A recent study found that people who spend a lot of time on social media can often experience mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness. It was found that people who use social media for more than two hours a day have a 37% higher chance of being depressed than people who don't use it at all. And those who use social media three hours or more per day have a 49% higher chance of being depressed. It's important to understand that social media use isn't a one-way street. It's a two-way communication system that allows you to get feedback from other people and gives you an opportunity to project yourself outwards and receive feedback from other people.
Introduction:
Social media has become more and more prevalent in our society, but one of the problems with this is how it affects our mental health. As a result of constant exposure to harmful content, young people are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the pressures of life and this is linked to a growing number of mental health problems. The World Health Organization estimates that one in ten children and adolescents worldwide are affected by the mental illness of depression. This means there are 1. 8 million young people aged between five to 19 years who are affected by this issue every day. The severity of the problem is not only affecting the young people but also adults.
The effect on sleep and health
Social media often affects our sleep because we can waste hours scrolling through content without realizing it. Staying up late is another common issue. But both of those situations could be avoided if we started taking a break.
A serious lack of sleep can actually change your metabolism, making you more likely to gain weight. Sleep deprivation can also increase your risk of heart disease. According to the National Sleep Foundation, each hour of lost sleep per night adds around five pounds to your waistline. To make matters worse, we are bound to the traditional work week by law.
Distraction:
Constant access to social media at all times causes us to multitask which leads to less productivity and concentration. Social media makes it easy for us to bring our personal to-do lists to the public, which in turn affects our ability to get things done. It’s easy to say “I’ll just unplug from social media! ” But, to be honest, we can’t. It's not easy.
The effect on the brain:
There are studies that show social media directly effects the part of the brain associated with
empathy. Social media can be toxic at times. The increased use of social media often leads to decreased self-esteem or loneliness, as well as other mental health problems.
When scrolling through Instagram, the posts may seem perfect. Posts typically include pictures of pretty people who are traveling to exotic locations. However, some of the posts may actually be more concerning, as the pictures may be misleading. A picture of a beautiful beach may actually just be a picture of a trash-filled beach. Social media can have such a negative effect on our moods.