Social media is often the first to be blamed when it comes to the mental health crisis. It is an easy thing to blame all of our problems on but how much influence does it really have over us? Is it the reason that suicide rates are at an all-time high?
I developed anorexia when I was 13 years old, becoming the master of deception. The anorexia became my everything and I relied fully on it. I longed for it every single day. I thrived off it. The more I did for her, the better I felt. The more value and sense of purpose she gave me. Little did I know that over the next four years she would slowly be killing me. Crushing me down deeper and deeper. Little did I know that four years after meeting anorexia I would hit my absolute rock bottom, and end up living in a mental hospital for a year fighting to get well.
The road to recovery for anorexia is hard. It isn’t straight but full of bumps along the way. What makes it even harder than it is already is that outside noise from society pushing us down and down and down. Making us feel completely inadequate, brain washing with messaging around what should be eating, what we should look like…
The thing is, if we start banning content, then people will find a way to get round it. So instead let’s work together to tackle the ever-growing problem that social media presents.
Firstly, let’s focus on educating everyone on the potential dangers of social media. Share our learning – the things we find out that worry us. Whilst we are educating ourselves, let’s also find those positives. The support groups, the online forums, the positive hashtags such as #JoinIn ,which was a huge lifeline to so many over Christmas. Social media isn’t all bad and used in the right way it can be a huge way to raise awareness about mental health and get people talking. However, I think we must make sure we don’t get all our support from social media, and there is something to be said for being able to anonymously write how we feel, or share those deep feelings that we may not always feel able to share in person.
Secondly, we should be talking to our young people about content online. Build that trust with them and so they feel able to share their worries or concerns about things they see.
Thirdly, as individuals we all must be mindful of what we are looking at. I know I can spend ages just scrolling through social media and subconsciously this is very unhealthy. I might search for a gym workout, or just be looking over my Instagram and the more scroll the more I click through to others getting snapshot of their lives. Even though deep down I know this isn’t always the truth about how someone feels, or their whole life, it can still make you feel inadequate. There have been those days when I am struggling in myself and I find myself on social media looking at others and I feel completely inadequate to those around me. For me, it is about being careful on these days, and simply limiting my time on social media can help prevent me getting sucked in to that negative spiral.
Yes, there is a huge problem on social media, the images we come across that may be triggering, the advertising companies that are constantly bombarding all of us with messaging that makes us feel awful about who we are. What we need from social media companies is to flag when young people look at content that may be disturbing. To have pop ups signposting people to the right support.
The reality is we cannot point complete blame on social media for the mental health crisis – yes it might make it worse particularly for people who get so trapped up in comparing their lives – but it goes much deeper than that being the one problem!
Instead let’s focus our efforts on really tackling the problem, putting pressure on government to not just put their blame elsewhere. What we really need is a focus on prevention, early intervention and better support so that individuals are not left isolated and alone when they are struggling.
Hope Virgo is the Author of Stand Tall Little Girl, and a Mental Health Campaigner / Public Speaker
For local support information please visit https://hubofhope.co.uk