In case the deflated feeling you get from scrolling through your Instagram feed for the umpteenth time wasn’t enough of an indication, there’s also a growing body of research linking bad social media habits with poor mental health outcomes.
For the most part, it’s nothing new. We know a constant diet of filtered photos and hash-brags will eventually starve us of our self-esteem. Duh.
We also know that increased time online has broadly been associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety, particularly among young people.
What remains unclear is how specific behaviours can worsen the effects of social media on our mental wellbeing and therefore which bad habits we should be kicking first.
A new study of more than 1,700 millennials from University of Pittsburgh’s Centre for Research on Media, Technology and Health has found the more platforms you’re on, the more likely you are to experience depression and anxiety.
Specifically, if you use between seven and 11 different social media sites everyday, you’re actually three times more likely to have depression and anxiety than someone on two our less, according to the research.
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I am depressed all the time. I know that I should work out more often, because the hormone rush that you get from it gives you an esteemed natural high, but i choose not to; safe in the comfort of being miserable and lonely I am used to being depressed. What's the point of trying when I can't afford to go out anywhere, no employment because no-one will give me a fair go. I think about jumping off the "Gap" every day. Haven't done it yet. Good thing that I don't reside anywhere near that area. I'm registered on multiple date sites. All they want to do is message back and forth, costing more money as you go. I swear that these women sit in the same room like in a sex call phone parlour, answering the messages with short replies, not getting to the point. Everything in life is "dog eat dog"; everyone feeds of the other fish. There no humanity in all this! we're still animals, hurting as we go, consuming as we do to live and survive. I've lost the plot and never had the plot! No direction without love. No purpose. I envy those conceived through love. I just can't identify with love. That is why I just stay depressed. No one at my funeral when I go. I can't wait till my heart stops. Yet my instincts keep me from doing the final deed to do a favour upon the tax payer and be gone! Forget about it!
Hi. I'm Claire and I'm a site coordinator at Mamamia. Sorry to hear that you are going through such a tough time. If you need someone to talk to, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Hi, I am so sorry that things aren't going the way they should go at the moment. A lot of what you are saying reminds me of how I used to feel (and how I still feel sometimes- but not so often and to a lesser degree now). I wanted to tell you that things can get better. You need to talk to someone- i started with my gp, but anywhere is a good start ( and persist until you find the right person who will help). It took me medication, Counselling and independent self work but I feel much better now and you can feel better too. Please try, people care and life can feel much more fulfilling when framed in a different perspective.
People care? Really? Wow, all my life I never knew that people cared. OK, who do you know that cares then? I can jump off the Gap right now and no-one would notice or care! This world (western) is most concerned with creating a profit, no matter whom they have affected; be it families, friends (Money is your Best Friend..Period!) People care. Hmm, I'm on the wrong planet because no matter how hard I try; I can't even get a job. My self-esteem has gone through the floor! Christmas! Ha, slept through that and now drinking every day. I am almost 57 and feel that my brain is failing me. I go to shops and forget what I went there for. My mum's got Alzheimer's and don't even recognize me anymore. I am reasonably attractive but lack the confidence to approach a girl even when she's over the shoulder looking at me. I am so destroyed! Yeah, thanks for the feedback. I know that I may seem to be a "self pittier" but I just don't know where to start to get onto the self-affirmations to psych myself up any more. All I think about is dying. Yet, instinct stops me from doing the final deed. So, thank you anyway. I hope you've had a good Christmas and the forthcoming New Year. Now please don't call the police on me..OK? I'm not going to kill myself. Really! Thank you for your compassion. I hope you have a wonderful and fruitful New Year! Bye.
Hi. I'm Claire and I'm a site coordinator at Mamamia. Not sure if you saw my previous message, sorry to hear that you are going through such a tough time. If you need someone to talk to, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.