We all know social media can harm our mental health, but why is it so hard to quit? Photo / 123RF
We all know social media can harm our mental health, but why is it so hard to quit? Photo / 123RF
Studies have shown loneliness and depression scores rapidly improve in adults who quit or limit social media. Two weeks after quitting, I felt a gratifying shift in my life.
The term social media can be ironic: it suggests a connection to others despite being related to our ownloneliness and isolation.
Some studies have shown when adults quit or limit social media, loneliness and depression scores improve, and rapidly.
Other data is less clear. While social media use is often associated with poor mental health, it can be hard to say which comes first. But for many, the possibilities suggested by the data we do have – from poor sleep to ADHD risk – is unsettling enough to want to make a change.
Quitting social media isn’t easy. But this is not a “failure of willpower”, said US Surgeon-General Vivek H. Murthy, who has called for warning labels on social media. The best product engineers in the world are using cutting-edge neuroscience to maximise our time on their platforms.
For example, in a study looking at brain scans, 30 university students were randomised to view videos according to the recommendations of Douyin (a Chinese social media platform owned by TikTok’s parent company). Personalised recommendations utilised history from participant’s own accounts, while others viewed randomly recommended videos. Researchers found the personalised video algorithm activated participants’ brain reward pathways – more so than watching a general stream of videos – and simultaneously decreased activation of brain areas that regulate self-control.
Other brain scan studies have found “liking” and receiving “likes” on photos on Instagram also activate areas of the reward pathway: the more likes received, the greater that influence. And it’s not surprising researchers have likened endless scrolling to the intermittent conditioning of playing slots: experience has taught you you’ll stumble across a winner sooner or later, so you keep coming back for more.
Social media algorithms use your history to maximise time spent on platforms. Photo / 123RF
How can I quit social media?
Murthy said he made a pact with two good friends to keep each other accountable about their social media use.
“We kept each other on track,” Murthy said. “And I will say that I noticed some pretty profound differences in my own life. And they did, too.”
I’ve experimented with quitting. Today, I deliberately use those social media platforms that bring me joy, and I’ve quit or use sparingly those that do not.
I started by doing something that I now recommend to everyone: “pretend” to quit for two weeks. I signed out of my Facebook account and changed my password to something absurd, making it difficult to sign back in.
The first few days were a little discomforting. I used to have a routine of checking certain groups, such as fellow physician mums or neighbourhood dog owners. I also often got news through social media. Instead, I needed to go directly to news sources.
What I didn’t anticipate was what I gained: I made myself breakfast, sent more friendly texts to my sister and was more productive at work. I also felt better. I wasn’t spending my energy reading musings of people I never knew in the first place. I also realised I wasn’t feeling as supported by the physician-mum group as I thought I was.
After two weeks, things were going so well that I extended it to four weeks. When I did log in – for what turned out to be the final time – it was gratifying to see how irrelevant a month’s worth of posts and updates appeared.
Are there benefits to social media?
The alarms on the harms of social media have been sounding for good reason. But there are a few areas where there can be benefits. That includes support groups, which can offer a sense of community and acceptance that may be hard for many people to access in real life – among breastfeeding mothers or LGBTQIA+ youth, for example.
Other studies have found adults who use social media to communicate with friends and loved ones feel less socially isolated than those who don’t.
Overall, we still need more data on the benefits in addition to the risks of social media, especially on what kinds of people are most affected and the ramifications of certain design features and content. Murthy and others have called upon social media companies to release their data to independent researchers to help answer these unknowns.
In response, Meta announced a pilot programme this year that will allow select external researchers access to their data to study the effects of social media on youth wellbeing. The studies are expected to be completed within one to two years.
Two weeks off social media can lead to noticeable improvements in mood. Photo / 123RF
“Many people I encounter across the country say, ‘You know, I feel pretty good. And then I go on social media, and I check my feed and then I suddenly feel worse’,” he said.
Comparisons between yourself and peers (or yourself and celebrities) are often unrealistic, and it’s easy to feel angry or hopeless when getting caught in a negative news cycle. You may also see people doing fun, exciting things without you and feel left out.
If social media leaves you feeling more upset than affirmed, that’s a problem. It is also concerning if social media is taking away from sleep, meaningful in-person interaction or your work or learning time. Try taking a break and seeing how you feel.
Trisha Pasricha is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
