Problematic Social Media Use (By Ayush Kalathiya)

 Author :- Ayush Kalathiya
Reading time :- 6-7 minutes

 

What is Social Media Addiction?

 

Photo Credit :- Mentalup.co

Checking out and scrolling through social media has become an increasingly popular activity over few years ago. Although the bulk of peoples’ use of social media is non-problematic, there's a little percentage of users that become dependent on social networking sites and have interaction in excessive or compulsive use. Moreover, psychologists estimate that as many as 10% to 15% of USA citizens meet the standards for social media addiction till today. Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction that's characterized as being concerned about social media, driven by an browsing to or use social media, and devoting such a lot time and energy to social media that it impairs other important life areas.

Addictive social media use will look very similar to that of the other substance use disorder, including mood modification mean engagement in social media results in a positive change in emotional states such as salience which mean behavioral, cognitive and emotional preoccupation with social media, tolerance which mean ever increasing use of social media over time, withdrawal symptoms which mean experiencing unpleasant physical and emotional symptoms when social media use is restricted or stopped, conflict which mean interpersonal problems ensue due to social media usage, and relapse which mean addicted individuals quickly revert back to their excessive social media usage after an abstinence period.

The phenomena of social media addiction can largely be contributed to the dopamine-inducing social environments that social networking sites provide. Social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram produce an equivalent neural circuitry that's caused by gambling and recreational drugs to stay consumers using their products the maximum amount as possible. Studies have shown that the constant stream of retweets, likes, and shares from these sites have affected the brain’s reward area to trigger a similar reasonably reaction as other drugs, like cocaine. Therefore, neuroscientists have compared social media interaction to a syringe of dopamine being injected straight into the system.

Popular Social Media Apps

Some of the Positive Effects & Negative Effects

Photo Credit :- Aarogya.com

7 Signs of Social Media Addiction

1. Feel anxious when you cannot use social media.

2. Social Media usage is cutting into your work time.

3. Immediately check your phone when you hear a notification.

4. Tentatively monitor your posts to see how many likes you get.

5. Check your accounts right when you wake up and right before bed.

6. Spouse, friends and family say you seem "Distant". 

7. Measure life events by how upload worthy they are.

Other issues with Excessive Social Media Usage

For some people, the thought of not having the ability to examine their social media accounts causes them to interrupt call at a cold sweat. They get nervous and anxious and aren't sure to handle things . When this happens , therapists often consult with this as social media anxiety disorder, which can share similarities to social mental disturbance.

This connection isn't surprising as long as anxiety disorders are the foremost common psychological state disorder within the United States; and technology seems to be making things worse. In fact, appears that the more technology people acquire, the more stressed they become.

For instance, researchers estimate that 20 percent of individuals with social media accounts cannot go quite three hours without checking them; and for people with social media mental disorder , just being faraway from their social media accounts for just a couple of minutes can cause severe anxiety.

How to get rid of Social Media Addiction

1. Go on a social media ‘detox’.
2. Set a ‘digital time’ for yourself.
3. Read a book.
4. Learn a new Hobby.
5. Spend more amount of time with your family and friends.

Documentary

 

At last, do watch " The Social Dilemma ", an Netflix original Documentary. You will delete your Instagram, Facebook after watching this documentary.