Author : Dr. Jakir Hossain Laskar, PhD
Social media keeps the world connected but addiction of it is becoming a global problem which is ever-increasing day by day. As we depend more on technology, social media and internet addictions continue to grow with over 210 million people worldwide have been suffering in it. Teenagers who spend 5 hours a day on their smartphones are more likely to suffer moderate mental depression. Young, single female and people having narcissistic personality trait with low self-esteem are more likely to suffer addictive social media behaviour. More than 70% of people go to bed with their mobile phones causing sleep disorders. Social media interaction is like injecting dopamine straight into the brain’s reward area. The reward area of the human brain is located in the mesencephalon commonly called midbrain. The pathway of midbrain affects our sensations and decisions. When we take addictive substance and experience something rewarding, neurons in the main dopamine-secreting area in the brain are actively charged which causes to raise dopamine levels. Rewarding activities with positive reinforcement which increase the level of dopamine are the principal basis of the mechanism of addiction.
A global agency named ‘We Are Social’ has given a report on internet users. They disclosed the name of top 10 countries that spend maximum time on social media platforms. The countries are Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, UAE, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia and South Africa. Philippines who is top on the table has internet usage of 5.2 hours per day via desktop or laptop and 3.2 hours via smartphone.
Social media has some benefits on mental health and on our interpersonal relationships. Social media users feel more bonded with like-minded people which help them cope up with loneliness. They feel better when actively engaged with increased trust and sense of belonging. Couples can keep themselves closer and people can revive their lost friendships in it. Through android phone health apps, people can keep their focus on good health-related issues.
On the contrary, social media is detrimental for our mental health to great extent. Most of the smart-phone users experience addiction syndrome and emotional shutdown. They also suffer attention deficit syndrome in the long run which adversely effects on their focus in the higher cognitive mental activities. Due to fear of missing out something, some people suffer in anxiety which leads to major depressive disorder. Social media users can not react properly to real-life situations. This media brings out jealousy, distracts people from others, make forget to show empathy to others. Browsing social media sites can cause insomnia, stress-related disorders and bipolar mental depression. Eating disorders and obesity also result from social media addiction.
In spite of some benefits to live in a digital world, our teenagers are facing some severe health risks. Adolescents and young adults are now-a-days unable to develop social skills in their real life. Most of them are getting lost in a world of unrealistic comparisons. ‘Royal Society for Public Health’ in UK made a survey on young population to know the effects of social media addiction regarding anxiety and mental depression. Their report said that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram all had adverse effects on mental health, while YouTube only had some positive impacts.
Negative impacts on adolescent mental health due to internet addiction cause irritable mood syndrome, loss of mental energy, feeling of hopelessness and excessive guilt, psychomotor agitation along with sleep cycle disorder, recurrent suicidal thoughts due to feeling of worthlessness, difficulty in keeping attention and making decisions, social isolation etc.
Ways to overcome social media addiction
- Spend limited time on social media – Stay only an hour on social media which means you will have seven hours in a week. Don’t try to exceed your time-limit and you must not add extra time anyway. Thus you take a strong test of your decision and willpower.
- Turn off your notifications which disturb normal routine – By doing so, you will find more time to finish your daily activities. Try to forget what is happening in the online sphere. Distractions in mind will occur if you don’t stop gadget notifications.
- Pick up a new hobby for your spare time – If the mindless scrolling on social media is replaced by your new hobby, your mood swing will be all right and your performance will go up.
- Don’t get trapped in the virtual world – Sign off for two-day in a weekend. Instead you meet and associate with people in real life, do something productive and get out from behind your smartphone or computer screen to enjoy the pleasures of life.
- Don’t document everything in life with selfies – Rather you spend quality time in the real world with your friends and relations. Recollect old memories with them which will make you happy.
When you feel your social media use is unhealthy, you make the decision to quit from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Delete all your social media profiles. Start reading motivational books and write blog if you want to share things to others.
