Social media has crept into every part of our lives, with a lot of people communicating with friends and family online, rather than in person.
Undoubtedly, social media is a great way to keep people connected, especially when it comes to maintaining contact with long-distance friends or family members.
You can even harness the opportunity to find new friends with similar interests, through online forums and groups.
But, there is a downside to social media that must be recognised.
With sites such as Instagram, it can be easy to fall into the trap that everything you see is authentic, but a lot of people only share the highlights from their lives.
Seeing photoshopped content with unrealistic body ideals, or seemingly ‘perfect’ lives can leave you feeling like your life is inadequate.
In fact, social media has been linked to increased anxiety and depression.
What steps can you take to limit this impact?
The most important thing to recognise is that not everything you see on social media is real and that every person can present themselves and their lives as they wish.
This doesn’t mean that their lives are perfect, they may simply choose not to share the low times!
Another thing is to take breaks from social media. It can be addicting to mindlessly scroll through channels, but if this is interrupting your daily life, you should try to cut this down.
Whilst you can chat with your friends online, make time to get out of the house and meet up in person – a walk with a friend can work wonders for your mental health!
