In today’s generation, smartphones and computers are becoming men’s best friend. We depend on these gadgets for work, school, gaming, and personal interests like taking pictures and making videos. When you look around you, almost everyone is using their phones. Some Individuals have a habit of using too much social media, which will possibly cause addiction.
On average, research shows that people often check their phones more than 300 times a day. The internet has good and bad effects. It’s good effects; it can be a source of entertainment, it can fight loneliness, and a platform to make tons of money online. It’s bad effects; it can be addictive and will negatively affect the mind. Engaging in too much of it will affect your lifestyle. Too much is always bad. Moderation is the key.
So, here’s how too much social media is ruining your life…
Behavioral Addiction
Social media has bad effects on the human brain. Just like gaming, and gambling, it is psychologically addictive. When individuals use their phones, the brain releases “happy” hormones resulting to a feeling of pleasure. If not controlled, your body will seek that pleasure, it will become a habit that will eventually lead to addiction, which is bad.
Research shows that the reward centers of the brain are more active when people talk about themselves a lot. Good examples are posting pictures and videos about yourself online, receiving likes and positive comments, getting a notification, or winning a game. Actually, there is nothing wrong with these things. But, there is something wrong with getting addicted with the feeling of pleasure.
People that are addicted to social media can’t last a minute without looking at their phones or any gadget. At first, it will become a habit, then it will lead to addiction.
Anxiety and Depression
Research shows that individuals in the past generations were more happier than individuals in today’s generation because computers and phones do not exist at that time. This is actually true, you probably have heard of great stories from your parents or your grandpas and grandmas telling you about the great events that happened during their generation.
So, how does using too much social media cause anxiety and depression?
Well in fact, the less you engage yourself to a lot of people, the more happier you will become. When you use social media platforms to interact with different people, chances are you’ll come across negative topics that might affect you. The internet is full of toxicity. That is why most people get depressed when they use too much social media.
Social media is designed for communication, sharing information, and reading contents like mine.
Sleep Problems
Looking at your phones or computers more often especially before going to bed will make it difficult for you to sleep fast. When it is night time, your brain produces sleep hormones called melatonin that will tell your body that it is night time. So, when you look at your phones before bed time, the blue light from the device will trick your brain that it is still day time. So therefore, you will have trouble sleeping.
It is advisable to stop using your phones or avoid looking at screens before going to bed if you want a long and deep sleep.
Unrealistic Expectations
Too much social media will create a false reality. Unrealistic expectations can interfere with our ability to pursue the important things in our life. High expectations will cause disappointment, therefore it will create more problems than solutions.
For instance, when you post pictures and videos of yourself and people liked it, or you gain many followers on your Instagram account, you may develop a high self-expectation that may lead to unrealistic expectations about yourself. You might think that you should always be perfect for other people to like you so that they won’t judge you, but in reality, making mistakes and being yourself is totally fine.
Self-comparison
In using too much of social media, you may start comparing yourself to the world. You’ll come across posts like pictures and videos of other people’s lives, and you may start to compare yourself to them. You may compare your body image to their body image, or you may compare your accomplishments in life to theirs. Therefore, it may reduce positive feelings about yourself. It may even lead to jealousy and anger. You may also develop overconfidence and you will start comparing yourself to other people.
So, use the internet wisely. Focus on your goals, not on other people, Follow your passion and do your thing, and be humble.
Overconfidence
Social media can also make some people have very high confidence, which makes them look above everybody else. Overconfidence will sometimes create unrealistic expectations.
Some people like the idea of gaining a huge crowd of followers on Instagram, Youtube, and other social media platforms. Even I myself want to gain huge amount of subscribers on this website, and it is not a bad thing. The bad thing is that some individuals develop a form of superiority which makes them overconfident about themselves while comparing themselves and looking down on other people.
I’m not referring to ALL people, this happens to SOME people.
Low self-esteem
Researchers say that social media can be used to fight loneliness. But, it can sometimes trigger self-comparison with others, which results to questioning their capabilities. It can raise doubts about their self-worthiness. Too much social media will impact how you feel about yourself.
Again, it depends upon the person.
Lack of Physical Activities
According to Kommando Tech, Americans spend around 5.4 hours on their phones every single day. This habit will interfere with your activities outdoors like jogging, biking, hiking, or going to the gym. The truth is, some people even use their phones to post pictures and videos while doing those activities, which is NOT bad.
People who lack exercise have a greater risk of developing major conditions like myocardial infarction (heart attack), diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, and obesity. 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily is a good goal if you want to maintain your weight and to avoid health problems.
So, keep your phones away from your hands, get fresh air, get sunlight, and move around.
Eye Fatigue
Staring on the screens of your phones, computer, and any other gadgets for too long will make your eyes tired. But, it will not permanently damage your eyesight. The blue light from your screens may affect your vision so it is advisable to wear blue light protective eyeglasses to protect your eyes from harm. To avoid eye fatigue, blink more often, adjust the angle of your screen, and make the text on your screen bigger for better vision. Get regular eye checkups.
Follow the 20-20-20 rule, use your screens for 20 minutes, then look away at something that is 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds. Then you can go back to your screen.
Brain Damage
Do you know that too much Internet usage can damage the brain?
Some internet users can’t actually control how much time they spend on screen. Some spend almost the whole day on social media without even noticing. This can be considered as a psychological addiction. Too much social media will give the brain effortless rewards that results to a feeling of pleasure. Then, your brain begins to crave more of the rewards, which is what we call addiction.
Too much social media can affect the memory, decision making, and emotional processing. Excessive use of the internet has something to do with how your brain processes the important information, your memory will have trouble in acquiring information that is important enough to be stored in the brain.
Author: Shy A.