Social Media

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.