Top 10 Signs that You Need to Take a Break from Social Media
Social media, like many things, can take a negative toll on people when overused.I know this list may seem obvious and somewhat cliché, but I digress. This idea has been floating around in my mind since yesterday, so, yeah.
Research studies have continued to show that prolonged overuse of social media can hurt one's mental health. This is backed up by thousands of articles that detail the effects of how overusage of it can be detrimental to your well-being. Like anything that takes a toll on our mental health, it's imperative to take a break from it if it starts to affect it.
Another one worth highlighting. Some people get so caught up in social media that they forget the difference between fact and fiction. This is another glaring sign that it might be time to take a break. If you lose sight of reality and assume everything you see on social media is true, that's alarming.
Goes without saying, but social media can cause people to become more volatile and aggressive. So if it starts to make you angrier than you normally are, then it might be a sign that taking a break would be beneficial for you, especially if it's over something that normally wouldn't anger you in the first place.
If it tends to worsen how you feel, that's a generally bad sign all around. It also might vary on what site you're using and what you see being posted, but it can potentially worsen your emotional mood depending on what it is that you stumble across. If it worsens your mood, that's another sign to take a break.
If it starts to sour or worsen your real-life connections, that's generally not a good sign. If it ever gets to that point, it might be best to take a break, analyze things, and try to work on a compromise that doesn't cause further strain on you and the people in your personal life.
Your real-life connections matter a lot more than your internet ones.
As we all know, stress can take a major toll on people. It's not good for your mind and especially not good for your heart because it can disrupt the rhythm and, in some cases, cause heart attacks. So if your stress starts to increase as a result of social media consumption, it's definitely a sign that taking a break is needed.
If your behavior becomes erratic and you seem like you're losing your mind in the process, that's one of at least a million different reasons to take a break from social media. I think seven's a good spot for this because the other six items are more valid and logical, but I needed ten items anyway, so make of it as you will.
Anxiety is normal and a part of our everyday lives. However, intense or high anxiety is NOT normal, and if social media increases your anxiety or worsens it to a degree where you feel like you're in a constant state of fear and panic, that's not a good sign. That alone is enough of a reason to take a break from social media.
Putting this slightly above the school life item because I think it makes sense to do so. Granted, not everyone has a job, especially in our current economy, but I digress. If it starts to negatively impact your work life and the things you do at your job, that's good enough of a reason to take a break from social media activities altogether.
My reasoning for having this at 10 boils down to, well, the fact that not everyone is in school. But I digress.
If it affects your ability to learn or worsens your grades or academic performance, then that's another reason to take a break from social media altogether. Regardless of whether it's high school or college, enough said.