Ever wonder how the internet is affecting our Mental Health
Do you know the possible health damage that the internet is causing us? These days people often spend hours and hours on their mobile phones whether it be on social media, unnecessary browsing on the internet, watching movies, or playing games. Not only these things are affecting one's intelligence but also it has shown some severe effects on the user's creativity, physical fitness, personal lives, and memory power. While the internet is made to make our life simpler and not using this great platform consciously it is nowadays causing more harm than good for children, teens, and adults.
Social media and anxiety
A constant urge to check and post content on social media is the most burning issue that most adults suffer from now. In this process, most of us forget the thing that no one is posting all the genuine posts on social media, and believing everything that's on the internet as real is where most of us suffer. When one posts photos and content on these kinds of platforms they edit the content countless times just to make sure it looks perfect and we all need to be aware of this fact, of course, nobody is posting all their 24 hours of the day on these sites. Research shows that people who spend a lot of time browsing the Internet are more likely to show depressive symptoms, according to the first large-scale study of its kind in the West by University of Leeds psychologists. A lot of these habits we adopt from our peer circle too so always check your circle. While some of us are still trying to find out the way to get out of this loophole whereas most of us have now accepted the situation. Today, not only do teens feel left out from their circle these issues are giving them anxiety, lower self-esteem, weaker relationships, stress, depression and sleep disruption.
Internet and Work-life balance
Creating a fine boundary between your work and your personal life is still a tricky task for most of us. Research by Career Builders shows that nearly 49% of the employees admit that they stay connected after working hours and 61% of the employee's check and reply to their email out of work. In this remote day-to-day life, the outburst of digital technology can feel much more powerful and overwhelming by draining all the mental power of an individual. Maintaining a good boundary between family life and work-life is important to creating a happy and fulfilling home.
Social media destroying relationships
The use of the internet, social media, cybersex, and pornography is causing a negative effect on relationships. Activities such as checking partners' messages, stalking ex-partners' social media accounts, and hacking others' social media accounts not only affect society but also lead to some serious crimes these days. In a survey conducted in 2015 by Relationship Australia 80% of the clients raised concerns about the impact of Facebook on their relationship,72% encountered concerns about email, and 50% received concerns about mobile and internet devices.
Disruptive Sleep Schedule
Nonstop scrolling on the internet and social sites affect one's sleep cycle. Information can come from various sources when texting a colleague about your day-to-day activities to mail from your boss about your upcoming sales meeting. The constant urge to consume unnecessary data in our memory is not only causing stress but also most of us are suffering from depression and anxiety issues. In an article published by BMJ journal, Teenagers using social media for more than 3 hours a day tend to go to sleep late at night. The brain loses some of its processing power as we consume too much information, says Dr. Freundlich.
Setting realistic boundaries on the internet use
Lives are severely affected by the use of Digital Media. More and more people are being reliant on technology for communication, day-to-day work, education, and entertainment. Being aware of the fact of how much time you are willing to invest on the internet, using social media, and enjoying quality time with family and friends can really help to schedule your day in a managed way. In the process of creating a fixed time slot for your media use, most of us tend to postpone the personal quality time by some minutes and then hours which at the moment doesn't seem a lot but it can have a significant impact on your life after some months and years. These kinds of activities can really affect your self-esteem when you are not able to achieve your task on schedule. So, before you set a time limit to the use of the internet you need to be straightforward and clear with your goals, and learn to say no to the irrelevant things in life.