Effect Of Social Media On Mental Health

 It is an accepted fact that we are living in a world that is now controlled by technology. Most important and dangerous among them are smartphones. They are literally ruling us and we are becoming mobile slaves without even realizing. The biggest cause for that is use of social media. A research by Global Weblndex shows that globally 59% of the world's population uses social media. the average daily usage is 2 hours and 31 minutes. And this number is still increasing. 

Although, soocial media and mobile phones have became our necessity, still we dont know how much it is effecting us negatively. A study conducted in 2019 confirmed this fact that social media is effecting our mental health alot. people who use social media are more likely to be depressed or mentally disturbed. Moreover, another study explained that more use of social media results in delayed sleeping which ultimately effect our mental health.

Negative effects of social media:

some of the most evident negative effects that we may not have realized that they are due to social media are:

1. Fear of missing out (FOMO):

 The world of social media is really fake. People love to depict themselves as they have a perfect lives but actually they are also struggling like anybody else. but due to that fake life they show on social media, many people may fear that they are the only ones that are alone, that they are only struggling. You feel like you don't have a life in comparison to these "HAPPY" people. This triggers a sense of demotivation, anxiety and loneliness.

2. Insecurity:

Even if you know that people are faking lives on social media, yet you start to develop some insecuries about your lives. You start doubting yourself that am I good enough? what will I do in life? These kind of stupid questions begin to pop in ones head.

3. Isolation:

People who become addicted to social media just become a media star. They have a great social circle but no personal life at all. They may appear like they have thousands of fan but they have no one to talk to in their low times. The reason is that they start spending so much times on social media that they forget about their real life. As a result their relations with parents, siblings, friends and family become compromised. and at the end they are left alone.

4. Cyber bullying:

The most dangerous aspect of social media is cyber bullying. Unfortunately, parents don't keep a check and balance of their children's activities on phone. As a result they start going towards wrong side without even knowing. They become so involved in that but after sometime they realize that they are involved in a trouble. At that point they are not left with many options. People who cyber bully are really cruel. they can destroy anyone whole life in just one go. as a result people who become trapped find only one way out - SUICIDE

What Drives You Towards Social Media Addiction:

social media addiction is not uncontrolled. We can control it in a way that we should not let it start. But once you are addicted to it, it could be more dangerous than any other addiction. But what makes it so powerful? Lets see

1. Instant Dopamine:

They new culture of tick tock reals and youtube shorts have increased many people's social media use. According to a study, recently ticktock usage have arisen while facebook usage has dropped.

The reason behind this is instant dopamine that we get from these. Same is the reason behind social media addiction. Whenever we see something and we find it interesting, our mind take it as a reward and thus release dopamine and after that in search of more we go for another then another without even knowing that how much time we have spent. studies have shown that 78% of 13- to 17-year-olds report checking their mobile devices at least hourly; 35% of teens report using at least one of the top five social media platforms almost constantly. 

2. Hiding your problems:

Yes! accept it or not, but many people use social media as a tool to run from their daily life problems. They become so stressed sometimes and in order to forget or get freed from that stress, they go towards social media. Yes that fake world that gives everyone timely pleasure. 

3. fear of missing out (FOMO):

some of us become really dissatisfied with our lives. we start thinking that we dont exist here. so due to this reason, we start developing a FOMO and to overcome this we try to make our own world on social media, a world where you think you fit!