So, it has been a while since I have written on here, but it has been roughly two and a half weeks since I have given up Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. My self esteem has continued to raise, I have been slightly more active (biking and walking more places, started my workouts again). I am eating relatively healthy, I have gotten an apartment with my boyfriend (also packed a good amount too!). Things have been going well for me.
But let us focus on the mental health side of this.
Q: How do I feel about myself and my life (choices) since I have left social media?
A: I feel more secure with myself. When people are online, they tend to be more forceful about their points of views and have more to throw your way. The views that are out there are also very contradicting. One moment it is "A" is good, next "A" is bad. Without all these views being pushed and forced onto me, I am more secure with how I feel about myself, my choices, and how I run my life. I make my own choices based on facts that I get from the news websites rather then opinions that people have. For example: Feminism. This gets forced upon us, which to a certain extent it isn't bad. However, not only women face discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying. Our media makes us believe that men are evil and never face these obstacles. So now that I am seeing these ideas and issues with facts and not opinions, I don't feel so pressured or bad for having my own feelings and opnions on these issues.
Q: How is my social life changing now without having social media at my fingertips?
A: Well, I have been paying more attention to those I speak and work with. I am not constantly checking my phone so I am not missing what they are saying. It is bringing me closer to those I speak with. I still use Facebook Messenger to keep in contact with my friends who have moved away, but I am not constantly checking up on pictures, doing quizzes, and all the other stuff that you do on Facebook. This is making my face-to-face interactions more personal and more meaningful.
Q: How has my sleeping patterns changed since I haven't used social media?
A: I am falling asleep more, going to bed earlier, waking up earlier and staying asleep longer. I am feeling more energized and well rested. Since I am not on social media anymore, I am not feeling as anxious or insecure so it is helping with my sleeping. Also since I don't use it, I am not up all night on social media saying "after this quiz I will go to bed" or "after this comment I will go to sleep". So it is really helping with that aspect (which ties into the whole emotional disorder and depression).
Q: How has my depression, emotions, and anxiety been since I have left social media?
A: Well I had a moment the other day where my depression started to sneak up, but I was able to quickly deny it and recover. I can not tell you if for certain it is because of lack of social media or if I have learned to control my depressive moments. For my emotions, they are still strong, however they are positive. I don't know again, if this is a correlation between no social media and myself or if it is just that over time I have learned to control myself. As for the anxiety, it has gone down. I am not so anxious about needing to please everyone around me. I just want to live my life, be happy and be a good person to those around me. Without so many opinions and ideas and emotions being thrown my way, it is great how much lower my anxieties have gone.
Q: What do you plan to do with this information?
A: I plan to limit my use of social media. I will keep it off my phone and go back to using it on the computer only (after Christmas as promised). I was going to delete it, but everything is good in moderation.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. These are my findings on myself, they may differ with each individual. Also it may depend on type of mental health problems that you have. I suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder and Depression (previously from Bulemia, still managing that, however I do not go through the binging and purging that goes hand in hand with bulemia). So I do not have that bad of issues (anymore). So for someone with more severe health issues, results may differ.
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