with happy posts and people showing off their productive and healthy lifestyles, we as viewers often forget that this is not their ground reality either. As a viewer myself, I often end up comparing my life, schedule and productivity to the ones I see online which then leads me, to live in my own little virtual world. This constant comparison makes me feel guilty and remorseful. After long periods it turns into low self esteem and sadness. When these emotions recur frequently they become a part of our lifestyle making social media the first thing we check every morning. Constant comparison also drains your energy making you push off that boring task for later.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO REGULATE THESE EMOTIONS?

The negative emotions we feel while using social media causes serious effects in our daily lives and on our mental health. These feelings can cause insecurity, tendencies to overthink and might even cause a person to detest a particular public figure; which can sometimes lead to them sending hate to him/her out of jealousy and anger. Instead of leading our lives and using apps as a connecting platform, these negative emotions result in us getting addicted to social media, thus allowing it to dictate our daily lifestyles. Intense use also causes a person to retract from their social circles and isolate themselves or be overly expressive and interactive in someone else’s life, thus neglecting their own.

A simple tip to help you stay off your phone is powering it off before you sleep and switching it on only after you complete any 3 tasks on your daily tasks list. The tasks may be as simple as making your bed and drinking a glass of water- but the more you push yourself to get work done, the lesser you’ll want to see what other people are doing.

Before signing off, I’ll drop a gentle reminder to take time to know yourself rather than blindly believing your comment section or DM’s. You have your own life to handle, so give it some time too instead of stalking your favourite idol or your popular colleague. I’ll see you all in my next article, until then take care of yourself and remember- YOU’RE YOUR OWN PERSON!

Design: Tamanna Goel