Top Reasons Why the Social Media Ruins Your Mental Health

Amy Taylor November 26, 2014

If you’re like most people, the first thing you do when you get hold of your mobile phone or laptop is to go to Facebook. This super famous social media site no doubt offers us something that we have always wanted. It basically allows us to communicate with long lost friends, relatives and acquaintances without having to get up from where we’re sitting. Just one tick – we can know a lot of things about a ‘friend’ (yes, this includes those we really never knew and never met).

But like all the benefits, social media comes with psychological costs too. You might think that Facebook is making you smile and keeping you entertained and ‘updated’, but the reality is that it’s actually ruining your mental health.

In what ways?

By fostering envy.

Has your high school classmate posted another photo of his new car? How about his trip to Musha Cay, The Bahamas? How does it make you feel, honestly? Facebook may not only make you feel like you aren’t sharing in your friends’ happiness. It can also make you feel envious of their happy lives. A 2013 study have found that seeing others’ highlights on your News Feed can make you envious of friends’ travels, successes, and appearances. Other findings suggest that the negative psychological impact of passively following others on Facebook is driven by the feelings of envy that stem from passively skimming your News Feed.

It can become addictive.

Yes. And addiction is never helpful. It is a major mental health issue. To explore the seriousness of Facebook addiction, a 2012 study randomly texted participants over the course of a week to ask what they most desired at that particular moment. They found that among their participants, social media use was craved even more than tobacco and alcohol.

By making you compare yourself with others.

Facebook is a quick, effortless way to engage in social comparison. But comparing yourself with others is one of the easiest ways to be unhappy. A study of chronic Facebook users found that these individuals tend to think that other people lead happier lives than their own, leading them to feel that life is less fair.

By ruining your relationship.

Several studies have shown negative associations with social networking, including tension between romantic partners. Social networking sites foster attachment issues, uncertainty, and partner surveillance, all of which lead to negative relationship outcomes.

By keeping you away from the present moment.

Do you find yourself browsing on your newsfeed while on a date? How about while dining out with a friend? Many of us spend their days constantly connected to their phones and computers. While social networks can really be a healthy and easy way to communicate and establish friendships. But a growing body of research tells us that it Facebook doesn’t create life-sustaining, life-fulfilling friendships.

While the internet offers us a convenient way to ‘keep in touch’, setting limitations is basically the key. Nothing’s more meaningful than friendships established and maintained real close.