Thanks to technology, we are more connected than ever before. While this increased connectivity can be a great thing, it also brings with it potential risks. For example, the rise of social media has made it easier than ever to share our thoughts, opinions, and views on the topic(s) of the day. While the ability to communicate with people worldwide, as well as thought leaders and celebrities, is a huge positive, it is not always as useful as it might sound. For example, social media can be a deeply addictive pastime.
People can find that they lose hours per day to social media. Indeed, figures show that social media addiction could impact as many as 210 million people worldwide. With social media comes that desire to be seen and heard by the world, fueling people to get involved in disputes and topics they would normally never countenance.
At the same time, social media can also bring pressure not to miss out. The immediacy of the platforms ensures that people always want to be online so that when something happens, they know instantly. That fear of missing out itself can be a suffocating addiction. For people already dealing with an addiction in their life, such as a substance addiction like alcohol dependence, social media can exasperate that addictive side of their personality. In time, this can add to and fuel their negative thinking.
This is why it is more important than ever for addicts to moderate and manage their social media usage. A failure to stay on top of time spent on social media can lead to issues in the long term.
Does Social Media Impact Our Mental Health?
One of the most impactful issues that an addict can suffer from is a mental health crisis. Feelings of inadequacy are rife in people who are suffering from addiction. It does not take much to knock them from a sense of positivity and feel-good to a sense of mania and depression. Sadly, social media can open these same people up to these threats in a serious way.
Someone who is addicted to a substance might find that social media brings back many of the mental health issues that they are trying to combat. For example, many individuals might deal with immense feelings of self-loathing. They might find it hard to break away from those feelings. Social media can be dangerous for someone in that frame of mind. Why?
Put, sending someone on a negative spiral only takes one comment. Social media, sadly, is rife with such statements. Individuals could comment on politics, culture, entertainment, sports, etc., and find themselves barraged with comments from complete strangers. This can lead to mental health episodes due to the personal, direct nature of the comments.
If those comments turn to abuse, it can make the addict feel increasingly vulnerable. That vulnerability could push them towards negative thinking, undoing much of the work done through therapy and treatment. As such, anyone who has an addiction (or an addictive personality) has to be wary when using social media.
The anonymous nature of social media, too, means that people can be insulting and abusive in a way they would never be in person. This can lead to abusive and insulting commentary that can make someone dealing with addiction feel worse about themselves once again.
Breaking The Social Media Cycle
The main challenge for anyone caught in the social media cycle is breaking free from its clutches. Sometimes, it can feel like a minor escape from the day. It can feel like a way to communicate with others, find like-minded people, and/or share similar hobbies/interests. However, social media is hard to put down. Social media can become addictive in its way.
It might be good to pop on social media and interact with others occasionally, but it can become too easy to contribute on a daily basis. Social media responds similarly to an actual addiction: it can provide momentary relief and escape from our thoughts, feelings, and fears. All without having to do anything apart from using our mobile/desktop device.
Social media can give us a quick dopamine hit by finding something funny online or commenting on something that makes us feel good about ourselves. However, this brings increasingly diminishing returns. It then becomes easy for the person in question to return to social media throughout the day, looking for that same ‘fix’ and buzz. Naturally, for an addict, this is dangerous behavior.
Addicts should focus on breaking this cycle as best they can. Not only can social media expose an addict to things they do not want to see – such as the substance/topic they are trying to end an addiction to – but it can also make it easy for an addict to enter a period of self-loathing.
Why? Because social media is full of successful people. It can make addicts feel like they are worth less than these people, pushing them further into a negative thought spiral. Social media, then, is an easy way to activate the jealous side of our brains.
Overcoming Social Media As An Addict
Social media can contribute to an addict’s negativity in many ways. From aggravating a fear of missing out to making individuals feel isolated due to a lack of feedback from others on the platform, social media can be dangerous territory for many addicts.
Yes, social media has some benefits. But for someone trying to escape the cycle of addiction, social media has far too many parallels. It can harm your mental health and self-worth, two critical aspects of overcoming and beating an addiction.
Individuals who feel like they are fighting a losing battle with social media should consider their options carefully. At Akasha Recovery, we provide access to the solutions that can make breaking the social media cycle easier than it is to do alone.
Our recovery process can help to ensure that addicts feel less drawn to social media, and it can assist them in seeing the dangers that come from spending excessive time on social media platforms. Contact us today to discuss recovery options for you, ranging from substance abuse and addiction to overcoming a reliance on social media during recovery.