Social Media and Anxiety: How the Internet Can Help Us

For adults, social media has become an integral part of our lives, for better and for worse. It was estimated that in 2023, there were over 4.9 billion social media users worldwide, with the average person spending 145 minutes on social media every day. The internet allows us to connect with one another in numerous ways, however it can be a source of anxiety for some.

The links between social media and anxiety are undeniable, but there are ways we can leverage the tools on the internet to reduce our anxiety. Perhaps the most effective way of coping with anxiety is to learn to use social media differently, for a different purpose, and for a different result.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

There was a time not that long ago when we experienced the world without a screen. At its inception, social media was about having fun online, posting pictures with friends, and sharing updates about our lives. Social media has evolved into a different thing, and it is hard to avoid even if you try.

Some would prefer not to be on social media, but need to maintain an online presence for professional reasons. This might involve managing a company’s social media and marketing strategy, using platforms like LinkedIn, or leveraging social media to advance our careers.

Although social media and anxiety often go hand in hand, there are valid reasons to remain online. For many of us the “social” aspect of social media is what keeps us from deleting these apps. It is our connection to distant friends, family, and a place to make new, important connections, even possibly romantic ones. For some people, it is the only way to connect with others.

Of course, the internet can also pose several security risks. There has been a sharp uptick in identity theft, money phishing schemes, and data breaches since 2020, with an estimated 77% of the population encountering daily scam attempts. Scammers tend to use social media as a means of gaining access to a person’s information, seeing as many platforms encourage users to share as many personal details as possible.

One of the increasingly more common links between social media and anxiety is simply safety; people want to participate in harmless scrolling without having to worry that their data is being illegally collected by unknown sources.

Things far more sinister than scams and fraud can take place online, which is especially important to keep in mind if you have adolescents or young children who use the internet. On sites such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, privacy controls and built-in safety settings enable parents to restrict who can view content or send messages, helping to reduce potential risks.

There are also parental control apps that can track screen time and flag inappropriate content. These are just a few measures to help parents monitor their child’s online activity. The most important thing parents can do is have conversations with their kids about the risks and benefits of using the internet.

The Case For Social Media

With all the potential problems and threats from social media and the perceived negative impact on mental health, many wonder why we should continue to participate online. Surely we can try to meet romantic partners the old-fashioned way, and prioritize real-life friendships rather than digital ones. These ideas are perfectly true and good to follow. The fact is that social media is not a necessary part of anyone’s life.

However, social media is not always the cause of our anxiety, and can be a coping mechanism for an overloaded nervous system. Scrolling through apps has become a daily routine for many of us. There is a virtual muscle memory that kicks in when we relax at home, where our hand reaches for our device while our brain shifts to autopilot mode.

When a person is scrolling on their phone, they are engaging in an instinctive need for dopamine and emotional reward. While this can frequently be excessive, intense, and time-consuming, social media engagement can feel like a well-earned treat when we are intentional about it.

Most people are aware of the downsides of social media. All those highlight reels of a person’s life serve only to remind us of how much we haven’t achieved yet. Not only does this spike our anxiety, but it can make us feel guilty, bitter, frustrated, jealous, and disillusioned by the state of our own lives.

Online, we are presented with a version of the “perfect” lifestyle, from luxury vacations and clothing to airbrushed people who achieve the life of their dreams with ease. Social media can present an illusion of a life without struggle that we wish were true for our lives.

What upside to social media could there possibly be, you might ask. That is exactly the right question to be asked if you wish to continue to engage with social media. It can be a mindless way to pass an hour after work, as we unwind and settle in for the evening, or it can be a toxic trap stoking feelings of anxiety, bitterness, and jealousy if we let it. There is another way of engaging with social media, and one that might positively impact our anxiety.

Social Media and Anxiety: How the Internet Can Help Us

Any nutritionist will tell you that the best way to get healthy is not to eliminate junk food from your diet entirely, but to reassess your relationship with food overall. The same can be said of social media and its role in our lives. Some people have tried to overcome their unhealthy consumption of social media by deleting all of their apps at once.

However, once they delete all of their apps, they find a gap that can’t be filled by anything else as effective as social media, and download the apps once more. The issue is that they aren’t addressing or attempting to understand their underlying motivation for using social media in the first place. When we become intentional about how and why we use social media, it starts serving us, rather than the other way around.

If social media is a simple way for us to unwind and engage in mental autopilot for a while, perhaps we simply need to put a cap on how much time we spend doing that. If it is a tool that we primarily use for connecting with others and having online conversations, we should enjoy that aspect of it while also trying to meet up with friends for real-life activities.

If we use social media primarily to gain attention and praise for our achievements, that in and of itself is not a bad thing, but we might benefit from doing more self-reflection and journaling.

Certain challenges and risks come with using the internet and social media that can lead to increased feelings of anxiety among users. However, placing all the blame on these platforms for our anxiety can be unhelpful and does not reduce our anxiety.

Instead, we need to understand what motivates our social media habits and use them more intentionally. The world is full of beautiful places, art, music, and incredible people, and social media allows us to experience it and engage with it. We have the power to change our experience and perceptions about social media.

One way to actively help change our perceptions about social media is by using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to help us identify and challenge negative thought patterns triggered by social media and learn to reframe distorted thinking and develop healthier interpretations of what we see online.

If you have been reassessing your experience with social media and anxiety and would like to talk with someone about it, we can help. You can find access to several counselors in our online catalog, or you can speak with our reception team, who can help connect you to someone. You are on a healthy path, keep going!