What is addiction to social media?
Addiction to social media has naturally skyrocketed in recent years due to people of all ages having smart phones. Social media addiction is when someone loses control of their life due to excessive time spent on social media. Different types of social media addiction include addiction to Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Snapchat, Twitter and other types of webpages. Social media addiction includes the need to take excessive selfies, post various photos, tag yourself around locations and also an addiction to to “likes” and “shares.”
Checking Facebook and other social media sites multiple times a day will cause undress stress and frustration. When you realize that you have less likes and shares than expected, this can lead to low self-esteem, and anxiety. Constantly checking to see how much fun others are having can lead to depression and even isolation.
What is addiction to social media, though? Everyone uses it. Everyone interacts on the internet and communicates using social media. The reach to have human connection has been satisfied by the immediate gratification of utilization social media. True addiction to social media lies when you can not put it down or turn it off and you actually get angry or sad when you are not able to access it.
All these things may seem harmless, but in the younger generation, internet presence is very important. Everything is done online today. This makes recovery from social media addiction exceptionally difficult. For typical addictions, complete abstinence is the recommendation. That obviously won’t work for internet and social media addiction.
Dr. Cali Estes is a leading expert on social media addiction and ways to overcome it. She works with her clients to teach them how to break free from the smartphones that are “glued” to their hands.
Harm reduction is the recommended solution to social media and internet addiction. What that means is that someone who suffers from social media addiction obviously can’t live their life with no cell phone. However, they can limit the amount of time they spend each day. Through harm reduction, people who struggle can find the reprieve they are looking for, and still enjoy the benefits of the internet. That be said, a coach is absolutely beneficial in this type of situation. With positive encouragement from a coach, one can transition into healthy internet usage. For more information on overcoming internet addiction, or if you think you may need a coach or a therapist, visit theaddictionscoach.com.
