SOCIAL MEDIA - Brilliantly Designed to Make You Want MORE!
Recently a friend put on her instagram "I am taking a break from social media for awhile".
I immediately thought "good for you!" It was like someone saying "I'm going on a diet. It is time I lost this extra weight" or maybe "I am finally going to clean out my closets, I have way too much stuff!".
I admire people when they make an assessment about something in their life, find it lacking, and decide to do something about it.
In our 'first world' we all have way too much everything, both stuff we do need and stuff we don't. And social media is some of that 'stuff'.
Maybe there is a positive side to social media even for someone with mental illness. You have a place to anonymously vent feelings that you don't normally feel comfortable sharing with people you know. You may even get some positive responses to those feelings.
Social media has provided a platform for the once 'taboo' subject of mental illness. It can help remove the stigma. It can make depression sufferers feel less alone.
Many years ago, in the 80's, I was raising my two daughters. We lived a fairly simple life in the country then and we didn't even have a TV let alone 'video games'. My nephews were coming for a visit and my girls asked them to bring their video games and a small TV. Everyone took a turn with the games and when we were all in bed, my husband took a turn. He stayed up all night!
When I got up that morning he said 'we are never bringing video games into our house, I couldn't stop. That's not how I want our kids to spend their time.' Good for him. He recognized a potential problem for himself and chose not to tempt his kids with it.
There is good and bad to most things. Only you can decide whether facebook is helping your depression or making it worse.
But there is an even bigger issue here. Social media is' addictive! Did you hear me?
SOCIAL MEDIA IS ADDICTIVE!
“The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them, was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’ said Parker. “And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post. That’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you more likes and comments.” — Sean Parker
Here is a definition of dopamine: "Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers."
Addiction and mental illness often go hand in hand. No matter what kind of addicition, there is some kind of instant reward that gives you a shot of dopamine, a feel good hormone. That good feeling is better than feeling depressed and you want to do it over and over and over. Any kind of addiction, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, pornography, food, social media can all give a release from the agony of mental illness.
But that temporary release only works if you keep doing it and doing it. Too much use of social media can defintely add to your depression. It is not a depression getaway.
But even more than that, if it becomes an addiction it has lost its ability to do anything positive for you and it is doing you more harm than good.
And so I ask you this: "Are you addicted to social media?" Read this article and decide.
I have one more question to ask you about social media next time.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you doing today? Does this series about social media and depression bring any thought of caution to your mind?
Don't give up! There is hope for depression.
