Is Social Media making us Anxious and Depressed?

I just recently listen to a podcast from dr. Mark Hyman on the implications that social media. He interviewed Cal Newport who is a computer scientist and a New York Times best selling Author.I decided to give it a listen because  I recently have been taking further and further steps away from social media, because I didn’t like all the time that was spent posting, liking, commenting, and answering questions. And frankly, I didn’t get that much business off of social media anyway, so I had to ask myself why am I spending so much time trying to build this? Time, is such a valuable thing in the in the days we live in. Families cook and hang out less than ever before. The majority of the conversations revolve around obligations, and how was your day type statements. We have lost the ability to connect with one another that doesn’t involve tagging someone or messaging them in some way. Our children don’t know how to just pick up the phone and make a phone call, and they would rather text or email someone. Instead of picking up the phone to have a long conversation with a family member in another part of the country, now we just get on facebook and see what they’re up to, and like their post. However, it is nice  to see what people are up to, and see their latest pics. But it’s even nicer to connect with them and have a deep meaningful conversation to ask them how their life is truly going.
It’s easy to put on a show like your life is perfect or it looks a certain way on social media, but it’s completely different when you actually talk to someone to hear their voice, and to see their facial expressions. These are the ways that we truly find out if someone is doing okay or if they are really struggling and need help. In that regard, this is where I think a lot of people are truly struggling internally, but don’t know how to open up to others to get help from their community of friends and family, because all they know how to do socially is like a post post a photo or tag someone or scroll their endless feed.
IPhone has even installed an application that measures the amount of screen time that one spends on their phone all day long. If you check your teenagers screen time app you will be shocked at the amount of times they pick up and open their phone, and also the amount of time spent throughout the day actually looking at their phone. You may be shocked to look at your own too.  These are times in our children’s lives where they could be developing social skills and problem solving skills by talking and interacting with other people. Instead they are interacting in a digital world full of advertisements and gimmicks trying to sell them something. They basically are the product, and they are being sold to the highest bidding advertiser on these platforms. Yes there are positive angles that can be spun on the side of social media, and I’m not exactly saying that we should throw social media out the window and never touch it again. What I’m saying is true evaluation on one time spent during the day on social media can have massive implications on the direction their life is going.
For someone who struggles with anxiety or depression this is even more important and possibly ground breaking for their mental health. Studies show that anxiety and depression and even insomnia can all be affected by the amount of screen time and social media time once spends throughout the day. Yes social media does have certain benefits, especially if you’re a business owner or advertiser. However, we have lost the ability to develop real meaningful relationships, and our children are losing out on things like hiking, and fishing, and camping, and even when they are doing these things they check their phones regularly as if they were going to miss something exciting when they don’t realize the thing exciting is right in front of them which is living life at that moment and being present with the people they are with. No, I don’t think we should throw out social media all together, but possibly taking it off your phone is a step that I may take shortly. Logging into a computer once or twice a week to check social media and to post some things for my business maybe the extent that I use it. Especially when I can spend more time with my wife, and my dog, and my cat, and my other family members and friends who I love very dearly. They deserve my full attention and time and not a semi distracted version of myself who could be cheating them of my full attention.
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