Prioritize Your Mental Health and Enjoy the Best of Social Media

After scrolling through your social media, have you ever…

• felt sad, jealous, angry, or upset?
  
• seen someone or something that triggered a strong emotional response?
  
• been frustrated that someone only shows a “fake and fabulous” version of their life?
• argued with people (even strangers) in the comment sections?
  
• judged yourself based on how many likes or comments your posts get?
  
• compared yourself to others?

Social media has many benefits. It allows us to communicate with others, share our lives and stay in the know about newsworthy and personal matters, but it also affects our mental health. If you answered “yes” to some of the questions above, you may want to look deeper into how social media impacts you and your mental health.

Knowing how you feel after using social media is the first step to understanding how it affects your mental health. Check in with yourself after using social media and ask yourself, “How does this make me feel?” Create a rating scale to assess how you feel after you have spent time on an app. For example, rate yourself a 1 if you are feeling upset or frustrated, rate yourself a 5 if you are feeling neutral, and rate yourself a 10 if you are feeling happy or content.

Once you have decided on your rating, ask yourself, “How much time do I spend on this app?” You can find out how much time per week/day you spend on each app by accessing your phone's “Screen Time” or “Digital Wellbeing” settings. If you spend a lot of time on a particular app leading you to low/negative scores, make a conscious choice to change.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you use Social Media in a healthy way.

1. Choose to look at apps that make you laugh, connect you with friends, or help you feel a sense of belonging.
   
2. Unfollow or mute people who trigger big emotional responses.
3. Continue to rate how you feel after using each app.
4. Consider deleting apps that continually result in a rating of 4 or below.
5. Take a vacation from apps that tend to upset you. Take one week off from those apps and focus on the people around you.
   

Remember, the best way to know if social media is affecting your mood is to assess how you feel after you use it. If social media apps make you feel sad, frustrated, angry, anxious, or depressed, make a plan to change how and when you use them.

A therapist can help you work on a plan and manage your feelings, too. Our therapists at The Counseling Centers at PCHAS are trained to help you identify struggles, set goals and work to find the relief you need. Appointments are available in-person in San Antonio and Cypress, Texas and Farmington, Missouri and virtually for Texas and Missouri residents. Schedule An Appointment or call (833) 208-3201 for a free consultation.