uman beings are social creatures. We need the companionship of others to thrive in life, and the strength of our connections has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Being socially connected to others can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to your life.

The prevalence of loneliness is increasing and the association between loneliness and ill health is now clear. Loneliness and Depression are now an epidemic. Social media has definitely revolutionized the ways we can make new friends, but ironically, this epidemic has hit mankind when we have all the more opportunities to connect like never before.

Many of us rely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram to find and connect with each other. While each has its benefits, it’s important to remember that social media can never be a replacement for real-world human connection. It requires in-person contact with others to trigger the hormones that alleviate stress and make you feel happier, healthier, and more positive. Ironically for a technology that’s designed to bring people closer together, spending too much time engaging with social media can actually make you feel lonelier and more isolated—and exacerbate mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Well, 100+ friends on Facebook doesn’t guarantee a meaningful connection. In the USA, for example, loneliness affects one-fifth of the population. In the UK, it is experienced by more than a third of those over the age of 50.

Alexa may have become a substitute for personal human communication, but, using artificial intelligence as an alternative to human companionship is not nearly enough.

When we feel lonely, we desire connection. Yet our need for a more connected society seems to be colliding head-on with a neoliberal ideology in which there is an increasing drive for efficiency and profit maximization.

By some estimates, roughly 4 billion people across the world use networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, prompting mental health experts to investigate if the enormous popularity of social media plays a role in depression. Research suggests that people who limit their time on social media tend to be happier than those who don’t. Studies also indicate that social media may trigger an array of negative emotions in users that contribute to or worsen their depression symptoms.

Studies reveal that there’s a correlation between networking websites and depression. Other research goes a step further, finding that social media may very well cause depression.

Looking at social media content such as a friend’s beach vacation, graduation school acceptance letter, or happy family might make individuals feel bad about themselves. Taking in the photos or posts of people with seemingly “perfect” lives can make social media users feel like they just don’t measure up. A 2015 University of Missouri study found that regular Facebook users were more likely to develop depression if they felt feelings of envy on the networking site.

Let us have a look at the positive aspects of social media

• Communicate and stay up to date with family and friends around the world.
• Find new friends and communities
• Join or promote causes
• Seek or offer emotional support
• Find vital social connections if you live in a remote area
• Find an outlet for your creativity and self-expression.
• Discover sources of valuable information and learning.

And the negative aspects of social media

Since it’s a relatively new technology, there’s little research to establish the long-term consequences, good or bad, of social media use. However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts.

• Low Self-worth: Even if you know that the photos that you’re viewing on social media are manipulated, they can still make you feel insecure about how you look or what’s going on in your own life. Similarly, we’re all aware that other people tend to share just the highlights of their lives, rarely the low points that everyone experiences.
• Fear of missing out (FOMO): While FOMO has been around far longer than social media, sites such as Facebook and Instagram seem to exacerbate feelings that others are having more fun or living better lives than you are. The idea that you’re missing out on certain things can impact your self-esteem, trigger anxiety, and fuel even greater social media use. FOMO can compel you to pick up your phone every few minutes to check for updates, or compulsively respond to each and every alert—even if that means taking risks while you’re driving, missing out on sleep at night, or prioritizing social media interaction over real-world relationships.
• Isolation: A study at the University of Pennsylvania found that high usage of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram increases rather than decreases feelings of loneliness.
• Depression and anxiety:  Human beings need face-to-face contact to be mentally healthy. Nothing reduces stress and boosts your mood faster or more effectively than eye-to-eye contact with someone who cares about you. The more one prioritizes social media interaction over in-person relationships, the more one is at risk for developing or exacerbating mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
• Cyberbullying:  About 10 percent of teens report being bullied on social media and many other users are subjected to offensive comments. Social media platforms such as Twitter can be hotspots for spreading hurtful rumors, lies, and abuse that can leave lasting emotional scars.
• Self-absorption: Sharing endless selfies and all your innermost thoughts on social media can create unhealthy self-centeredness and distance you from real-life connections.

Much like an addiction to alcohol, or drugs, social media use can create psychological cravings. When one receives a like, a share, or a favorable reaction to a post, it can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain, the same “reward” chemical that follows taking a bite of chocolate or lighting up a cigarette. The more you’re rewarded, the more time you want to spend on social media, even if it becomes detrimental to other aspects of your life.

How to overcome Social Media Addiction?

• Reducing the screen time for social media to 30 minutes. While this may be difficult to achieve right away, one must slowly wean it off.
• Turning off the phone at certain times of the day, such as when in a meeting, at the gym, having dinner, spending time with offline friends, or playing with kids.
• Leave the phones or tabs in another room. Do not take them to the bathroom or even to bed.
• Disable social media notifications. It helps regain control of time and focus.
• Limit checks. If one compulsively checks his/her phone every few minutes, wean off by limiting checks to once every 15 minutes. Then once every 30 minutes, then once an hour.
• Remove social media apps from your phone so you can check them only on your tablet or computer.
• Finding a healthier substitute for social media use?
  • If you’re lonely, for example, invite a friend out for coffee instead.
  • Feeling depressed? Take a walk or go to the gym.
  • Bored? Take up a new hobby.

How Social Media Depression can be treated?

• Psychotherapy: Insight-oriented psychotherapy can help to alter the patient’s mindset. Supportive psychotherapy is a necessary adjunct to any type of depression. Psychotherapy also helps in improving interpersonal and social functioning. It also helps the family to understand the patient better and deal more effectively with them.
• Physical exercise and a healthy diet can be very helpful.

Allopathic Drugs of Choice:

• Specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) e.g. Citalopram, Escitalopram, Sertaline etc.
  • Serotonine Noradrenergic Reuptake Inhibitors or SNRIs like Venlafaxine, Desvenlafaxine
  • Noradrenergic Dopamine reuptake inhibitors like Mirtazapine
  • Tricyclic Antidepressants like Imipramine, Trimipramine, Doxepin etc.

These are however no solutions for the long run and on the contrary, may cause drug dependence.

Homeopathic Understanding and Approach:

Addictions actually occur due to certain psychological alterations and the need to be addicted to something emerges from a deep-down emotional lacuna, low self-esteem, or the lack of love or affection that one deserves. The feelings that follow addictions are those of depression and eventually, feelings of Loss, guilt, anger, weak ego defenses, etc.

Homeopathy can actually help an addict regain that self-confidence or self-esteem, it can help a person feel more connected and complete in himself. Homeopathy can give that sense of contentment and this energy-based medicine can actually help you feel more in sync with the universal energy.

The aim of Homeopathy treatment is to identify the root cause and understand the exact psyche of the individual that manifests in the present state. Homeopathy helps heal the inner turmoil however deep-seated it is and alleviates the symptoms of depression and so on.

At Healing Harmony, together Dr. Prajakta Vaidya and Dr. Preety Shah have treated countless patients, teens, pre-teens even adults who have felt the ill-effects of social media depression. Along with advocating psychotherapy sessions, meditation and counselling as adjuvants, they mainly treat these patients with research-based Homeopathy medicines and have significantly improved the lives of their patients.

Are you looking to heal yourself from the clutches of social media? Or do you have a loved one who is severely affected by social media addictions? The team of doctors at Healing Harmony is specialized, equipped, and well-experienced in handling such cases. You can contact us on https://www.healingharmony.in/