5 signs it might be time to take a break from socials
This topic is not new. It's been talked about, written about, and stressed upon time and time again. Yet, why do we still find ourselves in the pitfall of our mental health being negatively impacted by social media? Why don't we seem to notice the signs until we're deep in a spiral or reach certain emotional breakdowns? I just went through this myself last year. I've heard all the warnings about the use of social media, yet I still found myself spiraling and struggling with the toll that social media was starting to have in my life. Reflecting back, I can now see the things I missed/ignored that led me to not safeguard and promote my mental health. Read on for some signs that it might be time for you to take a mental health break from social media.
1. Impact on Your Priorities
The first thing social media use tends to affect is the order of priorities in your life. Do you ever find yourself scrolling for hours and realize your to-do list became the furthest thing on your mind? Some people may better manage their amount of time on social media, but the short form video is specially created with the intention of gaining and maintaining viewership for long periods of time. It’s one thing to be scrolling when you have nothing to do, but how often do we find ourselves avoiding or delaying daily responsibilities because we can’t get off social media?
If you’re starting to notice your productivity or daily necessary responsibilities being negatively impacted by your amount of time spent on socials, perhaps consider setting time limits for those apps to track and limit how much time you’re on them. If you find that even those limits don’t stop you from making socials the number one priority in your life, maybe consider taking a week break from socials.
See what you can find yourself accomplishing/learning/getting done when you gain that free time back, and maybe that will motivate you to find a better balance in your social media time consumption.
2. Impact on Your Day-to-Day Choices & Activities
Most people young and old are learning more and more about the concept of ‘influencers’ and because they’re so common and so well accepted, it’s sometimes hard to notice when the influence of social media is negatively impacting the choices we make in our lives. This could look like being influenced into doing a negative or problematic activity, or it could be something that feels insignificant or even positive but can start to compound into unhealthy thinking or behaving.
For example, social media is notorious for being a setting of ultimate comparison, whether it be looks, talents, or skills. If you start to feel motivated by a fitness influencer to get more active and fit, most feel this is a positive thing, and it could be. But if you start to be harsh and push yourself and your body in ways that are not healthy because of the pressure to look like a certain influencer, you could find yourself on a slippery slope to unhealthy thoughts of self that won’t prove beneficial for your mental or physical health. Social media is often focused on the so called ‘perfect’ or ‘ideal’ goal as opposed to being focused on the natural journey of life that is so unique to each individual.
Another way I’ve seen social media influence my choices is financially. Sponsorships are common for influencers and videos including shopping links are endless. I’ve noticed more and more the pull for me to want to buy endless lists of products in these videos that overall are not needed in my life at all. But that’s the point of influencers, and a lot of social media overall. It’s trying to convince us there’s something lacking in our lives or in ourselves so that we are drawn in to either the message being shared, the lessons/skills being taught, or the products being sold. While not negative in and of themselves, pay close attention to how much these posts start to change you daily activities and choices, and if it starts getting out of hand, perhaps consider a cleanse from it all for a little bit of time.
3. Impact on Your Emotional State
The first red flag that really caught my attention and concern for my social media use was noticing its impact on my emotional and mental state. As someone who struggles already with body confidence and comparison struggles, I found myself doing deep dives of comparison on social media. The more inadequate I felt in my looks, my accomplishments, and my skills in comparison to those posting on their pages the more jealousy, sadness, and disappointment I felt in myself. It would throw off my mood for the whole day sometimes.
Do you ever get involved in those volatile online debates in the comments and find yourself feeling angry and frustrated and you start to bring that anger into your day? If you find yourself noticing an increase in emotions that are causing distress or negative impacts in your life as you spend time on social media, it might be time to take a break from socials.
4. Impact on Beliefs About Yourself
Consistently having negative thoughts, feeling distressing emotions, and creating unhealthy messages as you are on social media can lead to a development of overall beliefs about yourself that can be untrue, unhealthy and unhelpful. As I constantly compared myself and felt inadequate, jealous, and sad, I noticed I started to not just feel these emotions but started to believe overall negative ideas about my identity. I am not pretty, I’m not talented, I’m not fit, all of the negative thoughts began to become negative beliefs because I continued to expose myself to them as I kept spending time on social media. At this point, not only was social media having a negative daily impact on me, but it was starting to have a negative long-term impact on my life.
Carefully consider some of the negative beliefs you might have about yourself and ask yourself if social media has had any role in creating those beliefs, further solidifying these beliefs that you already had, or even trying to convince you that these beliefs are true. If so, consider a separation from it so that you can begin to reset and rebuild positive thinking and beliefs about yourself.
5. Impact on Your Relationships
The final straw for me that led to me taking a social media break was its negative impact on my relationships with others. I noticed my struggles with comparison and jealousy led me to feeling insecure in my marriage and I was starting to lash out more and become more jealous within our relationship because of my own fight against insecurity. I was allowing social media into my life knowing that I often found myself more insecure after spending time on it, and this led me to respond and behave in my marriage in ways that did not promote intimacy and trust but caused me to feel anger and uncertainty.
There are enough things in life that can cause distance and separations in friendships, families and relationships, I did not need to add fuel to the fire by engaging in social media in such a way that brought negative consequences for me personally and relationally.
Take a look at your relationships, do you struggle with quality time with friends, family, or romantic partners because you’re too busy on your phone scrolling socials? Do you allow jealousy and insecurity to take root based off of unhealthy social media use and interaction? Do you feel like social media brings unnecessary drama or conflict into your relationships because likes/follows/shares are being used as measures of love between you and others even though there are a million other ways to show you love someone and know that they love you?
Don’t allow social media to sprout disunity in important relationships that you value in your life. If social media is starting to get out of hand, and your relationships with others is the victim, think about stopping social media and reconciling/rebuilding those relationships and connections.
Conclusion
This blog is very personal as it’s something I’ve struggled with since I was a preteen. It might not pertain to you at all. You might be someone who knows how to maintain healthy boundaries with your social media use, and you don’t find it having any negative impact on you. Or you might find yourself in my situation every now and then or even all the time. Social media can be a blessing, but it can also be a negative presence in your life. Consider these questions above, be honest with your answers, then decide on any plan of actions you might want to take if a response is warranted.
If you decide some change is needed in your social media interaction, think about what works best for you. Is quitting cold turkey, and you never need socials again, your vibe? Maybe setting time limits or only allowing yourself to use socials on certain devices like a desktop, might be what you need. Or maybe even just regularly implemented breaks throughout the year, like a week off socials every few months, is what would help you. Whatever your needs, you know what you need best. Just be honest with yourself and be patient as you make changes in your life with the goal of finding better mental health for yourself.
Thank you for reading this blog post! If you found this blog helpful, please leave a like or comment below! If you do use social media, you can now only find me using Facebook and Pinterest, so be sure to follow this page there! If you don’t use social media, or are looking to take a break, sign up for emails below to be notified of all future blog posts! I am very grateful for all of you! Happy reading! 💚
*** Anything written in this blog is based on my own personal experience and not a professional opinion. If you or someone you know is struggling with any mental health issue, please speak to a professional. For a list of some mental health resources and contacts available to you, please download the file below. ***
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