“Should Social Media Be A Replacement For Therapy?”
/Youtube Link of Session: https://youtu.be/LYrun5WcU9g
In today’s times, where pretty much everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, social media has the ability to wreak havoc on our mental health as well as our personal lives. We get so concerned with posting everything about our lives, and getting glimpses of the lives of others through their posts, that sometimes we forget about real life in the here and now. We compare ourselves to others through what we see them post online, even though we aren’t necessarily getting the full picture. Just what they want us to see. But yet, we might feel inadequate, anxious, or depressed because of what we see. Social Media has the potential to fully absorb us.
Have you ever gone out to eat and a vast majority of the people there are on their phones, scrolling through their timelines? I don’t know how many times I’ve logged onto Facebook and I am greeted with long posts where people overshare their feelings, dislikes, pretty much everything about their life. It’s almost as if people post to get the support or validation from their friends and followers online. But does it really help?? Is the instant gratification, from those on the other side of our computer screens or cellphones, enough to fill our voids, mend our hearts, to heal us?
Social media is the place where people know so much about us, but yet, don’t know very much about us at all. They don’t know what is truly going on within us, based on a few posts or pictures. Social media is a very superficial platform to say the least. No matter how absorbed we are with it, it’s not going to fix us, but only distract us. Like everything, it an be great in moderation.
What are the effects of social media on mental health?
There are many drawbacks of using social media excessively. It can lead to negative feelings like depression or anxiety, feeling more lonely or left out, losing sleep, or having negative experiences like cyberbullying.
It depends on the individual as in what content you are taking in.
It can have an influence on your thoughts.
May have a hard time concentrating so you will find it difficult to interact with others.
It can also impact you unintentionally like drawing in all the unnecessary attention.
We are often confused by information online or are being misled.
Why/Why not is setting up boundaries with technology important?
It’s very much needed to develop your self-discipline.
We have to protect our emotional well-being as well.
We tend to compare ourselves and our life-style with others on social media so it’s very important to set up a boundary for us so that we don’t suffer from social anxiety issues.
We tend to take everything we see on social media for granted which does impact our lives negatively.
How can we educate our clients based on the dangers of social media?
Try to keep up with the kind of content they are viewing on social media and realizing what matters to them the most.
People only show you the highlights so it’s not wise to believe everything you see on social media.
How important is it to discuss the adverse effects of social media with clients?
It’s imperative that clients know about the pros and cons of social media and how it might affect their lives negatively or positively.
Making clients aware of their triggers in regards to social media.
Understanding and figuring out the purpose of social media in their lives, how they are using it for their benefits like for self-care methods/techniques, online shopping or using it for business purposes.
