How can social media positively affect mental health?

A few years ago, the use of social media was just a pastime. Now, everything has changed. In a recent 2020 study, it seems that on a global scale, the world is indeed in a storm of “social media”. But did we ever stop to think about how social media has affected our mental health? Learn about the psychological effects of social media on mental health and the mental impact of social media.

Plan Ahead of Time to Reduce Christmas stress

Regardless of distance, situation, and time, social media makes it easy to connect with people. Gone are the days when people relied on newspapers to find the latest news. Now, the news is in front of your eyes in real-time. After a few taps on your phone, tablet, desktop or laptop, you can be hit with information from all over the world. In the end, technology makes this possible.

Back in the forgotten days of telegrams and mailing letters, now, we get to send messages to anyone in the world. We can communicate with whoever we please. It can be done on various social media platforms that offer instant messaging. However, not all social media users are after news and current events. Some are on social media to get the latest updates on their beloved ones and some people we find of interest.

More and more people are on social media. Some of the more popular platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, which are used for social media updates. We also have messaging apps like Whatsapp, Telegram, Wechat and Viber. Social media is used to organise parties, dates and other events.

Well, social media is the cheapest way to update current affairs. Secondly, it helps us to keep in touch with family and friends. Thirdly, it is a great way to find groups or pages that provide helpful information. It is used to learn and connect with new people.

Here are some tips that help you to adjust your use and exposure to social media:

• Schedule your use time and avoid using the platform all day long in an endless time.
• Set a time limit to how much social media you use.
• Use it for the most important things such as keeping in touch with family and friends.
• Further, finding the latest news through strong and reliable media channels.
• Don’t just argue and prove your point of view on social media with people who have never met, and may never meet. It makes no sense. It increases stress.
• Join worthwhile causes.
• Take regular breaks from social media
• Join a page or group from a social media channel that is good for your mental health.
• Talk about social media stress with people in person.
• Make time to meet people in person.

The current situation has also expanded the way people communicate in homestay programs due to the “coronavirus” outbreak. As a result, news from all over the world is constantly emerging. Some of the shared news is about the latest situation of the sick, the dead and recovering from the virus. This news may be shocking and sadden people. Therefore, reconsider what you share online.

In addition, the current situation has meant the most vulnerable because people lose their jobs as companies shut down. Increasing numbers of employees are told to stay at home. Therefore, there is more negative news on social media. All these negative thoughts we see and read on social media, affect our mental health. Where can we find help when this happens? What can help us? If so, where can we find the professional help needed to relieve the pressure caused by various uncontrollable situations?

We are spending more time on the psychological effects of social media. As a result, we spending less time with family or friends. Therefore we lose out on in-person supports. Excessive use of social media may expose people to unnecessary distress and anxiety. When we join forums or post comments, it may put us at risk of cyberbullying. As they said, “too much of anything is good for nothing”. Our untimely or unplanned use of social media may waste our precious time. It distracts us from important things such as our family, maybe work and/or school. Importantly, the lack of control in use can affect our sleep.

Christmas season holiday stress can also come from having conflict between members of the family. You may even find yourself dreading the fact that you need to see a relative you had a fall out within a week’s time. So, what do you do? If we do not feel like seeing people we are not in good terms with, we can use the pandemic as a reason not to attend. However, that excuse is only good for this Christmas. We’d have to either fix the relationship or come up with another reasonable excuse by next year’s holiday season. Instead, consider speaking to your counsellor or psychologist leading up to Christmas on how to best manage conflict.If our mental impact social media use leads us to feel sad or anxious. Or use is out of the normal range. Also, if it affects our relationship with others and causing us problems sleeping at night, we need to take note. Then, it is time to ask for help. Search online for mental health supports. Simple keywords can be used to guide us to find what we want.

There are professionals who offer online psychiatry or online psychology telehealth services. This practice is gaining in popularity. It is a reliable way to get help for mental health in Australia. One way to make the psychological effects of social media is to search for mental health supports both local and online. You can review their posts, vlog and Facebook feed to help determine if that online mental health service is right for you.