Using social media with your mental health in mind: research and practical considerations for women

What does the research say?

Many of my counselling clients, friends and family members have reported experiencing a low mood after scrolling through social media. These reports are affirmed on a wider level through several research studies.

Findings from one recent study conducted by Cohen, Fardouly, Newton-John, and Slater (2019) discovered that brief exposure to “thin-ideal” Instagram posts was associated with a reduction in body satisfaction and positive mood in young women. They also found that body positive or “#bopo” posts were associated with improved body satisfaction and positive mood. The exposure to both “thin-ideal” and “bopo” content was connected with higher levels of self-objectification compared to posts unrelated to appearance.

This means that although “bopo” posts are more associated with positive moods and body satisfaction in women, viewing any female body-related content can influence women to view their bodies as objects and their appearance as something to be evaluated.

In another study, researchers found that the usage of Facebook affected women’s mood negatively (Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, and Halliwell, 2015). They also discovered that a greater desire to alter hair, face, and skin-related features is associated with Facebook usage by women who tend to compare their appearance to others.

Other researchers found that exposure to images of attractive and thin celebrities as well as of attractive and thin unknown peers had a negative affect on women’s body image and mood (Brown and Tiggemann, 2016).

These research findings provide us with a lot of information to consider as we contemplate how we use social media. We can use this knowledge to help us mindfully engage in social media to minimize the potential negative effects on our mental health. Below are suggestions to help us do so:

Get curious

Observe your thoughts as you scroll through your feed, consider writing down all of your automatic thoughts as they come (try to avoid judging your thoughts for being there). Notice how you feel after scrolling. Take a look at the thoughts you’ve written down. Did your thoughts include comparisons, self-criticisms, and/or fixations on others’ appearance; and did those thoughts elicit feelings of envy, jealously, inadequacy, inferiority, insecurity, sadness, disappointment, shame and/or resentment. If the answer is, yes, you are human! It is natural for our minds to compare and to see the negative, especially when it comes to the way we see ourselves. That is why we want to be conscious about what we are feeding our minds.

Consider your relationships and your values

Does your social media usage interfere with your relationships? Does your time scrolling rob you of opportunities where you could be connecting with your partner, friend, family member and the people you cross paths with. Does your usage get in the way of you living in line with your values? For example, you might value quality time, attentiveness, or perhaps you value kindness and connection with others. Social media might distract you from fully engaging in those values.

Let’s get practical

Customize your feed

There are incredibly encouraging and inspiring social media pages that showcase authenticity rather than a highlight reel. Seek out profiles that post real stories and messages that are uplifting, hopeful and empowering – those that remind you that you are not alone, that your are enough and you have enough.

Unfollow profiles focused on vanity

Many of us follow celebrity profiles, along with various other Instagram influencers who often share content that accentuates their appearance. Ask yourself – what do I gain from viewing profiles focused on vanity and appearance? How do these images and messages impact my mood and how I see myself? Do these images inspire an attitude of scarcity (“I need more”) or one of abundance (“I have enough and I am enough”)?

Use the mute feature on Instagram and the unfollow feature on Facebook

When there are people in your life who you want to support through social media but you recognize the potential negative effect that their posts have on your mood, you can mute or hide their posts from your feed. On Instagram, simply go to the person’s profile, click on “following” and then “mute.” You will then be able to choose to mute their posts and/or their stories. On Facebook, go to the person’s profile, click on the button “following” (on a desktop) and the person icon (on the mobile app) and choose “unfollow.” In both of these cases, you will still remain their Instagram follower or Facebook friend without having their posts enter your feed.

Use the timer feature on Instagram

Instagram has a helpful feature that most people are unaware of – the timer. You can determine the amount of time you wish to spend on Instagram and create a timer through the app that will notify you when you’ve reached that designated amount of time. The feature functions by tracking and accumulating all of the minutes you spend using the app in one day. To use this feature, head to your profile and click on the three lines on the top right corner. From there, choose “your activity” and then, “set daily reminder.” Under “your activity,” you will be able to see how long you’ve spent scrolling each day and what your daily average is. After reviewing your average, you may want to set a realistic goal for yourself to reduce that amount and then set the daily reminder to help you reach that goal.

Consider using an app blocker

There are helpful apps out there that have features that allow you to block the use of certain apps at certain times. You can schedule when you want an app to be inaccessible to better manage your social media usage.

Designate unplugged days or hours

You may want to choose one day a week in which you unplug from social media or perhaps from your phone altogether. You could also designate certain hours during your day or week to be unplugged.

Create a “best practices for social media usage” list

After assessing the impact of social media on your thoughts, attitudes, emotions and mood, you can create a list with practices that help to honour your mental health. This list should be tailored to your mental health, your values and your goals.
Here are some ideas:
– have morning and/or evening routine without social media usage
– designate the dinner table as a “no phone zone”
– leave spaces open for stillness or connection (e.g., avoid scrolling in public or when walking outside)
– keep phone out of sight during social gatherings
– have unplugged Sundays or be unplugged from the hours from 10 pm to 10 am

I hope these ideas were helpful to you!

References:

Brown, Z., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women’s mood and body image. Body Image, 19, 37–43. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.08.007

Cohen, R., Fardouly, J., Newton-John, T., & Slater, A. (2019). #BoPo on Instagram: An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women’s mood and body image. New Media & Society, 146144481982653. doi:10.1177/1461444819826530

Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P. C., Vartanian, L. R., & Halliwell, E. (2015). Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women’s body image concerns and mood. Body Image, 13, 38–45. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.12.002