Is Social Media Doing More Harm Than Good For Your Mental Health?

Are you getting a positive return on your time and mental health investment?

Until finding Aaron Templer's article, "Why Social Media Should Leave Your Marketing Department—And Where It Should Go Instead", I thought the problem was me. I have suffered from depression, bi-polar or now properly diagnosed as PTSD.

During the lockdown, besides feeling like God stopped the rest of the world so the 'normals' would understand my day-to-day living, I saw how poorly people were adapting to remote or work from home living. Perhaps it was because they were so used to surviving in a "that's just the way it is" world.

Side note: after lockdown, many persons could claim they are suffering from a form of PTSD. The difference between myself and the average person, their symptoms will naturally fade in a few months' time. Mine will more than likely be with me for the rest of my life.

But things have changed. People discovered who they were willing to die for or live in quarantine with. We noticed how little fact-checking was being done by newsrooms and how our health care system was struggling under the weight of little to no actual solutions for the logistics of the dead vs. protecting those who were trying to save us all. There were so many cancel culture incidents on Twitter I lost count except for one: Tessica Brown.

Some of you may be going, hmmm why does she look like someone I should know? Ok, what about now?

Yeah, I REFUSE to use the name of a brand and her gender vs. her God-given name. For 3 days that's the stance I took while she was trending. I told newsrooms SHAME ON YOU for using slang when as journalists you KNOW better. She is a woman of color who has a name! #sayhername I looked for solutions, shared my own personal traumas surrounding my hair, anything I could think of to keep her spirits up until Dr. Michael Obeng came along to save her hair, scalp, and mental health. These days she's started a hair care line to properly provide the stiff hold she achieved with a heavy-duty, spray-on adhesive.

Many would have you believe she is a great example for how social media works! But that's NOT what the data says and she's admitted if it wasn't for a few good people who stood in the gap for her ... this story's ending would have been a tragedy. In the past few months, I've spent a LOT of time looking at what's the difference between a success story and someone who gets cancelled. I stopped to take a good long hard look at what being on social media has actually done of value for me?

• LinkedIn - no real job offers of substance. Mostly SPAM temp or contract gigs which in the corporate world says "unstable" when it's their way of avoiding onboarding cost [i.e benefits, unemployment, etc].
• Twitter - my analytics would have you believe I'm an unknown until you notice who is paying attention to what I was tweeting and how they used that information to their advantage.
• Instagram - this platform might as well be a free dating app only it's at the level of promoting stalking as an art form by encouraging #parasocialrelationships

Parasocial Relationships: The Nature of Celebrity Fascinations – Find a Psychologist

Seriously, I ended up in one with a #genericrapper he encouraged. Thankfully, I was in monitored therapy so I actually gained strong acceptance of self. Do you think his career is falling off?

Dame D.O.L.L.A., G-Eazy, P-Lo and White Dave - About That Time (Space Jam: A New Legacy) - YouTube

Are You Ready for a Challenge?

My therapist gave me a list of tasks I could choose to do for myself or ignore and spend the rest of my life wondering, "What if..."

• Can you invest as much energy in only yourself as you have the people you see need <fill in the blank>? I can't see myself very well so came the next step.
• Can you shut off ALL of your social media and find another way to express your creative skillset?

I knew I could, especially if I made it a game and said, "Good-Bye, World" in my own special way - which is what I officially did yesterday. Ever since, slowly but surely, I've been able to remove all of the things on my website that hasn't brought me positivity and find new places I'd forgotten I once loved being a part of. It's good to be back Hackernoon!

If you find yourself suffering from pandemic fog or you're curious about the techniques involved with cognitive behavioral therapy, allow me to introduce: Emma McAdam, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has worked in various settings including juvenile corrections, adventure therapy programs, wilderness therapy programs, an eating disorder treatment center, and a residential treatment center. Currently, she works in an outpatient therapy clinic. She also has a YouTube channel :)

Mindfulness for Anxiety 💓 - A Beginner's Guide - YouTube