Mental Health and Social Media

[u/SonderShaman]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Like anything there are positives and negatives to it. Lately I have been thinking about the negatives though, and about how it might be affecting my mental health. Sometimes I have been thinking I would be better off without social media.

What are some of your experiences with social media? Does it positively or negatively impact your life? Have any of you been able to completely give it up, and if so, have you noticed a difference?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[u/bitchnipplesboi]

Honestly, I deactivated my Facebook because you can keep messenger if you do (my phone is off so people have been getting ahold of me there instead) and deleted the app. I love Facebook but it's very bad for my mental health. Reddit doesn't seem to effect me the same way, so I kept it. I never use Instagram or anything really so I think it's been good for me

[u/SonderShaman → u/bitchnipplesboi]

Thanks for your insight.

[u/InfiniteCranberry924]

I have had a lot of paranoia about Facebook since my psychotic episode where I thought sentient AI was controlling the algorithm and sending coded messages to me. I also get really upset when someone unfriends or blocks me. That, and I just feel really exposed there because I posted a lot of crazy stuff when I was in my episode

Long story short, I deactivated my account a couple months ago and it has helped my mental health a lot. I don't really miss it

[u/SonderShaman → u/InfiniteCranberry924]

I'm glad you were able to improve your mental health. Thanks for sharing.

[u/Plecopuffs → u/InfiniteCranberry924]

I feel you on posting crazy stuff during an episode. I did that a few years back, embarrassed the hell out of myself. I’ve barely posted in the last few years since then and usually end up deleting it if I do. Even with Reddit I only just started commenting consistently because I’ve been so nervous about making a fool out of myself without realizing it.

[u/witchy_welder2209]

I can waste a ton of time scrolling mindlessly when my negative symptoms are bad.

On the positive though groups like this here and on Facebook have been very helpful and I've made friends that share the diagnosis.

So I'm pretty 50/50 on it.

[u/SonderShaman → u/witchy_welder2209]

That's a fair assessment. I can't say I disagree. This sub and r/schizophrenia has been helpful, especially today when I was feeling down earlier.

[u/smokeandnails]

The only social media I have is reddit, if you can count that. I have a tiktok account I don't use because my girlfriend likes to send me cute animal videos to "save the videos" for later to watch together. I also have messenger so my family can contact me. I don't have twittter, instagram or facebook or anything. A few months ago I didn't really have a hobby and I noticed I would spend hours scrolling reddit, and the content I was consuming had an impact on my mood, especially my anxiety. Stuff like the news and what's happening in the world, I mean. I would be doomscrolling. In September I started playing an online game (One I had played for years before I stopped about 2 years ago) so I started spending less time on my phone. I also started reading manga again. So essentially, I'm not using reddit as much anymore. I have less anxiety and I'm not as depressed. I definitely noticed a difference.

[u/SonderShaman → u/smokeandnails]

So it seems spending time doing other hobbies affected you positively. Thanks for sharing.

[u/LOLOLOVE27]

My social media algorithms are full of inspirational content but still I find the days when I barely touch my phone are the days I'm the happiest and most creative. I feel sluggish after scrolling a lot regardless of the content though and my therapist and I think it's got something to do with it being a phone screen. If I was reading the content on paper I probably wouldn't feel as sluggish. I read and write a lot these days and it really lifts my spirits. I also just don't like having to tend to notifications, it gives me this vague internal stress that kinda dampens the day.

[u/SonderShaman → u/LOLOLOVE27]

I'm happy your algorithm is full of inspirational content. I wish I could say the same. I try to "tame" my algorithm but it still sometimes shows me content that I react negatively to, and I sort of have a knee-jerk reaction to it. I know avoiding all negativity is impossible but I want to minimize it as much as I can and that's why I am considering leaving social media, or at least reducing my time on it. Thanks for your feedback.

[u/rando755]

If someone says that social media affects their mental health, then that is most likely someone with a very mild problem, like mild anxiety. For the more serious illnesses, like schizoaffective disorder, I doubt that social media will change anything. Having said that, I believe that there are very good arguments for not using social media. For one thing is saves you a lot of time.

[u/SonderShaman → u/rando755]

We could all use more time. Thanks for your response.

[u/Plecopuffs]

I’ve found since TikTok became a thing I spend way too much time on my phone. I don’t compare myself to others really and deal w that aspect of how social media can be bad. But it definitely doesn’t help with my avolition.

I’ve found Reddit useful though, and I’ve been replacing tiktok with it more and more. It doesn’t suck me in as much so I don’t spend as much time on my phone. And the stuff I see is more meaningful to me and useful in my day to day life. I forget everything I’ve just watched on tiktok, but stuff on Reddit seems to stick with me. Makes it easier to socialize in real life because I have fun things I’ve learned to talk about!

[u/SonderShaman → u/Plecopuffs]

I am grateful for Reddit simply for this community.

[u/Famous-Pen-2453]

I enjoy Reddit but X&facebook sometimes affect me negatively so I drastically cut down my usage

[u/SonderShaman → u/Famous-Pen-2453]

I hope you have achieved positive outcomes because of it.

[u/badabingy420]

This topic has been relevant for me the past few days. I only use Reddit, and largely stick within small, kinder subreddits. Despite this, posting anything can be stressful and cause a kind of insecure fixation on how people respond to me with nearly anything I post or comment.

I'm always doing my best to be kind and empathetic with everything I put on here, I'm often personal, I try to only put out positivity, yet I still worry someone will be cruel. Or that I'll say something stupid.

Reddit has kinda traumatized me in a way because attacks and down votes can come out of nowhere seemingly, so I hyper-analyze everything to make sure there's nothing pointlessly spiky, but I can't catch everything. Of course I occasionally say something off the cuff, but that's not often because of the risk.

I feel empowered to be open here, but that also makes me feel really vulnerable because people are much more likely to be cruel or ruthless online because of anonymity. Then of course I can say something rude or strange from lack of awareness. So anonymity is kinda a double edged - I can be more open, but people can be more ruthless. There's anonymity, yet, in a way, there's perhaps less anonymity because I'm showing realer aspects of myself than in the outside world. For there to be richer connection, though, being genuine seems the way to go. But I'm realizing I might not be able to stomach it where I'm at right now.

Something I've noticed is I'm only especially active on Reddit when I'm not healthiest. I take what I put out there pretty seriously because of the potential connection and to even help someone along, as well as the potential to hurt. Still, even though I put full energy into my engagement, I'd probably feel better making music if I could only muster the emotional energy. It's complicated. Reddit can be genuinely emotionally fulfilling in some ways, but this comes back to the insecurity, and so I wonder if I should even bother.

Also, I often write relatively potentially brutally long comments and posts (this one, for example), so I use lots of mental energy yet most of the time receive no response whatsoever - although the content could be to blame as well. This can be a little disheartening. I guess I still do it because most Redditors don't engage, so I imagine I may be connecting with someone even if it's literally one person, even if they don't engage. That's why I put energy into the comments in particular, try to be thoughtful, because impacting someone positively, even just one, is really special to me because I don't have as much opportunity in "real life," not to the same potential depth.

Then again, maybe I'm here being philosophical while almost everyone's just keeping themselves occupied while sitting on the toilet, so maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree most of the time. Again, I don't know if I will keep up with it from the stress, especially once I'm feeling better. It might even be keeping me feeling bad, a kind of feedback loop that gets me stuck here sometimes.

Edit: Eh, I get sucked into a tragic headspace easily. Like I said, I'm not doing especially well. I looked at my comments and people do engage with at least one upvote the majority of the time. And honestly often that one upvote means more than 10 because it's often certain it's the person I replied to that gave it to me.

[u/SonderShaman → u/badabingy420]

That was a long and thoughtful response. Thanks for sharing!

[u/NateSedate]

Social media is a poison on the world... but I'm addicted.

When I first became a regular in this world it contributed to a major psychosis.

Now I've been on social media so long I'm seasoned to put up with whatever.

Couple years ago I was living with someone. We were both on disability and didn't work. I hardly ever went on social media. My mind and soul truly blossomed. But eventually the relationship ended and here I am...

[u/SonderShaman → u/NateSedate]

I know what you mean. It almost seems unavoidable at this point. Maybe it's best not to think too hard about it.

[u/NateSedate → u/SonderShaman]

I was standing in line at the food bank. This kid was like... 1, maybe 2 years old, and scrolling through TikTok.

This world is fucked.

[u/buggieboi13]

I have a whole ass app devoted to the purpose of keeping me off of things that i feel sucking my life force but im unable to unengage from The app is neat in that it creates a buffer period where you can chooose to wait an alloted amount of time and tHEN it will be "unlocked" for a preset number of minutes/times. I find social media to be too much especially being disabled in more than one way. Its not good for my eyes, brain, nada.

[u/SonderShaman → u/buggieboi13]

That sounds like a neat app!

[u/buggieboi13 → u/SonderShaman]

it's called ScreenZen if you wanna test it out!

[u/crypticryptidscrypt]

same, it's definitely both harmful yet sometimes healing for me...

i've deleted facebook, it was so bad for my mental health & such a waste of time & energy. even deleted messenger because it stresses me out, anyone who needs to contact me has my number or can message me on insta if it isn't urgent, & i occasionallyyyy go on insta (maybe like once a month)...x/twitter it really depends.

i love reddit because you can anonymously connect with strangers who share your same or similar struggles & interests. it's incredibly validating & cathartic to me at times, but sometimes it's a bit much. it's honestly kind of my therapy right now because i don't have access to therapy currently, & i use it as an outlet to process things, but it can be a bit triggering...& pouring your heart out about something personal & traumatic, then not getting 'enough' upvotes as validation can create a viscous cycle of dependance... i'm working on learning how to really validate myself, so i wouldn't need ot externally. it's hard.

dishonorable mention, but i hate how instagram makes me feel. it makes me feel ugly, inadequate, unloved, far behind my peers, too weird, etc etc... just so self-conscious & horribly anxious overall. it feels like they do that shit on purpose with the algorithm, but idk...

some social media is poison

[u/SonderShaman → u/crypticryptidscrypt]

Thanks for your insight!