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8 Tips to Protect Your Mental Health from Toxic Social Media

By: OLIVIA COOK, CRNP, FNP-BC

Social media is a great way to connect with friends and family, as well as keep up with news and the latest dance craze. While social media is a positive part of many of our lives, this 24/7 connection also has risks for our emotional well-being. In fact, a survey from the American Psychiatric Association reports that more than a third of Americans view social media as harmful to their mental health.

Studies have shown that excessive use of social media can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness as we move our relationships online. Constantly reading posts about friends and celebrities who seem to be more popular, attractive, successful and having more fun than us can result in feelings of envy, low self-esteem and depression. Not to mention the toxic effects of trolls who attack others for their own warped pleasure.

Here are eight tips for using social media while maintaining your emotional well-being:

  1. Keep it brief: You may find that a few short social media sessions per day help you feel better than spending 45 minutes exhaustively scrolling through a site’s feed. If you tend to exhaust yourself by going down social media “rabbit holes” late at night, eliminate viewing after 10 p.m.
  2. Avoid the swamp: There are people online who are critical and hostile. There are organizations that trade on creating controversy, anger, fear and suspicion. If you come away from a conversation or site feeling angry, anxious or depressed, that’s a sure sign of toxic content. Keep away from it.
  3. Trim unwanted contacts: Over time, you have probably acquired many online friends and contacts, as well as people and organizations you follow. Some content is still interesting to you, but much of it might be boring, annoying or irrelevant. Go through your list and unfollow, mute or hide unwanted contacts. Try replacing them with a few motivational or funny sites that make you feel good.
  4. Be active rather than passive: People who use social media passively, just browsing and consuming others’ posts, feel worse than people who participate actively, posting their own material and engaging with others online. Also, try to focus your online interactions on people you also know offline.
  5. Prioritize people: You’ll connect better with people in your life if you have certain times each day when your social media notifications are off. Don’t check social media during meals with family and friends, when playing with children or talking to a partner. Make sure it doesn’t interfere with work or school. And especially, don’t keep your phone in the bedroom – it disrupts your sleep.
  6. Take breaks: Schedule regular breaks from social media. Research has found that taking several days off can lead to significant improvements in well-being, depression and anxiety. You can also cut back without going cold turkey: limiting yourself to using Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat just 10 minutes a day can result in less loneliness and depression.
  7. Don’t let it replace real life: Tweeting with a friend can be fun, but make sure those interactions don’t become a substitute for talking face to face. Only a flesh-and-blood person sitting across from you can fulfill the basic human need for connection and belonging.
  8. Beware of addiction: If social media use is interfering with your relationships, self-esteem, work or school — but you can’t stop using it — you may be addicted. Learn more about the symptoms of social media addiction and what to do about it.

 

Olivia Cook, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Grand Canyon University and a master’s degree from Duquesne University. She sees patients in the Arnold office.