SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX: Does It Actually Improve Wellbeing?- Pt 2
The main purpose of social media detox is to aid mental wellness and improve one’s mental wellbeing. It breaks the habit of constant online engagement and breaks the pattern of social media addiction.
Engaging in Social Media Detox has immense benefits.
1. Lack of social media detox takes the person out of mindfulness and brews distraction.
2. Greater emotional regulation and a more positive outlook of life.
3. It gives you an opportunity to control yourself, mind, mental wellness and wellbeing.
4. It ensures you become more productive, more useful and less exposed to very toxic contents.
5. Social media detox aids reduce stress and helps regain focus.
How Does Social Media Detox Improve Our Wellbeing?
If there is something that we love to do all the time, at some point when u don’t do it you will have a feeling that something is missing. That is the effect social media can have due to continuous exposure.
When one engages in social media a lot to the point that it becomes habitual and addictive, one of the things that will happen is that the persons become a lot dependent on it. If you are able to detox yourself and disentangle your mind then you break away being independent off social media it will be of immense benefits to you because when you become dependent on it you will see it as the only medium you derive happiness, excitement, some false form of esteem, which is evident that you are already dependent.
There cannot be total disengagement from social media because if we disengage totally from social media, it will be like we are throwing out a baby with bathing water. Social media has two sides- the positive and the negative. As a result of this there has to be a regulated engagement with social media. Social media detox improves our wellbeing in the following ways;
1. Better mood emotion and Improved Mood regulation.
2. More quality and better sleep:
Engaging in the social media at night rather than sleeping will disrupt the melatonin hormone which will make you not have enough and quality sleep. Engaging in social media may prone you to worry and that is what drives many to unnecessarily comparisms whereby the users begin to question their essence of life, and self-worth. Regulated engagement with social media through detoxification will make one worry less.
3. Enhanced self-esteem and body image:
This means you factor in the advantages of engaging with social media. For instance, when you begin to notice you a becoming more controlled to social media, find something useful and productive on social media to do to regulate your involvement.
4. Mindfulness:
You will become more mindful of your engagement on social media. Also knowing well that social media can increase anxiety levels and stress due to constant scrolling through feeds online, managing information and absorbing social comparisons, this has a way of over stimulating the brain.
5. Social media detox offers the brain to slow down and focus on other more important things that may be more mentally rewarding.
6. Control of your time:
The time you engage via going through videos and contents on social media apps can be saved by engaging in more meaningful and productive things thereby making your productivity increase.
7. Increased Focus
8. Ability To Connect with People:
Ability to connect with people and face real life situations will abound instead of make belief social media. From face-to-face conversations to doing voice calls, from doing voice calling to video calling and from video calling to texting are better improved ways of communicating which bridges the gap of distancing unlike engaging in social media where you have no interaction with people. One only just happen to watch what other people have posted including the messages and comments they put in there. If you are able to detox, you have real contacts with real people in real time while you have more time to do other things such as taking a walk, reading a book, focusing on the environment, being mindful of what is around you, getting ideas, and unfortunately these have become long gone habits.
9. Better Physical and Mental and emotional Health:
There are some advantages social media detox can convey. Having a stable mindset, in control of your thought process. Because when you are not glued to your phone and not just seating in one place, you will be engaged in more rewarding activities for your physical and mental state.
CONCLUSION
Before the days of social media In the times before the advent of social media, the health challenge of obesity was linked to long engagements by people on their TV sets accompanied with eating but when social media came, we have people watching things on their phone and this no longer affected peoples physical health but mental health because the contents they expose themselves to gets into their minds creating all kinds of impressions both wrong and right but most times wrong impressions, thereby affecting their esteem, emotional wellbeing state and their ability to be happy. It has also affected their ability of maintaining a stable mind set, thereby causing more anxiety, more stress and depression and all kinds of negative things social media can expose you to.
In conclusion, a social media detox can be a transformative experience, offering significant mental, emotional, and physical benefits. By taking a break from the constant stream of information, comparisons, and distractions, individuals can regain a sense of balance, improve their focus, and enhance their well-being. A detox allows for a reset, helping people reconnect with themselves, cultivate more meaningful relationships, and prioritize real-life experiences. While the digital world provides many advantages, it is crucial to occasionally step back and assess how it impacts our lives. Ultimately, a social media detox promotes mindfulness and fosters healthier, more intentional digital habits moving forward. This is why the growing need and concern is evident today.
Frederick Abiola-Cudjoe
Frederick Abiola Cudjoe is a blogger, content creator who is in service to Arogi Trauma Care Foundation. He is solution driven and result oriented. He has a strong passion to always make clients have the best customer service experience.
