The habit of getting distracted by seeing posts on social networks is common for people of all ages. According to a survey released by the marketing agency Sortlis, Brazilians spend an average of 3 hours and 42 minutes a day using the tools.
The problem is that these platforms, which in principle are intended to entertain and bring people closer to each other, can generate symptoms of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.
In September of last year, a Wall Street Journal report revealed that Facebook is aware that Instagram, the network it owns, is potentially harmful to the mental health of teenage girls.
“Social networks have undergone a lot of changes in recent years. Initially, they were just for communication between people, but they discovered in them a great source of income. from the screen to the consumption of advertising”, explains psychologist Luiz Mafle, professor of psychology and doctor in psychology from PUC Minas (Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais) and the University of Geneva.
“For this, they developed the strategy of algorithms, likes and engagements, which activate the reward mechanism in our brain. Due to the constant impulse to check if we have received a message, we feel uncomfortable and impelled to look at our cell phone all the time”, highlights.
The psychologist points out some triggers that can be generated by the relationship people have with social networks.
Comparing your life with others
“As we are led to see the lives of others at all times, selling a routine of accomplishment and constant happiness, we compare ourselves with our lives and feel worse for not achieving certain social status or endless joy”, highlights Mafle.
In this process of comparison, we are affected by thoughts of devaluation and we try to find solutions to solve the problems they are generating, says the psychologist.
This increases anxiety and depressive symptoms, as we can never achieve that supposed happiness that only exists in the virtual world.
Social media addiction
“It’s hard to say of someone who doesn’t suffer from the effects of addiction to social networks, due to the dopamine effect, structured by the developers of the software and algorithms. In the Netflix documentary ‘The Network Dilemma’, for example, the developers themselves became victims of their creations”, he recalls.
As a form of harm reduction, the psychologist suggests stipulating times to spy on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok news. “Stay away from the device while you’re not using it and turn off notifications. The habit and ease of access to the cell make us use it more often. If reaching it becomes more difficult, we tend to think more about whether we will pick it up or not .”
cyberbullying
“Some research shows that the use of communication via the internet reduces empathy between people, because there is no direct contact with the person, not realizing the emotional reaction that the person has when receiving the message. Usually, when exposed to the suffering of the the other, the person who carried out the aggression tends to regret this empathy mechanism”, he says.
Although bullying affects children and teens more, adults are not immune to bad pranks. The practice can lead to depression and even suicide attempts and self-harm.
unattainable beauty
“It’s inevitable that we see people more beautiful or with more defined bodies than ours. And that’s not a problem. But when we see too much, or consume too much of these images, our mind incorporates this image as a pattern, as a truth. to be imitated. We start to compare ourselves and feel inferior”, he says.
It is important to note that photographs published on social networks usually go through editing processes, with programs such as Photoshop and application of filters. Using these photos as a parameter of comparison can provoke a search for aesthetic perfection and trigger a body dysmorphic disorder, also called dysmorphophobia, characterized by excessive concern that a person can develop in relation to their own appearance.
anxiety and depression
“What you live on the social network is just part of our personality that we present there. However, for influencers, this is the main, or only, source of income”, says Mafle.
Since happiness sells more than sadness, people who live off the image they show on the internet need to look like they’re happy all the time, even when they’re not feeling well.
“In these moments, people are denying part of their own personality, which is an aggression against themselves. A reaction of our mind, at this time, are these pathological symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are only overcome when we can live more freely. , feeling all the emotions, such as joy, sadness, anger and fear”, he adds.
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