Social media is fun and the signs and symptoms you’re hooked may seem harmless. But when social media addiction takes hold, the dangers become very real.
Whether you actually given a thought about the signs and symptoms of social media addiction or not, social media is something which most of us spend a large amount of time on, every single day. The fact that our social lives have been put on hold due to the pandemic also means that we’re reaching for our phones as a way to interact far more often too.
For those who are suffering from social media addiction, scrolling through a favorite platform becomes a major part of your brain’s reward system. This is because the amount of dopamine your brain releases increases and that in itself has a huge association with rewards, e.g. feel-good factor and pleasure.
Your brain then rewires itself to think “hey, this is a good thing, I should do more of it”. In the end, you feel compelled and almost panicky when you can’t get hold of a device to check your social media platforms – you crave the feel good reward.
# A lack of self-esteem
This can be for a range of reasons but it’s also possibly down to assuming that everyone has a better life than you do. It’s very easy to think this when you see everything that is being posted and how it’s packaged up to look like a perfect picture.
This is rarely the truth – people just like to pretend their lives are great, usually to make others feel bad and them feel better. Sad, isn’t it?
# Needing validation from followersIf you feel you need to post a selfie for someone to tell you that you look good, or you need to tell people what you’re doing so that they say good things, you’re seeking validation and you’re seeking it in the wrong places. This is one of the major signs of social media addiction.
# Increasing amounts of isolationThose who are struggling with social media addiction might think that using social media helps them to feel less lonely.
But in reality, it’s actually one of the major factors in them feeling lonely in the first place. Spending time at home with your phone in front of you isn’t going to help you to live your life. You need to get out there and connect with people, face to face.
# Increasing anxiety related to social media use
Do you often feel panicky when you can’t check your social media platforms? Maybe there’s an Internet outage for some reason, or maybe your phone charge has gone. That means you can’t check your platforms – how do you feel? Do you feel a little anxious? That’s a key sign of social media addiction once more.
# Total and utter FOMO
In addition to feeling anxious when you can’t check your platforms, do you feel like you’re missing out on something? Of course, in reality you’re probably not missing anything at all. Well, apart from your colleague from your last job posting about the amazing dinner they’ve just made.
Is that really so life changing that you feel like you’re missing out if you don’t see it? Jokes aside, FOMO can actually cause you to use your social media even more, so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.
# Problems with sleep
We’ve all heard about the issues with blue light from phones and that if you use your phone before bed, it can disrupt your circadian rhythm – basically your brain thinks it’s daytime and keeps you awake.
Using your phone to check social media too much in the hours before bed can cause you to have very poor sleep and that in itself can lead towards a range of health issues.
# Not really wanting to do anything other than checking your phoneSocial media addiction can feel all-encompassing. When you’re using your phone and constantly scrolling and commenting, you might think you’re busy, but you’re actually busy with the wrong things. You don’t head out for exercise, you don’t eat in some cases, and you might find that you miss important appointments and plans.
# Total distraction, leading to problems at workIf you’re always thinking about what you’re missing out on, you’re not going to be focusing and concentrating so well. This could lead to mistakes and a lack of productivity at work. Over time, this isn’t going to put you in your boss’ good graces and your colleagues aren’t going to be impressed about it either.