How Can Social Media Affect Your Health?
At first glance, it may seem like a surprising notion that social media can affect your health. When we consider how much time people spend engaging on sites.
Anything that takes up large amounts of your time, counting work, watching TV, exercising or driving, has some impact on your health. The question is whether social media is good or bad for us. The simple answer is that it can be both. Fortunately, there are ways to help decrease its harmful effects while maximizing the benefits.
Ways That Social Media Impacts Your Health
There are a number of ways that social media can have an influence on your health.
Addiction to social media- People who are addicted to social media may experience negative side effects such as eye strain, social withdrawal or lack of sleep.
Information- You can find a large amount of health-related information on social media. This can be quite helpful. On the other hand, if you take random advice without doing proper research, it can also be harmful.
Stress- If you spend your time researching problems or arguing with people, you may experience stress, which can have a negative impact on your health.
Emotional connections- Social media can help you connect with more people and stay in touch with those with whom you’re already close. Connecting with people has proven health benefits.
Social Media Addiction
Social media addiction is a real phenomenon. As more people carry around smartphones and other devices wherever they go, it becomes harder to escape the internet.
For people who are addicted to these sites, it can have a harmful effect on their lives and even their health. Any addiction is potentially harmful if it saps your energy away from other activities, such as work, physical activity, and offline relationships. There are a variety of ways that social media addiction harms your mental health.
Impact on Physical Health
Social media can directly impact physical health. This is generally associated with the way you use it. For example:
Eye problems- You can get eyestrain from staring at screens for too long.
Fatigue- This is another symptom of overusing social media. If you’re staying up too late posting on social media, you may be losing valuable sleep.
Lack of exercise- Social media can cut into the time you might otherwise be spending outdoors or exercising.
Distraction- One of the most dangerous potential consequences of social media addiction is driving while being distracted.
