If you have ever thought about stopping scrolling your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feed, it’s an intelligent choice.
Nowadays, it looks as if social media utilization is a near-ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. The Pew Research Center estimates that almost 55% of Indians use social media in a few forms or shapes on a routine basis, mainly YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Research Has Shown That Taking Just A Small Break From Social Media Can Improve Your Mental HealthIt’s not complicated to understand that too much social media can harm one’s mental health. Now, research suggests that taking even a tiny break from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can benefit from symptoms of anxiety and depression.
British researchers report that staying off social media for a week meant gaining more than nine hours of free time, which some participants use for their well-being.
The Impact of Social Media on Our Mental Health:
The steady rise in the use of social media has led researchers to question how and what, if any, effect social media can have on a user’s mental health. Some researchers have shown that the excessive use of social media can trigger the brain’s reward center, which can lead to potentially addictive behaviors that can cause depression and anxiety.
What does research tell us?
‘Social media detox’ is a word we’ve heard too many times and feature possibly attempted too. Taking the ‘detox’ method isn’t only a modern well-being trend, in step with the recent research. It states that taking a small break from social media has been scientifically proven to enhance our mental health and helps to eliminate depression and anxiety.
A recent study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking consisted of findings based on scanning 154 individuals’ habits of the social media age group of 18 to 72, who said they spent an average of eight to nine hours each week on social media. Researchers separated them into two groups: those who took a week off from social media and those who did not. The researchers assessed their mental health before the division.
Participants mentioned spending an average of eight hours, consistent with a week on social media at the beginning of the study. One week later, the individuals who had been requested to take the one-week break had substantial enhancements in well-being, depression, and anxiety than those who persisted in using social media, suggesting a short-time benefit.
Participants who did not use social media reported significant improvements in anxiety, depression, and overall mental health following the experiment. The group that carried on with the use of social media as usual, on the other hand, did not get any benefits.
“If you feel like you use too much social media, this negatively impacts your mental health. Then taking a break may be worth a try and give you at least some short-term improvements,”: Jeffrey Lambert, first author of the study and lecturer in health and exercise psychology at the University of Bath.
How do we find that social media is harming us?
Now we know how dangerous is social media for our mental health. But we have to admit that Social Media has a positive side too. It transformed our lives and made us feel connected to our beloved ones. Social media is an essential part of our daily life. So the point is how we decide the limit. How do we know the point from where using social media is becoming dangerous for us.
Here we are discussing some points to look out social media may begin to start impacting other areas of our lives if:
Social media is taking on real-world, in-individual communication.
You are evaluating yourself to others online, and it’s far making you experience down or feel terrible about your body image.
You might favor being on social media rather than doing different critical things such as eating, sleeping, spending time with others, or exercising.
You feel like you are consistently missing out when you see what other people are posting (also said to be as fear of missing out or FOMO)
You have a feeling of anxiety or depression whenever you go online.
Summary:
There is no doubt that it is essential to take a break from social media. To recognize how much time we spend on it while wishing we had more time to dedicate to our hobbies, finish work so we can log off calmly, or finally finish decluttering our homes. Some study participants revealed that taking a seven-day break from social media allowed them to free up around nine hours every week.
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