Time for a digital detox?
Today is Mental Health Day, on which the importance of mental health awareness is celebrated worldwide. In recent years it has been shown again and again that the most popular social media platforms have a largely negative effect on your mental health – why is this?
Health
For a study by the UK Royal Society for Public Health, researchers asked almost 1,500 people aged 14 to 23 about their experiences with Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and how these platforms affect their mental health.
Several shocking conclusions emerged from this. For example, the study would show that social media is ‘more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes’. The British Marie Claire writes that a connection has also been spotted between the rise of social media and the increase in depressive and anxious complaints among young people.
But there is one app that would be by far the most damaging to mental health: Instagram would have by far the most negative impact, especially on young women.
No wonder, of course: the endless filters and edited snapshots provide a completely distorted view of reality, especially among young women, and a beauty ideal that their own body cannot meet.
“Young people, and especially young women, are bombarded with images that attempt to portray the edited as the norm. This practice is contributing to a generation of young people with poor body image and body confidence,” the full report reads. Nevertheless, Instagram remains an indispensable part of many smartphones.
In addition, of the five apps included in the study (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram), all platforms scored very poorly on their impact on sleep. After all, it is made very easy for you to scroll endlessly, and that is often at the expense of precious hours of rest!
Positive impact
It is not all negative, by the way. The research showed that social media can also have a positive impact. For example, the Royal Society for Public Health stated that social media can also contribute to ‘improved access for people to the health experiences of others and health information from experts’.
Video platform YouTube in particular emerged as a shining example. Here, the community would pay a lot of attention to mental health, and users can easily find connection and support with groups of like-minded people.
Digital detox
It is therefore no wonder that more and more people are now opting for a so-called digital detox: a temporary (or longer) period without social media. For example, Demi Moore deleted all her social media after her divorce from Ashton Kutcher, and Adele disappeared from social media after her birth. Julia Roberts says she would never have started Instagram because she knew she ‘couldn’t stop looking’.
In short: time to also schedule a digital detox for yourself?
Source: Happy in Shape, Marie Claire UK, iD | Image: iStock
