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THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is an ingrained part of our lives, 45 million people in the UK use social media [3] and instagram’s monthly users hit 1 billion this year, which is a huge increase from 1 million users in 2010 [1]. 78% of the UK’s internet users have a Facebook account and as a nation we spend on average 1h 50minutes a day using social media, and but as students we know this can be significantly more [3].

We are constantly bombarded with images that portray the ‘perfect life’ and the ‘perfect body’ when in fact this idea of ‘perfect’ doesn’t exist in real life. We are relentlessly trying to achieve this idea of perfection that we are sold despite it being unrealistic for the majority of us, and the gap between how we look, and how we think we should look is growing, and this can have a massive negative impact on our mental health.

In a survey carried out by the Royal Society for Public Health [2], young people stated that four out of five social media apps made their feelings of anxiety worse, while heavy users of social media; that spend more than two hours a day on social media, are more likely to report poor mental health.

“Exposure to thin ideal portrayed by social media is linked to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating”[5]

Before a picture is posted on social media there are hundreds of shots taken in different lighting, at different angles, the ‘perfect’ one is chosen, before it is edited and filtered. Only then is it posted to social media in order for us to show exactly what we want to show.

We then critically compare our lives and our bodies to others without even realising it, leading to feelings of low self-esteem and severe lack of confidence as our internal voices negatively state ‘I will never look like that’ and ‘I wish my life was like that’. This can impact negatively on our body image and affects both men and women, with 70% of 18-24 year olds stating they would consider having cosmetic surgery [2].

While it cannot be said that social media directly cause eating disorders it does influence the relationship we have with food. We are presented with images of the ideal body shape, which ingrains the idea that if we looked like this our lives would be better. This ‘ideal’ is unachievable for the majority of us and can result in people turning to dangerous eating habits [4] such as restrictive eating or lead to binging .

Social media can also be great, it helps us to keep in touch with friends and family we don’t see often, it provides a platform for self-expression and can also be a place that provides a sense of community and support. Therefore we are not telling you to delete all your social media accounts ASAP but instead use it more mindfully [5]. So below we’ve listed some tips to make your social media use more positive.

  • FILTER (no not that kind) out the falseness. Remember that not everything you see is on social media is real life.

  • DON’T COMPARE yourself to others and remember you are worth more than your weight!

  • UNFOLLOW people that provoke negative thoughts and instead follow those who spark joy and happiness, below we’ve included links to some accounts that we love and are all about spreading positivity

  • LIMIT TIME spent on social media, start slow for example not using social media after 9pm, only allow yourself to check social media once every few hours, or maybe even leave your phone at home every now and then.

POSITIVE INFLUENCERS WE RECOMMEND:

 

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This is me.. I stand up tall to everything I have faced. My past does not define me. Losing my mum, dad, daughter, surviving domestic abuse, eating disorders and other various life experiences do not define me. I use all of this to grow, and then I use my growth to help you all grow. I still stand up tall. Nothing will knock me. I am beautiful, worthy, courageous, sad at times, an empath, feel pain of others, choose to smile when I know I can’t. I see the good in people when I’m blinded by it. I have fed mouths that have spoken sh** about me. I have wiped tears of those that have caused mine. I have picked up people that have knocked me down. I now stand up tall, and know everything I stand for and my truth. I ask you to do the same. Never change who you are because of hurt you have experienced. Whatever pain you have encountered from the cause of someone else, just know that it’s a reflection of them and not you.. ❤️❤️ ‘I raise up my voice; not so that it can shout, but so those without a voice can be heard.’ – Malala ❤️❤️ @blisssanctuaryforwomen #BlissAmbassador

A post shared by MALIN ANDERSSON (@missmalinsara) on

 

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It’s been amazing to see so many fantastic posts already today for #worldmentalhealthday; awareness is growing and the stigma is slowly diminishing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’d always originally thought about mental health in the context of mental illness. It was always ‘us’ and ‘them’. Mental health for me was a clinical diagnosis, and as long as I didn’t fit the criteria for diagnosis I was ok. It was a post by @thepsychologymum last year that really changed how I saw things. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We don’t ignore our physical health until there’s a problem, we recognise the benefit of things like exercise, sleep, nutritious food… so how come it’s so hard for us to recognise mental health in the same way? Even if you don’t fit the criteria for an official diagnosis, your mental health is important. It’s important to recognise that there are things we can do to improve it, no matter who we are or what situation we are in. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I also really resonated with @publichealthengland’s #everymindmatters campaign this year. They found that 83% of people reported experienced early signs of poor mental health including feeling anxious, stressed, having low mood or trouble sleeping in the last 12 months. Even when some of those are a natural situational response, there is ALWAYS benefit in what are sometimes simple things designed to help. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Stop thinking your mental health doesn’t matter. You deserve care and compassion, no matter the severity.

A post shared by Dr Joshua Wolrich (MBBS MRCS) (@drjoshuawolrich) on

If you feel you, or someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, please reach out for help by booking an appointment with your GP and also there are many organisations which offer support for individuals and families suffering from an eating disorder:

Written by Amy Anderson
3rd Year Mpharm student

References:
[1] Constine, J. (2018). Instagram hits 1 billion monthly users, up from 800M in September. San Francisco: TechCrunch. Available from https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/20/instagram-1-billion-users/ [accessed 07 October 2019].
[2] Cramer, S and Inkster, B.. (2017). Status of Mind, Social media and young people’s mental health. London: Royal Society for Public Health. Available: https://www.rsph.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/d125b27c-0b62-41c5-a2c0155a8887cd01.pdf. [accessed 25 October 2019].
[3] Dubras, R. (2019). Digital in the UK: Data and Learnings for 2019. London: We are Social. Available from https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2019/03/digital-in-the-uk-data-and-learnings-for-2019. [accessed 25 October 2019].
[4] Jade, D. (2019). Media and Eating Disorders. London: Eating Disorders. Available from https://eating-disorders.org.uk/information/the-media-eating-disorders/. [accessed 25 October 2019].
[5] National Eating Disorder Association. (2018). Media and Eating Disorders. New York: National Eating Disorder Association. Available from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/media-eating-disorders. [accessed 25 October 2019].
[6] Sekar, M. (2019). Dangers of Social Media. London: Priory Group. Available from https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/the-dangers-of-social-media-and-advice-on-eating-disorders. [accessed 25 October 2019].