Social Media and its effect on mental health.

In a world where it seems that we care more about our phones than any other possession we might own, its easy to see where in some aspects of our society we tend to focus more on our phones than any of our personal relationships. Many parents described their children's connection to their phones as an "addiction", and the thing is that in certain cases, it actually is. The Addiction center describes Social Media addiction as a behavioral addiction that is defined by being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media. Many questions might arise from this statement, such as is all phone usage evil? Is it easy to fight this addiction? The answer to these questions in short, is no. 

https://cwuobserver.com/17010/news/a-profile-of-social-media-addiction/

Why exactly do we get addicted to social media? The answer is quite simple, a Harvard study showed that when we get notifications from our networking sites, the part of the brain connected to the consumption of addictive substances lights up. In short, Social Networking is quite literally a drug according to our brains. We believe to receive "Rewards" such as likes or retweets or pins that gives us a feeling of validation, and this need is easily achievable with our fingertips by simply scrolling through our social feeds (immediate results with minimal effort). Many can argue that Social Media makes us conceited since studies show that the most amount of dopamine release occurs when one is talking about themselves or is the center of focus. 

Where the issue begins from can be a more complicated topic, since this can stem from many issues dealing with oneselves.The issue relays on the users usage of their device, and if they begin to engage in negative practices of depending on their phone when they feel lonely or depressed, they can become so engaged to their phone that they start to allow personal relationships to dwindle. How exactly do we combat this? In the app store there are even apps created to reduce the usage of your phone by sending you reminders of "Hey! You need to get off your phone you sociopath". There are also other ways to combat the addiction, such as delete apps, disable notifications from social media, dedicate time to hobbies or activities. Of course, this proves to be a major challenge but those who can achieve to break free from the cycle of switching between the same 3 apps have notably live a more "Live in the moment" type of life. 

Many who suffer from stress, social anxiety and self esteem issues find themselves at major risk to getting this addiction, and considering much of the young adult population suffers from at least one of the demographics it's easy to see why they are the main topic when talking about phone usage. Putting the phone down can seem like a major challenge due to FOMO, and with Social Media platforms enabling our use of the phone by offering us notifications about things we probably shouldn't care about, such as a tweet from a person you interacted with once or a post from a person you followed 6 months ago. Clicking on notifications can be a risk since they can either be rewarding or cause the opposite effect. Can anyone fathom with the fact that we never know what we're gonna get when we click on something, and we only click on it because we HOPE its good.

https://www.londonmeetsparis.com/2019/08/19/curse-social-media-how-social-media-causes-depression-anxiety/

In conclusion, is Social Media such a bad thing if it causes us to become addicted? The answer isn't simple, but it's evident that with great power comes great responsibility, and the power to communicate with the whole world yet be so lonely on our pages can greatly emphasise our focus on being online since nobody wants to be alone. The need to be liked looms over our heads constantly, and sometimes that need is fulfilled online in ways that we might not notice due to our firm belief that we can stop being on our phones whenever we want, but deep inside we know its a bunch of rubbish.