It is no secret: social media is stresses our mental health. Reducing time spent on social media will automatically make you feel better (and vice versa).
There are many reasons why social media is bad for mental health
- using social media as dysfunctional coping mechanism to escape from our emotions
- people are not honest: they present an artificial, best-moment version of themselves
- likes, content, views offer instant gratification: they are designed to make you addicted
It comes to no surprise, that science has actually proof that lowering time spent on social media improves your wellbeing significantly!
Julia Brailovskaia, Fabienne Ströse, Holger Schillack and Jürgen Margraf, psychologists from German University of Bochum, recently published a paper called “Less Facebook use – More well-being and a healthier lifestyle? An experimental intervention study”, the outcome of reducing daily Facebook use by 20min was astonishing:
The intervention reduced active and passive Facebook use, Facebook use intensity, and the level of Facebook Addiction Disorder. Life satisfaction significantly increased, and depressive symptoms significantly decreased. Moreover, frequency of physical activity such as jogging or cycling significantly increased, and number of daily smoked cigarettes decreased. Effects remained stable during follow-up.
Do you need any other reason to reduce social media usage?