Improper Usage of Social Media: A Health Hazard

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The picture of Sleep Deprivation is no different in India than the US. According to Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a survey was conducted among 250 people by Service of Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences. This survey revealed that all of them check their phones for messages, new statuses and posts at about 4 times before sleeping. Then the researchers along with the respondents figured out that social media delayed their sleep by about 96 minutes. “People are addicted to technology and get excited when chatting or using social media, which forces them to delay their sleep,” said Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Nimhans, who conducted the study.

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety is one of the most common feelings a human being can feel. Everyone feels anxious now and then as it is a very normal emotion. People feel anxious before taking a test, giving an interview or facing a problem. Human beings have evolved to a point where anxiety plays an important role in helping them when they make important decisions in life, although too much stress or anxiety can be detrimental. Anxiety disorder is different, in a way it stops you from carrying on with your life normally. People having anxiety disorder face continuous fear and worry, they also find themselves carrying out some tasks with more hassle.

There are many types of anxiety disorders. Panic disorder is a common one where in random strike of terror makes a person sweat and have chest pains. Some of the phobias are also considered as a part of anxiety, these phobias can cause a person avoid an ordinary situation too. Then comes generalized anxiety disorder, a person with GAD can feel tension, stress and excessive worry for little or no reason. However, with these kinds of anxiety disorders already existing, Social Media Anxiety Disorder has also taken considerable attention by researchers studying anxiety.

“Social Media Anxiety Disorder is a syndrome that relates to generalized Social Anxiety, and is acquired when the participation of social media affects the mental and physical well-being of an individual.” Individuals facing SMAD often feel inferiority, self-consciousness, evaluation and judgement. SMAD is common amongst the youth from age 13-23. People of these age group who have SMAD spend around 8 hours on social networking sites on an everyday basis. SMAD leaves them wondering if they are good enough, popular enough, pretty enough and wealthy enough. These worries not only take up a lot of important time of our lives but also stop us from healthier interactions.

When a group of people were asked if they had random people following them, 93% of them agreed that their Instagram profile has random people following them. 93% is a significantly high number indicating that they would allow ‘randomers’ to view their profile. When a person has high amount of these ‘randomers’ following them, he/she is considered to be famous amongst their friends. This scenario not only gives rise to the ‘compare and despair’ factor but it also makes others who are not into having ‘randomers’ following them feel jealous. This jealousy then makes a person raise their attention towards gaining more likes, followers, views on their profile which induces a sense of anxiety. This anxiety may be cause due to various factors:

- Built up anxiety when comments are not made and pictures are not posted/tagged correctly

- Checking the number of followers on Twitter and constantly finding opportunities to increase these numbers

- Feeling a sense of attachment to your phone or computer, as if nothing else matters more

According to anxietyuk, a study was conducted on a group of people. In this study, 45% of the responders felt worried or uncomfortable when their Instagram, Facebook accounts were inaccessible. 60% of them felt the need to turn off the mobile phone completely to avoid distraction and the sense of worry. The same number also felt like there is a need to secure a full-fledged break from technology by turning off the internet modem while performing tasks. "These findings suggest that some may need to re-establish control over the technology they use, rather than being controlled by it,” says Anxiety UK CEO, Nicky Lidbetter.

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- Gay, Chloe. “Anxiety - Compare and Despair?” 'The Social Stresswork' - Is Social Media Affecting Our Mental Health?, 22 Jan. 2017, www.blog.buprojects.uk/2016-2017/chloegay/2017/01/07/anxiety-compare-despair/.

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