Millie Painter, Content Team Editor
When facing mental health struggles such as anxiety, it is important not only to acknowledge coping strategies that improve mental wellbeing but also to identify detrimental factors that may be increasing feelings of anxiety.
I have experienced anxiety for as long as I can remember. However, it was not until my teen years that I realised not everybody experiences these intense feelings of worry and dread. Having discovered this, I began to study Psychology in order to understand myself better and to find ways to alleviate these emotions to the best of my ability. From here, I engaged in many hobbies that I found extremely helpful when I was going through a bad time with my anxiety. On the contrary, I also noticed that certain situations would increase my anxiety. For me, a particularly adverse factor was social media.
I had downloaded Instagram at a young age and had always been aware of the pressures that come with such a platform. However, since I was young and impressionable, I wanted to be involved with my peers and so I pushed aside any adverse feelings I was experiencing. By the age of 15, I had become more aware of my struggles with anxiety and began to notice that the idea of posting on Instagram made my anxiety spike. I would sit for a while after posting, over-analysing myself and constantly feeling worried and dread for how I was being perceived. Shortly after truly recognising its negative impact on me, I made the decision to temporarily deactivate my account in order to test for any improvements in my mental health. I had always planned on reinstalling it so this just felt like a temporary fix. Quickly afterwards, however, I began to notice an improvement in my mood, as I felt less self-conscious and the lack of social pressures relieved certain aspects of my anxiety, particularly my social anxiety. After noticing this, I had no desire to reinstall the app and left it to delete itself (which is what it does after a year of inactivity). Five years on, I still have no social media despite texting platforms to communicate with family and friends. It is not something that I miss and I still believe deleting it was in the best interests for my mental health.
As much as social media had a negative impact on my mental wellbeing, I do not believe that this will be something that helps everyone. For others, apps like instagram are very beneficial, giving them a platform to discuss their emotions and find others experiencing similar issues. I simply believe in the importance of recognising parts of your own life that are exacerbating any mental health struggles you may be facing.
