Navigating Social Media: How to Protect Your Mental Health

Social media has revolutionized how we connect, learn, and share. It also offers access to information that cannot be accessed anywhere else, allows us to stay in touch with loved ones, and provides platforms for self-expression. As a therapist, I’ve also seen firsthand how it can impact mental health—sometimes for the better, but often unfortunately for the worse. Understanding the pros and cons of social media use and learning strategies to manage your usage can help you to create a healthier relationship with these platforms.

The Pros of Social Media

• Connection: Social media bridges geographic gaps, allowing people to maintain relationships across distances. I love that I have been able to maintain connections with people from all different seasons of my life including friends and extended family.
• Community Building: It helps to create connections over so many different topics. We have seen this with such phenomenon like BookTok which has played a huge role in the reading boom of recent years. It creates spaces for support and solidarity, especially for marginalized groups or those with niche interests.
• Access to Resources: Many users find valuable content on social media around topics like gardening, hobbies, mental health, educational tools, and exercise/fitness.
• Creativity and Inspiration: Social media is a hub for sharing art, ideas, and inspiration, encouraging personal growth and creativity and is a free space to share it with the world.

The Cons of Social Media

• Comparison and Low Self-Esteem: Constantly seeing curated highlights of others’ lives can lead to unhealthy comparisons and impact how we see ourselves. Even with the best intentions, some of the profiles and people we follow may be negatively impacting our self-worth.  For example, I have had many clients tell me that they follow fitness focused accounts as they thought they would be inspiring and help with motivate them to move more.  Instead, these profiles can actually make them feel worse by making them feel guilty for not exercising.
• Comparisons around Likes, Shares, and Comments: We all want to be seen.  It is a natural human desire because of our need and want for connection.  It’s very easy to compare yourself to others because the numbers don’t lie.  We see other people getting more likes and attention on their posts and we struggle with our own worth when we do not get the same.
• Social Relationship Impact: FOMO is real, and when we see our friends doing fun things in their posts, we can feel left out or jealous. This is especially present when we see our friends together without us. The negative self-talk associated with not being included can take a very heavy toll on our self-worth.
• Information Overload: The endless stream of content can cause anxiety and mental fatigue. Because of the nature of reels and posts, we can get caught in an overload trap with non-stop information.  We also know the way algorithms work and the more we watch something about a topic, the more that topic will show up.  So even if we know that watching videos about gardening or cute dogs will help us to feel better, we get caught in seeing less cup filling things more often in our quest to stay informed.
• Disrupted Boundaries: Notifications and constant accessibility blur the line between work, rest, and leisure. I especially see this in my sessions with couples when the topic of phone use comes up as a distraction from quality time.  This also can impact our sleep schedule, and getting work done.
• Social Pressure: Feeling obligated to comment on trending topics or share content can create stress, particularly when grappling with privilege or societal expectations. We can feel the pressure to share about a topic to help increase others’ awareness and to help that topic to get more attention but this can also impact us and create flooding which leads to anxiety.

Strategies to Reduce Time Spent on Social Media
1.    Change Notifications on Your Phone Notifications are designed to draw your attention. Turning off non-essential alerts can significantly reduce distractions. Use “Do Not Disturb” for certain times of day or customize notification settings to regain control over your attention.
2.    Move and Hide Apps Place social media apps in less accessible locations on your phone. For example, move them to the second page of your home screen or into folders. Simultaneously, make more productive or calming apps (like reading apps or meditation tools) more prominent. I know for me, I put my kindle app where I used to have my social media folder.  This has helped me to choose to read for 5-10 min when I need a mental break instead of scrolling.
3.    Set Time Limits Most smartphones have features that allow you to set daily usage limits for apps. These reminders encourage mindfulness about how much time you spend scrolling. When you hit your limit, honor it and step away.
4.    Curate Your Timeline Regularly audit your feed. Unfollow accounts that make you feel inadequate or overwhelmed or ones that don’t bring you happiness and joy. Follow creators and organizations that inspire, uplift, or align with your values. This helps transform your timeline into a positive space.
5.    Engage in Self-Exploration Reflect on how social media affects you personally. What aspects do you find positive? Which parts cause stress or negativity? Understanding your relationship with social media can guide your choices and boundaries.
6.    Reduce Information Overload Limit the number of accounts you follow, particularly news or opinion-heavy sources. Choose a few trusted outlets for essential updates and set aside specific times to consume this information rather than grazing throughout the day.
7.    Decrease Comparisons Remember that social media is a highlight reel, not a full picture of anyone’s life. Practice gratitude for your own journey and accomplishments. Focusing on your unique path helps diminish the urge to compare.
8.    Let Go of Guilt It’s okay to step back from social media, even during significant events. Recognize that your voice matters, but your mental health is just as important. You can contribute meaningfully in ways that feel authentic to you, without succumbing to guilt or performative sharing.

​Final Thoughts
Social media isn’t inherently good or bad—it’s a tool. How you use it determines its impact on your mental health. By setting boundaries, being intentional about what you consume, and exploring your personal needs, you can maintain a balanced and healthy relationship with these platforms.
Social media use is practically unavoidable in our current world, and in many ways, that’s ok. We just need to focus on how to use it in a healthy way. If you find social media continues to affect your mental health despite these strategies, consider seeking support from a mental health professional. Together, we can work on building habits that prioritize your well-being in an increasingly digital world.