Screen time, overstimulation, and your mental health: A therapist's reflection
This false sense of reality is something that is hard to ignore. We’re all on social media, and I think basically everyone I know has an Instagram now (even my mom!), so it’s something we are all experiencing. We are all only sharing our highlight reels. Yet, we often forget this when we see other people.
In a recent post, I discussed overstimulation and in that post, I mentioned that a major contributor to overstimulation currently are our digital screens. This made me reflect on screen time (and social media) and how it affects our mental health.
It would be naive to say that all of our screen time has not risen drastically in the past year (almost two) — everything is now being held digitally and there’s no escaping our screens. This mixed with a new mental health crisis that hasn’t been seen before (a report done by the Harris Poll just this year saying one out of every five adults saying their mental health has worsened in the past year) it is more than crucial to take a look at how things like screen time further affect our mental health.
Yes, those numbers do sound scary and daunting. But they don’t have to be. By this I mean that we can all take our mental health into consideration with everything we do. This is why I’m always preaching about routines, mindfulness, and therapy — all of these can impact our mental health in a positive way during this incredibly difficult time.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at how screen usage, and social media, affect our mental health, and how we can limit our usage to help ourselves out.
I’m sure this won’t be the first time you’ve read how social media can cause anxiety in people, specifically because of all the self-comparisons that go into social media like Instagram. When all we see are the highlights of people’s lives, it’s hard to not compare what is going on your daily life with what you see online. There’s now a trend on how what you see on social media isn’t real, but even that shows just highlights of what people want other people to see.
This false sense of reality is something that is hard to ignore. We’re all on social media, and I think basically everyone I know has an Instagram now (even my mom!), so it’s something we are all experiencing. We are all only sharing our highlight reels. Yet, we often forget this when we see other people.
The thoughts of “oh, [fill in name here] is posting about losing 20 pounds since lockdown started, but I’ve lost all motivation to even workout. I’m a total failure.” or "[fill in mane here] looks so happy in their photos. They must not be struggling with anything.” are all ones I think so many of us have had. And we think this way despite knowing that it isn’t real because we post the same things. So our feelings of worthlessness, shame, anxiety, self-comparisons, and dissatisfaction with our lives increase from a few moments of scrolling. And since we’re sitting at home with our screen times increasing every day, it wouldn’t be too big of a surprise to say there’s been an increase in mental health concerns among people of all ages.
But it’s not just social media affecting our mental health — it’s also our increased screen time. In fact, a study conducted in the US found that there were higher odds of developing depressive symptoms if you spend 6 hours or more a day watching TV and using the computer, with the risk being higher among women (this is not too big of a surprise as we tend to see more women with depression than men, but that’s a whole other conversation). However, oftentimes when someone is depressed, they spend more time indoors, on their computers and watching TV. This often makes the relationship difficult to determine, like the chicken or the egg scenario.
Now, I know this sounds intimidating and not good at all. BUT, just because you use social media or have a high screen time doesn’t mean you’re going to experience these effects. And just because you’re feeling these effects, doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck in it.
So, not only are we seeing effects on our mental health from screen time and social media, but, as I mentioned in a previous post, it can also add to overstimulation (affecting another part of our mental health). Overstimulation is both complex and simple, simple in the way that it comes from too much stimuli (obviously), but complex in what stimuli can cause it and how it can vary from person to person.
With social media (and general electronic use), there is an increase in stimulation — brighter colours, bright lights, loud noises, flashes of different photos and videos, etc. Think of Instagram stories — you can quickly move from one story to another, with people sharing [only the good parts] of their life and could include music, oversaturated colours, etc — it can get overwhelming quickly. So, not only are you always seeing people’s lives on social media, you’re also always available on your screens. It’s no wonder that so many people feel so overstimulated from everything online.
How in the world can we lessen our screen time in a time where everything is online?
Good question and it’s a tough question. Even though I know of these effects, I still find my screen time much higher than I would want it to be (thanks a lot, Apple, for sending me a weekly reminder of this!). But here are some things that can be effective in lessening the usage of your digital devices:
Set limits — at least on the iPhone, you’re able to set limits of certain apps on your phone. And without being able to use those apps freely, you’re much less likely to pick up your phone. After all, the appeal of it would be gone.
Create ‘tech free zones’ — pick a space in your home, typically it’s the bedroom, where you won’t allow yourself screens. I say bedroom because it’s often the easiest; so, instead of picking up your phone before bed, try to journal, read a book, or meditate.
Set your phone to grayscale — this one will also help with overstimulation from colours!
Turn off push notifications for some of your apps — every single app now wants to send you notifications and that’s exactly how they keep you using the app. If you don’t have any notifications for things like Facebook and Instagram, you may be less persuaded into unlocking your phone and scrolling.
And for those who are really distracted — delete the apps that you use the most. Now, this one is a tough one and isn’t always necessary for everyone. But, if you’re finding it really difficult to lessen your screen time, delete TikTok.
Social media and technology is a tool that was meant to keep us connected, to meet new people, and enjoy things that we wouldn’t typically be able to enjoy in our every day lives. However, it’s not all good and there is a lot of research out there regarding how social media can negatively impact your every day life — between consistent self-comparisons to constantly being bombarded with colourful adds and loud music, it’s no surprise that so many of us feel so exhausted after using our phones all day.
These tips aren’t meant to scare you away from using social media or your digital devices, but instead is meant to help you find the necessary balance for your every day life.
What do you think? Do you struggle with lessening your screen time? Let us know in the comments!
