Social Media Might be Ruining Your Mental Health
Here’s How to Reclaim Your Life Back From Your Phone Screen
Social media has become an inseparable part of our daily lives, and it's easy to overlook just how deeply it affects us.
I feel like everyone was on the “social media is bad” train, until the uncontrollable events of covid launched us into grinning and baring lots of the side effects we felt when out screen hours ticked up.
When did it become taboo to say staring at a screen for endless ours is bad for our brain?
I’m not here to guilt anyone into spending less time online, but if you’ve ever wondered how all this scrolling might affect you (whether for better or worse), let's talk about it.
Specifically, how to reduce some of those negative side effects many of us have experienced—feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or even disconnected.
Before we get into the weeds, here are a few quick tips that have helped me, a truly chronically online content creator:
Turn off your notifications for social apps. Give yourself back the control, and engage them in your own time, not when they engage you. You can do this on Instagram. Instructions here.
Put your phone charger in another room so when you charge your phone for the night, it’s out of reach. That way it’s not the first thing you see in the morning.
Download a self control app like Opal that shuts off access to distracting applications and makes engaging on your phone more mindful.
Turn on “take a break” on Instagram, so you’re prompted to step away every so often.
Unfollow or mute any account on your socials that is negatively impacting your mental health.
That is the core of self improvement: making things slowly better. You can read a full write up about the steps here.
The Numbers
You may have heard the statistics: spending excessive time on social media can make you more anxious, more depressed, and, believe it or not, drop 10 IQ points lower for the entire day if you scroll through your feed first thing in the morning.
We all feel guilty when we fall into the trap, mindlessly scrolling through endless content cycles without realising the toll it's taking on our well-being.
Maybe worse yet, mindlessly scrolling and being fully aware of the toll it’s taking, and feeling awful about it, but at the same time feel completely powerless to stop.
It’s a vicious cycle, and unfortunately, we aren’t alone. It’s also not just the younger generation glued to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts.
“On Average, people [of all ages] check their phones up to 58 times a working day. This is only considering work hours, 9am-5pm.”
-Rescue time https://blog.rescuetime.com/screen-time-stats-2018/
Even the world’s most successful people in more mature age groups (50s+) —corporate leaders, high achievers, individuals who seem to have everything together—are spending up to 60% of their time glued to their phones a day.
The time isn’t spent in consistent chunks either, it’s split up throughout the day, fragmenting any solid work.
At the same time, 84% use their phones for personal matters during dedicated working hours.
This isn’t said in a “give your boss your entire life” way, but it does support the idea that work, whether for a conglomerate or for yourself, your time, flow and band width for the day is being affected and interrupted.
This interruption can take up to 23 minuets to recover from. Yes. 23 Minuets! Worse yet, the more cognitively demanding the task, the longer it takes to get back on track.
A common estimate is that it takes about 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after an interruption.
But why is this dangerous, not just inefficient?
Far more insidious than time wasting and procrastination, platforms are designed to fragment your attention, working on a constant dopamine drip to keep you engaged and returning.
Over time, this distraction can make it harder for you to focus on the things that truly matter, even effecting memory and previously mentioned, IQ.
The intentionally design creates a cycle of reward through intermittent reinforcement, which is closely tied to the brain’s dopamine system.
“Intermittent reinforcement is the delivery of a reward at irregular intervals, a method that has been determined to yield the greatest effort from the subject.”
Every like, notification, or message acts as a reward, stimulating dopamine production and encouraging users to stay engaged or re-engage when they were previously out of the application or on their phone, hence why I’m a huge advocate for turning off any social media notifications.
This cycle is similar to how addictive behaviours develop, as noted in a study by Dr. Anna Lembke from Stanford University.
The more frequently you get these small "hits" of dopamine, the harder it becomes to focus on tasks that require sustained attention.
Constant barrage of notifications, likes, and shares hijacks your brain, leading to a perpetual state of distraction, resulting in dissatisfaction.
Image Credit: Rescue Time Blog.
The World Through Social Media
Spending excessive time on social media doesn’t just affect your attention span; it warps your perception of reality.
With curated content, outrage-fueled headlines, and an endless loop of comparison, people begin to feel inadequate, anxious, and negative about the world.
Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023 noted;
32% of teens believe that social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age, with common issues include feelings of exclusion, pressure to post content that garners likes or comments, and even comparisons that make them feel worse about their own lives.
23% of teens report feeling worse about their own lives because of what they see on social media.
38% feel overwhelmed by drama they encounter online.
Not only are we prone to believe that everyone around us is living a better life, it also warps our perception of safety in our daily lives, making people assume the world is far more dangerous and extreme than it statistically is.
Studies have shown that people who consume social media content regularly start to believe they are at a much higher risk of negative events—such as violent crime—than they actually are.
This constant bombardment of negativity can make people feel powerless, leading to a vicious cycle of overwhelm and withdrawal to engage in social issues they are able to have an effect on.
Instead of living our life, we become a spectators, watching others live theirs.
But here’s the good news…
We can break free from this trap, and the key to doing so is simple but powerful—developing habits that sharpen your mind and body.
Don’t worry.
I’m not about to tell you to go for a run, or make a wild ask of your physical and mental health while knowing nothing about your medical history or ability. That’s ridiculous and unrealistic.
Three Daily Habits
If there’s one thing you take away from this, let it be this: your life can change dramatically if you incorporate even one of the three simple habits into your daily routine, but go for gold and aim for all three— Move your body, Quiet your mind or “unplug” and learn about something you care about.
Move Your Body
You don’t have to become a bodybuilder, but moving your body every day is crucial.
Physical activity sharpens your mind, improves your mood, and primes you for the challenges of the day.
This can look like a low impact walk, sitting up, stretching or even laying down on the floor.
Quiet The Mind or Unplug
You can go all out and meditate, which can feel like a lot for a first step. But just 10 minutes of dedicated quiet time (whether mediating, journaling, drawing, being unplugged) a day can help you reset, clear your mind, and regain control over your thoughts.
Learn
If your body needs movement, so does your mind. Learning challenges your brain, and keeps you growing.
Whether it’s a book, an article, audiobook, podcast, documentary, the mental workout you get from learning something new is always a wonderful thing.
I’ll be the first to say I’m far from perfect, developing carpel tunnel in both wrists because of working on my laptop and phone usage.
I will also say, for the “bad” habits you can’t kick just yet- that’s fine. Just make them a little bit better.
That might look like changing your posture when you’re doom scrolling. That may look like watching food content instead of triggering news.
It may look like sitting outside on your balcony instead of in a dark room.
Can’t get out of the dark room?
I’ve been there.
Maybe open a window or raise your blinds- even just turn on the lamp.
Little improvements are possible and (thankfully) easy if you break it down enough.
If you’re in a space where you feel you need extra help, or social media is effecting your mental or physical health, I’ve left some resources at the bottom of the page you can explore.
Over time, they compound, helping you rise above the noise of social media, focus on your goals, and achieve things you never thought possible.
This isn’t to be cliché, but it’s to hopefully encourage with a simple truth that’s done very well for me.
So, if you take away one thing from this article, let it be this: little steps.
Do little things that help you or pull you out of habits that you feel hurt you as often as possible.
If you ever find yourself slipping, remember that the path to success lies in those small, daily actions that build momentum over time.