Social media affects our mental health. We often talk about social media as if it is simply a teenage problem – that teens and young adults are too influenced by social media, leading to depression, disordered eating, and other mental health issues.
The problem is that this issue is absolutely not solely an issue affecting teens. Adults of all ages experience similar issues when they spend too much time – or any time – on social media. It’s important to recognize that both social media time and its related screen time can dramatically affect adult mental health, and respond accordingly.
How and Why Social Media is a Dangerous Tool
There are so many ways that social media can affect us. But to truly understand it, let’s start with a story. Every day, you are busy with your work and managing the household. The kitchen is a mess. Your kids are screaming. You’re not able to be the parent or partner that you want to be, and you don’t have any vacations or enjoyable outings planned.
You go on social media, and you see:
- Photos of your friend’s beach vacation.
- Your friends posting about their raises or promotions.
- Pictures of kids happy and playful with a parent or friend.
- Pictures of a person’s home, maybe after a remodel.
- Photos that you posted that maybe don’t have as many likes or interactions as you expected.
- Your eccentric aunt’s wild political views.
You’re constantly bombarded with photos showing you that other people’s lives are better than your own. You know that people are only posting the things they want people to see – for example, the person posting their beach vacation isn’t talking about the huge fight they had with their partner right beforehand, and the pictures of kids smiling doesn’t show the yelling at home during a particularly frustrating meal time – but what you know and what you see are different things.
That time you spend on social media is going to damage your mental health, because it’s designed to show you only the best moments in the lives of people you follow, and none of the moments that you’re experiencing at home. It doesn’t matter how much you know about social media, that is hard for anyone to manage.
Time Wasted As An Adult
Social media also has one other issue associated with it. It is a time suck. We can open a social media account and then immediately find that an hour has passed without us realizing.
Why does this matter? As adults, we have so limited time already for self-care, for being present with our kids, and for processing our day. Using up precious hours on social media can be damaging, even if we do not realize it, as we often find that the time we spend on there is, no matter how much we feel like we need it, entirely unfulfilling.
As days turn into weeks, turning into months, spend not achieving our goals, our lives can struggle. We can damage relationships or have children act out on us because of the time we’re spending on social media – all to browse things that also cause us psychological damage. If we’re also not sleeping because we’re staying awake on our phones, the result can be even worse.
Why Are We On Our Phones?
Which brings us to therapy. Therapy can help with addiction and social media addiction is quite real. If we are on our phones too often because we’re addicted to social media, that is a problem that will need to be addressed.
But it’s often not the only issue. There’s any anxiety and depression we’ve experienced as a result of phone use. There are relationship issues that we can help with. There’s the question of *why* we feel like we need to be on our phones, as we often find that it’s based on being overwhelmed with the present and needing a way to escape. These are all things that we can identify and deal with in therapy.
At Right Path Counseling, our therapists are here to help you examine any and all issues surrounding social media, whether it’s the cause of issues or a bandage you’re putting on a wound. We know how to work with patients throughout many different backgrounds and ensure that you have the support you need to move forward.
If you need help with phone use, social media use, anxiety, depression, and more, please contact Right Path Counseling today.
