Your heart rate increases and the
adrenaline kicks in, you feel the excitement and anticipation build as you
reach for your phone which has just buzzed with acknowledgment, a new Facebook
message, a Like on Twitter and a new Snap chat to view.
There is an increasing need for constant
and instant gratification. Which isn’t
good for mental health. The pain of knowing someone has read your message yet
they appear to be actively ignoring you. If like me, your mind tends to run
away with you then this can be detrimental. In reality the person in question
may have a perfectly reasonable
explanation to why they haven’t responded.
If
you are on social media you are potentially accessible 24/7 there is no down
time unless you actively log out and turn off your device. It is good to have
that time away from observing other
people and what they are doing.
There is a false sense of reality which
many people portray, the perfect highlight reel of an immaculate life, filled
with family, friends and fun. Every moment documented, and filled with smiles
and joy.
This is one of the reasons I hardly ever
use Facebook (or Fakebook as I like to
call it !) It is so false, surely no-one’s life is that good all of the
time. It can be depressing to see everyone
doing so well and being so happy that your sense of self worth and self esteem
take a nosedive and are slowly obliterated.
There is also Cyber bullying , this ties in
with what I was talking about earlier. This does not just affect kids and young
people but they do seem to be primary targets. The fact people are accessible
all the time. If you were getting bullied at school for example you could at
least have a break overnight while you were at home, there was a little bit of
respite. But now with most people having access to social media on their phones
then the bullies are potentially always with them.
I do not think all social media is bad, but
you need to have a balance and a reality check.
There is a lot of support online for mental health, twitter in
particular has a supportive mental health community. This can be invaluable if
you don’t feel able to talk to those closest to you or you just don’t feel able
to get out and about. Having someone to talk to who more often than not
understands how you are feeling can be really helpful.
I am aware of the irony that I will use social media to share this blog post. I
think that when your mental health is
involved you need to be careful about how you use social media as it could do
more harm than good.
