6 tips on how to use social networks and not to harm your mental health

According to a new pollAmericans are Concerned about Potential Negative Impacts of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-being American Psychiatric Association, more than a third of respondents consider social media harmful to their mental health. Only 5% of respondents believe that they affect positively on the psyche. More 45% in social networks are both positive and negative moments.

Two-thirds of respondents believe that the use of social networks is associated with social isolation and loneliness. There is researchIs social network site usage related to depression? A meta-analysis of Facebook-depression relations that overreliance on social networks leads to depression. Others are scientific works are social networks to communicate a sense of jealousyThe interplay between Facebook use, social comparison, envy, and depression, Low self-esteemThe interplay between Facebook use, social comparison, envy, and depression

and the growth of social anxietyMedia Multitasking Is Associated with Symptoms of Depression and Social Anxiety.

I watched for a long time patients abusing social networks. And I can offer you six tips that will allow use of the Internet, without prejudice to their mental health.

1. Limit the use of social networks

Abuse of social networks can distract from the urgent affairs and interfere with personal contact. You'll be much closer to your friends and relatives if select a particular time of the day, to communicate with them directly, turn off notifications on your phone (or put it to flight mode).

Try do not checkWhat's going on in your sotsetyah during dinner together with your family or friends, playing games with the kids or chat with friends. Ensure that social networks do not interfere with your work, distracting you from complex projects or negotiations with their colleagues. And finally, do not hold your smartphone next to the bed: it disrupts sleep.

2. Arrange a digital detox

Digital detox - this time when you make a break in the use of social networks. Several studies have shown that even a five-day or week-long refusal to Facebook could lead to a reduction of stressThe burden of online friends: The effects of giving up Facebook on stress and well-being and an increase in life satisfactionThe Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being.

Not necessarily to abandon social networks entirely, if it is still hard for you.

For example, one study showed moreNo More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and DepressionThat limiting the use of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes a day for three weeks already leads to a positive effect - reduce feelings of loneliness and tendency to depression.

But still the best way to avoid temptation - to delete the application from your smartphone social networking. Ask for help from friends and family. Tell them that you are sober.

3. Pay attention to your health

Experiment with your health. Come in your favorite social networks at different times of the day and evaluate how it affects you. For example, you may find that a few short visits during the day gives you vitality and mood, and a 45-minute scrolling tape once a day, on the contrary, the tires. If you feel that after sitting in Facebook until midnight the next day you feel overwhelmed and tired, just do not go there late at night. Good is appsTo help you control yourself.

Please note that people who consume content passively social networking, just looking at the posts of other users and do not spreading yourself feel worsePassive and Active Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among United States AdultsThan those who constantly something will post himself.

So if you can not boast of a photo from a holiday or something like that, it is better not to go so far in the social network, so as not to poison his soul, looking at the same fotochki in someone else's performance. And in general, focus on online communication with those whom you know so well in reality.

4. Use social networks with a clear purpose

If you're used to every morning to look into Twitter - think how it is useful from a practical point of view. You're doing it to get information about the latest news, or to escapeExperiential avoidance as a functional dimensional approach to psychopathology: An empirical review from the boring reality? Do you have used to start flipping tape Instagram whenever faced with a difficult task at work?

Be tough and honest with yourself.

Every time you check your social networks on your phone or computer, ask the question: "Why I decided to do it now?" Teach yourself to go to Twitter, only when you need the news to Facebook - when you have contact with some person, and so Further. Social networks - a tool that must serve a specific purpose.

5. Monitor the number of subscriptions

Certainly from the time you register on social networks, you have accumulated a bunch of online friends, as well as subscribe to multiple channels and news sources. Some of this content you still interesting, but most of the posts only clutter up the tape and cause irritation.

It's time to unsubscribe from unnecessary users in social networks, and then delete or hide the friends with whom you are communicating.

Most of them did not notice anything, so do not worry that someone will offend. You better be.

A recent study showed that users who read the posts of friends in Facebook, tend to compare their lives with someone else and feel of this negative emotionsThe grass is always greener on my Friends' profiles: The effect of Facebook social comparison on state self-esteem and depression. But those who use social networks, reading funny stories or view funny pictures, on the contrary, reported mood improvementSocial Media For Good? A Survey On Millennials' Inspirational Social Media Use. Conclusion: enough to watch other people's lives better watch seals.

6. Prefer real communication

Use Facebook, to be aware of the life of your cousin, not so bad. But only if you remember to see him live at least once every few months. Correspond chatting with a colleague also quite fun, but make sure that the messages do not replace talking to you face to face.

With thoughtful and informed use of social networking sites can be a useful addition to your life, but Only live communication with the person sitting across from you, can satisfy the human need for communications. Without this, you will still feel lonelyDoes Online Social Media Lead to Social Connection or Social Disconnection? and experience negative emotions.