Can social media cause depression?

By Fatz

Can social media cause depression?

Depression can be caused by a whole variety issues, without the aid of technology or social acceptance. Your mother loved you to much, or not enough. You’ve suffered from abuse in your childhood, or you didn’t get a chance to have a childhood. From stress of too much work, to not even being employed. Depression doesn’t even need a trigger or a cause, it can be purely chemical based. A mixture or imbalance of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.

It is fair to say it all depends on the individual person, for some of us we can handle what life throws our way and we grow through what we go through. For others the slightest issue or imbalance of comfort can cause us to go into a manic depressive state, usually right after a few panic attacks or severe anxiety.

I only say this from personal experience, no matter how happy someone can look they may be fighting a hard battle inside their head. Far too many people have seemed to be happy and committed suicide due to lack of support and their depressive states taking control.

Just know ‘It’s OK, not to be OK’.

So lets talk about social media and the links to depression..

“I’ve personally sat scrolling on social media for hours, judging myself from others success and wondering why I haven’t ‘made it’ yet. Just imagine if I done that daily and let it take control, what would it do to my self esteem and mental stability?.. ”

– Fatz

What happens when we use social media?

Its common knowledge that many of us get a little spike of happiness when we get new followers, new likes, new messages on social media. Well at least most of us love that feeling, it’s human nature to be egotistical, no seriously go research it, humans are egotistical by nature..

So we get online and we get a notification, then we feel good. This is actually a chemical inside your body called ‘dopamine’. Dopamine is released inside your body when we do something that makes us feel good and it is very addictive.

Dopamine is our chemical of pleasure, which is also the exact same chemical drug users become addicted to when they use various substances, so essentially they are addicted to their drugs and the feelings aka dopamine that come with various substances.

Heres a twist.. Dopamine deficiency is linked to depression, which would suggest that if we are getting surplus of dopamine from social media use, then not getting enough will encourage the loss of dopamine in our bodies. This loss of dopamine resulting in possibly a depressive state, all due to not enough social media usage.

Dopamine is addictive, thats a known fact pure and simple. If dopamine is so addictive this would suggest to feed that addiction we need to find something that spikes our dopamine in the first place, which could be a lot of illegal drug usage, I’ve been there..

But in this case it’s our addiction to social media, which is in theory our addiction to dopamine and the feeling social media gives us. So a lack of regular use results in a negative feeling, which leads to possible depression if this builds up over time. Effectively one such way social media is causing depression…

Fatz - @mrfatztv | Lifestyle blogger & Entrepreneur

Why is everyone more successful and happier online?

Ok this part is going to suck, I mean really suck. You judge yourself by others and you fake it to others in order to appear happier or more successful, which is double dipping you into the fucked up depressive sauce.

We don’t do this intentionally, it’s all subconscious. our minds are constantly soaking up information, so what you see, read, listen to and watch is being processed. What is being processed spikes your emotions and emotions are your feelings aka happy or down/depressed..

It is very rare you see people taking pictures and videos of their double chins or their lazy days on the sofa. We all want to portray a better life online, which leads to false representation of our lifestyles.

Maybe this is why so many people now days love ‘reality’ TV shows… Because we love the idea of drama, fake smiles, fake people, portrayed lifestyles and constant parties or “Living the best life bitches” attitude.

I mean really we have a laugh and joke, but do we often post loads of unattractive pictures? Do we post pictures of our double chins or do we get the best angle to hide our chins? What about our crappy jobs, or unhappy nights in? What about our arguments with loves ones, or crying ourselves to sleep? what about the stack of bills, or overdue car payments?

Heres a lot of what you DO SEE online:

New cars (Financed)
Happy filtered selfies (Filters and makeup)
Pictures and videos down the gym (Best angles, with filters and make up)
Holiday selfies and sunsets (Credit card holidays or in debt for it)
Loads and loads of nights out pictures and videos (Social events or social drinking, that many are unhappy with but feel the need to fit in)
Happy couples smiling and laughing (Always arguing or breaking up behind social media)

So effectively many of us are ignoring our underlying issues in an attempt at feeling better for a short term period, this is where social media has taken us. Many of us are too busy trying to be ‘social’ or appearing to be anyway.

I know what you’re thinking. So what its our life leave us to it! Which I agree it is your life and what you post is 100% your choice, but I am just being real here and being real is hard for people to except.

Many of us have an ego issue, meaning we don’t like the truth and if someone tells us something we don’t like to hear we get offended. What we should be doing is being open minded and realising that yes much of whats online is falsified to represent a success or happy lifestyle. Yet the rise in depression and people unhappy or unfulfilled in life is astonishing.

Did you know:

Three in four mental illnesses start in childhood
75% of mental illnesses start before a child reaches their 18th birthday
10% of school children have been diagnosed with mental illness
Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK.
Suicide in young people is the highest it has ever been in the past 10 years.
Almost 40% of girls who spend more than five hours a day on social media show symptoms of depression.
20 – 34 year old suffer the most from various mental health issues.
Men are more likely to take their own lives due to depression.

Now lets look at it this way..

15 – 35 year olds are the most active on social media, which would suggest that those figures match the statistics above! Leading to the increased connection with social media usage and depressed individuals.

You must remember that social media is addictive, social media companies spend millions making social media addictive. This is why it is so so powerful and it plays with your emotional state. Worse yet our addictive tendencies have us participating in this falsified reality, which we constantly judge ourselves from. You know most of its fake, so why so much emotional

What can we do to help our mental stability with social media?

So we’ve established that social media, reality TV and all this surplus of information can over power our thoughts, judgments and emotions. But how can we take back control of our mental wellbeing without being a social outcast and hiding in the forest..

Well simply put you need to chill the F*** out with your need to fit in, although that’s easier said then done. No I don’t mean delete every social media app and burn your phone, but I do mean put the phone down for a dedicated time each week. I do mean have a meaningful positive discussion with someone, not gossip or bitchy chit chat but positive and progressive deep talk.

We need to learn to reconnect without the wifi, that means actual human connection. Leave your phones in a car and go on a walk, walk along a beach, in the park, through a forrest. Get some fresh air and get some things off your chest. Hell even go grab a coffee with a friend and discuss your future aspirations, leave social media and negativity in the car.

Take a dedicated break from technology weekly, not too long but long enough to let your mind rest. Maybe have Saturday morning off social media or take a day off for an adventure. Just make sure you take a break.
Reconnect with nature or at least get outside to some fresh air and activities. Its scientifically proven simply walking outside is great for your mindset, but if your up for it got for a jog, bike ride, etc..
Self development is HUGE, so take some time off social media and grab a book, or if a book is not your preferred choice of self love and self care, watch some inspirational content, do a online course, enrol in a evening course. Self development really can shift your whole mindset and improve your life direction.

What else can we do to aid a positive mindset with social media?

The simplest and most obvious ways to encourage a positive mind whilst still using social media is ask yourself.. WHO THE F*** ARE YOU FOLLOWING?

Ok bit extreme that capital letters but thats by far the most important aspect of social media, because your minds working 24/7, you’re always absorbing that information. You need to be aware of what your absorbing.

If you are following negative ‘friends’ who moan all day long and complain about life, thats already bringing negativity into your life. YOU are allowing that negativity into your mind and its simply a push of a button to stop it. Unfriend, Unfollow, Unsubscribe and in extreme cases BLOCK people who bring bad vibes.

Life’s way too short for you to be worried about some negative bullshit that doesn’t concern you, your mind is a wonderful asset if you use it right and feed it correctly. Imagine the shift in your emotional state if your timeline or social media feed was filled with positivity, encouragement, opportunities and love. Your mind would be soaking all that in subconsciously.

You really do have the power to change what you see, read, watch and absorb and it’s a click of a button away. If you can’t unfollow or unfriend people, at least start following some positive influences online.

Look after your own mental health whilst absorbing good content. Follow people who encourage Health, Fitness, Positivity, Spiritual Enlightenment, etc.. They are all online and could be filling your timeline aka your mind with goodness..