Our technology and social media consumption affects our mental health and overall well-being, and we do not pay attention to the loss of time and energy we put into mindlessly scrolling on our phones. All of us should be aware of the time we spend staring into the never-ending void of our phones.

Technology connects us to everyone including our friends and family. It is hard not to be connected. We use it to socialize, find directions or even work. It is embedded in our lives. Social media companies create algorithms designed to act like a reward to our brains releasing dopamine. 

According to MyWellbeing — a mental health forum and therapy platform, we, often, become accustomed to consuming media; “Like a drug, we think getting a fix will help, but it makes us feel worse, which comes down to an error in our ability to predict our response.” This is to say that when we see a new “like” or notification, we get excited and it boosts our dopamine levels — but only for a short while. 

When dopamine is released, we think the media is making us feel better but, overall, it does not. We get addicted to the dopamine hits from the media and end up on it for hours scrolling or posting, and without it, we do not feel good mentally. The loop of never-ending news articles, media updates, and even entertainment contributes to this as well.

According to Forbes, there are about 4.9 million social media users globally, as we look at our phones and scroll on Instagram, TikTok and a plethora of other platforms we see people that have lives of what seems to be perfection. These pictures we scroll through on our social media platforms are false images of perfection. 

People post phony pictures using filters and Photoshop to alter their appearance hiding their perceived imperfections. This creates an illusion, tricking others into believing this false reality they have posted. When we see this, we start to feel bad about ourselves, which creates unrealistic expectations for our lives. 

Piedmont Healthcare — a Georgia-based hospital system — stated, "When we get on social media, we are looking for affirmation, and consciously or not, we are comparing our life to the lives of others as a result, we may not enjoy what's in the moment.” 

Seeing other's favorite parts of their lives online can sometimes make people feel that they have boring or less fulfilled lives than their friends and family. This is called the fear of missing out, otherwise known as “FOMO.” This can trigger anxiety, insecurity and even cause depression—especially in younger people, such as kids in high school. 

Forty-four percent of internet users in the United States claim to have experienced cyberbullying, whether it is from strangers on video games or classmates on Snapchat or Instagram. This is another factor that makes these younger people more likely to experience depression and anxiety.

If you need trusted news sources, follow a few that you know you can trust so you are not overwhelmed and scrolling forever to find updates. Being self-aware is especially important, look at your media consumption and how it is truly impacting you. All you need to do is simply unfollow, block, or get away from that source.

Reducing our media consumption can be helpful as well. There are a lot of ways we can do this, such as just turning our phone off for an hour and doing something we enjoy. You can read, exercise or go for a walk. Doing something as simple as this can immensely benefit our mental health. 

We can also download apps that track our phone usage, remove apps and disable notifications so we are not tempted to pick our phone up at every ding. Leaving our phone silenced at night or in a different room can be beneficial, as well; we can get better sleep if we are not up all night on our devices or have them wake us up when we get that annoying text at 3:00 a.m.

As a senior in high school, I find myself not able to put my phone down. Whether I am in class subconsciously picking up my phone to take a peek or I am at home, before I know it, I find I have been scrolling for hours. 

These negative impacts of modern social media and technology should be taught in schools to spread awareness on the topic. Knowing and understanding how technology affects our mental health is relevant now because it affects everyone.

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