The Harmful Effects Social Media Can Have on Anxiety and How to Cope with It

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Although social media can be beneficial for mental health, it can also have harmful effects. One of the harmful effects is that we can experience the fear of missing out; also known as FOMO. Dictionary.com says that FOMO “is an anxious feeling you get when you feel other people might be having a good time without you.” I can somewhat relate to this. Although I do not get anxious when I see social media posts of people having a fun time, I tend to feel jealous. I feel jealous when I see my friends having a really good time or spending time together without me. I often wish that I could be that person and start comparing their lives to mine.

We can cope with FOMO by realizing that everybody has unique and joyful experiences during different parts of their lives. No one has a perfect life, and we all have low points that may be painful at times. We just might not be aware that other people are going through a hard time because people normally don’t share those moments on social media.

Social media can also be harmful to our mental health if we are on it for excessive amounts of time. Being on social media for long periods of time can cause burnout and contribute to procrastination when we should be working on other tasks.

Silva says in the article “Social Media’s Impact on Self-Esteem” that “60% of people using social media reported that it has impacted their self-esteem in a negative way”. This is partially due to people seeking validation from social media in the form of likes and comments.

I experienced low self-esteem and wanted validation from social media in my own life as well. I feel better about myself when more people like my picture on Instagram. There have also been times where I think that people who have a thousand followers may be better than me. I then compare myself to others and wish people found me as fun as them.

It’s important to not define our self-worth based off of the number of likes or followers we have on social media. Our lives are more meaningful than the number of friends we have on Facebook or the followers we have on Instagram. There are several ways we can build our self-esteem and feel valuable that do not involve social media. This can include boosting our self-esteem from volunteer work, working on a project or doing activities we really enjoy, reflecting on our growth and the successes we’ve made, etc.

Social media can have lots of positive effects, but it is important to be aware of the harmful effects. By knowing how to cope with the harmful effects of social media, we will be able to enjoy social media more and live healthier lives in general.