The scroll hole

We've all been told SO many times how bad social media can be for us if we don't use it properly, but why? Is social media really that bad and how does our impact our health?

Did you know that we spend an average of 8 hrs 41 mins a day looking at a screen- that's more than the average adult spends asleep! We spends an average of a day a week online, the average user logs 2.15 hrs a day on social media alone and checks their phone every 12 minutes. A study has estimated that we tap, swipe and click on our devices 2617 times a day. These statistics are pretty shocking and make me think we all need a bit of a digital detox.

Mental Health

Social media can have really negative effects on our mental health as we scroll through picture after picture of other people's perfect lives we can't help but feel we're missing out. Someone might be on a beach somewhere or they're eating delicious food and you look down at your pyjamas and uninstagrammable jacket potato and feel rubbish. It's incredibly common to feel this way with a survey finding almost half of the 18-34-year-olds said their social media feeds made them feel unattractive. Social media makes 7 million Brits feel depressed while looking at their friends perfect lives. Heavy social media users are also 5 times more likely to suffer from depression. The fact that we are spending 2.15 hrs a day on something that makes us feel so negative seems absolutely ridiculous. While I'm not telling anyone to cut it out completely (I'd be a total hypocrite if I was!) try and use it as a place for inspiration rather than comparison, know that the models you see have gone through photoshop, filters and possibly plastic surgery before there photo reaches your screen. They've posed so they look attractive so your not going to look like them, you're never going to look like them because they don't look like them.

You need to remember that it is a highlights reel not reality, it's people's 'best bits', the awesome days they want everyone to see.

Focus, concentration and the brain

When we have our phone with us we are distracted, we have a constant source of entertainment- meaning we never have to be bored. But being bored and winding down can really benefit our focus and concentration. The human attention span has decreased significantly in the years since phones were invented and is now lower than a goldfish's! Our deep and critical thinking skills have severely reduced. This means we are less productive at work and a link has been found between excessive social media usage and poorer academic performance. In 2017, research also found a chemical imbalance in the brains of young people addicted to their phones, also structural and functional changes have also been found in brain regions involving emotional processes, executive attention, decision making and cognitive control. By spending so much time on screens we are actually damaging our brains! Gosh, this has been a gloomy paragraph, I feel miserable having just written it (sorry!) Go put on some music, dance around and cheer yourself up before coming back!

Sleep

We've all been there, it's late, we can't sleep, we reach for the one thing we know we shouldn't reach for: our phone. We turn on Instagram and before we know it's been an hour and we're on our friend's, cousin's, colleague's, cat's page and now we're not even tired, even though it's late at night. 59% of phone users check there phone in the 5 minutes before going to bed and within 30 minutes of waking up. We know that using blue light in the hour before bed reduces the production of sleep hormone melatonin by up to 22%, so all that late night scrolling is probably the reason only 1 in 5 Brits get 8 hours sleep per night. Teenagers who spend more than 4 hours on a screen everyday are 3.5 times more likely to sleep badly. So if you can cut down on the phone usage before bed you'll probably thank yourself for it the next morning.

Blue light and eye strain

I know personally that on days that I've spent a lot of time looking at a screen my eyes have ached afterwards and looked slightly bloodshot and red, the blue light our screens emit can be really damaging for our eyes and lead to short sightedness. I've found out that the eye soreness we've probably all experienced is called digital eye strain, symptoms include dry, irritated eyes, blurred vision, neck and back pain, and headaches. A study found that short-sighted students had almost double the amount of screen time than students who weren't short-sighted. So if you're worried about you eyesight or suffering from any of the symptoms above spending a little bit less time on technology will probably help.

Loneliness

With loneliness among the younger generation on the rise and people struggling with having face to face conversations social media is a culprit yet again. 31% of internet users say they miss out on spending time with friends and family because of a screen, whether that's sitting in your room looking at your phone rather than spending time with someone who's downstairs or consciously not saying yes to going out because you'd rather look at a screen, we are all missing out on experiences because we are too glued to technology. It also changes they way we communicate with people when we are with them; 26% of adults saying they have texted someone while being in the same room as them. This can make people scared of social interactions and many people use their phone as a comfort blanket.

How to use your phone wisely

When it's used properly social media can be an awesome place for inspiration, education and empowerment. I think the key is trying to cut down and set yourself a few strict rules so you don't fall down the scroll hole.

1. Set limits. You can physically set screen time and downtime limits on your phone so you don't absentmindedly spend your whole day on a screen. or pick it up right before bed.

2. Only follow people who make you smile! We follow so many influencers because we feel we should- I do it and I'm sure I'm not the only one who clicks follow just because everyone else has. If you only have an Instagram feed that empowers you, it's going to be a lot more beneficial to your life.

3. Don't use technology before bed. Try and turn it off at least half an hour before your head hits the pillow. Charge your phone outside of your room so you're not tempted to pick it up. Use an alarm on a clock or radio rather than your phone and try to do something relaxing before bed.

4. Go out without your phone. Whether it's going for a walk or out for dinner try leaving your phone behind and connecting yourself and those around you.

5. Turn off notifications from social media. I know it's REALLY hard! Maybe start with 1 app, it's not all or nothing. But not have a continuous feed coming through and not checking your phone every time a notification pops up can be really good for you. In fact, a third of people say that notifications worsen their mood.

6. Try a digital detox! Take one day, preferably a weekend, where you switch everything off and don't use any screens. Maybe it's once a week. once a fortnight or once a month but give it a go and see how you feel.

7. Speak to someone. If technology is really negatively impacting you, you feel addicted or social media is making you feel scared talk to someone you trust or get in touch with a mental health service. I promise it will help.

So wow, I've learnt so much from writing this post and I'm definitely going to try and improve my relationship with technology, as I've realised there are a few issues! For more information, facts and resources for a digital detox check out Time To Log Off. https://www.itstimetologoff.com/

If you want some more advice on social media usage I'd highly recommend listening Do We Need A Digital Detox from The Deliciously Ella podcast (to everyone rolling their eyes right now yes I know I'm obsessed) https://open.spotify.com/show/7F6YqGJ06UEuD7qG81tFHw

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