Social Media and Mental Health

Do you ever find yourself stuck in a scroll hole once you get on social media? You open Instagram, just scrolling mindlessly. Then you come across a post from your third cousin who lives somewhere in Italy. Then you start looking at Italian destinations - until you find yourself watching clips on Italian recipes that you don’t understand half the ingredients of. 

Suddenly you realize, “How the heck did I get here?” Because honestly, same.

Luckily, one day, I took notice of that. I realized that my mindless scrolling on social media ate so much of my time and energy. I could have used it to focus on more important things. 

In my first 20-minute podcast segment of self-care activities, I talked all about social media self-care. As someone who works (and probably lives) in this space, I truly know firsthand that social media can affect one’s mental health. The things we see, read, and hear online can cause feelings of anxiety, pressure, fear, and even depression.

And that’s why I wanted to talk to you guys about several healthy social media practices so you can start being mindful of how much time and energy you spend on social media. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Grooming Your Account

This first step means being selective about who you follow and the people you allow to follow you.

For example, on our business Instagram page, we only follow the people who seem to be our ideal clients. Or, people who are possibly interested in our content. We won't follow someone back if it seems like they're just following us to get a follow/unfollow or if they’re bots or dummy accounts.

So, on your personal account, try to only follow pages and influencers who seem to be in alignment with what you believe in. Look for pages with content that is actually positive for your subconscious brain.

If there are people like family and friends you can’t unfollow but whose posts tap only negative feelings inside you, opt to restrict their accounts. You can find this option on most social media platforms. By restricting an account, you mute their posts and stories but not cutting your online ties with them. 

Don’t Be Afraid To Block People

The block button is there for a reason and you may not be using it as much as you need to. My team and I block people all the time. If we come across a spammy account or somebody not interested in what we're doing and just DMs us to sell something or push something on me— we block those people ASAP.

Curate your ideal client to know where to allocate chat time. Treat your Instagram page as your home and carefully choose who you let inside. That’s one of the great things about these social media platforms. They give us all of these tools to protect ourselves as users. Always remember that you're in full control of your social media profiles.

Check-In With Your Body And Start To Manifest It

If you don't tap into your true emotions and decide to become self-aware on every platform, social media will have a negative effect on your mental health. There's no other way to go about it. 

Once you get on social media, tap on your emotions. Ask yourself, “Is this emotion negative or positive?” Maybe it's in between. When you remind yourself of these questions, you become more aware of your presence and activity on social media.

As you learn to practice these things every day, there will be no questions. You'll know when to say yes or no. This confidence comes over time and self-care is the first step to get there.