How does social media impact stress? 

Social media may be bringing a lot more stress to your life than you ever could have imagined, and it is something that deserves to receive more attention than it has been getting. To understand more about stress and how to manage it, you can read in this article.

There are so many people these days who find themselves scrolling through social media only to feel like it is something akin to a punishment. They quickly scroll past the pictures of their friends and colleagues living a seemingly perfect life, and it can make them feel anxious about their own lived experiences.

It turns out that approximately 7 in 10 Americans use social media every day. However, many of those people also say that the experience of using those platforms is also incredibly stressful for them.

The flood of picture-perfect posts coupled with political disagreements and even tirades about any random thing can make it difficult to stay ahead.

Social Media Could Heighten Instances of Depression and Anxiety

It turns out that there is at least some evidence that spending too much time on social media could lead to increased instances of depression and anxiety among certain groups.

This is because the constant bombardment of information that floods in through our social feeds never gives our brains enough time to get caught up to all of this information. We are constantly fighting an uphill battle to keep our head above water with all of the information that we are receiving.

One of the stressors that some point to when it comes to social media use is the phenomenon of FOMO or “Fear of Missing Out”. This is what some people feel when they are unable to do all of the things that their friends are seemingly able to do.

They feel like they get further and further behind and it can be extremely challenging for them to ever feel like they will be able to function normally.

The Desire to Check Social Media Constantly

One issue that some social media users have is an intense desire to constantly check their social media accounts at all hours of the day and night. There are a lot of people who reach for their phones as the very first thing that they do to get their day started.

This is a natural reaction for many people, and it can create a feedback loop of sorts that has people always wanting to reach for their phone as a sort of comfort blanket.

The problem with looking at social media as the first thing that one does to begin their day is that they will immediately put themselves in the mindset of checking up on what other people are doing.

Instead of focusing on their own day and what they can possibly do today to make for a better experience for themselves, they end up looking at the lives of others and checking in on them.

It is not a good position to put yourself in when you are always looking at what someone else is doing and trying to figure out if you match up to them. Instead, you should try to avoid comparing yourself to other people all the time. Life is not a competition, and it is meant to be enjoyed by all.

Information Overflow

The human brain is only designed to handle so much information. Once we go over capacity on this, it is entirely possible that our brains will simply shut out the remaining information that does not compute with what we are trying to do.

Thus, it is a good idea to make sure you give yourself breaks from social media from time to time. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you are constantly receiving more and more messages and information that you just can’t handle.

People do find themselves in spots like this from time to time, but you should try to curtail this as much as possible when you can. After all, there is only so much that your brain can handle, and being fed a stream of more and more is not all that healthy.

Look at social media as a tool for keeping up with the people that you truly care about. Do NOT start to lean in on it as the place to go for all of your news and information. Doing so puts you in a spot where it can be extremely challenging to work through the issues that you are trying to deal with.

Social media should be a place where you have fun and learn new things about yourself and others. Turning it into something that stresses you out is a very dangerous place to put yourself. Make sure you do NOT do this. Accept it for what it is, and nothing more than that in your life.