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Social Media and Mental Health?

DigbyDevon

Hi all,

Over the past few months my mental health has been a bit rocky which has been made worse by social media. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which latches on to anything negative, low and behold social media is terrible for that.

What i have found is leaving X (Twitter) and reducing my time spent on Facebook has helped make life a bit easier.

I was just curious if anyone else had to reduce their social media in take due to their mental health?

Parents

  • Hello Digby,

    My Twitter account was closed years ago after the toxicity became too great, and that was before it became 'X'.  LinkedIn was binned earlier than Twitter; being retired made that decision easy, as I could see that it was not the same place I had joined.  Last week I logged out of Facebook and deleted the app from my phone.  Now I am contacting everyone I want to keep in touch with before I close that account down as well.

    So, now I have Instagram left, and I think I will keep it (unless it becomes toxic as well), as my hobby is photography.  On the recommendation of a friend, I have opened a BlueSky account, which seems to have as much political stuff as the other places, but it does seem easier to scroll by without engaging.  But it is early days; it may end up being shut down as well if I get no benefit from it.

    Spending less time on not-so-social ' social media' has been liberating, and my anxiety level is definitely much lower now.  I shall miss the interactions of a few people I knew there, but on balance it is far better for me not to engage, which I think is probably true for many autistic people.

  • in reply to Iago

    Hi lago, that is fantastic to hear that it has worked for you.

    I find sites such as X or other scrolling, high engagement sites to be the worst. I am on LinkedIn still but tbh I have no idea how to use it so very rarely find issues on there. 

    Ironically I find Instagram the least worst for, I know a lot of people find photo sharing sites the worst. But that is a platform which depends on how you use it i find. 

    The problem with social media is sometimes it does feel needed, for example despite my views on Facebook I do need it when it comes to keeping in touch with family, road closures etc. 

  • in reply to DigbyDevon

    FB definitely has a role for family connections and local news.  But it is so toxic these days that I cannot stay there now.  That's why I am setting up alternate ways to connect with friends and family.  I will miss those interactions, as I said, and the local news where I live, but my well-being trumps it all, especially now that I understand a little of how autism affects me.

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  • in reply to DigbyDevon

    FB definitely has a role for family connections and local news.  But it is so toxic these days that I cannot stay there now.  That's why I am setting up alternate ways to connect with friends and family.  I will miss those interactions, as I said, and the local news where I live, but my well-being trumps it all, especially now that I understand a little of how autism affects me.

Children
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