Social Media Addiction: 5 Reasons it is So Dangerous for Your Real Life.

Ms. Nisha Bothra

M.Sc - Psychology

Psychologist • 68 People helped • 7 Year experience

Social Media Addiction: 5 Reasons it is So Dangerous for Your Real Life.

Are you addicted to social networking sites? Generally, this addiction is caused as social media activity proves to be a stimulant for your brain’s pleasure centres. But, addiction to social media can take a toll on your health as it comes with numerous side effects. Here are some of the negative effects social media addiction has on your health.

1. Limited intellectual growth: Social media activity generally involves viewing photos, commenting on them or reading comments, reading status messages etc. When you get addicted to social media, these things constantly occupy your mind and hinder your intellectual development. This happens because your preoccupation keeps you away from learning new things, and reading or studying something that generates value. Social media addiction interferes with the development of your brain and reduces your ability to concentrate on any task.

2. Pain or cramps in the thumbs: Overuse of your thumb for typing on a mobile device can occur due to social media addiction. This in turn leads to consequences like chronic pain or cramps in your thumbs, which may result into calluses (thickening or hardening of your skin).

3. Low self-esteem: Social media addiction can lead to lower self-esteem as it makes you compare your life with that of other people. This creates an inferiority complex among most people as social media updates always project that their friends’ have a better life than them. In 2012, a team of researchers from UK conducted a study on social media users. The study revealed that out of 53% people whose behaviour had been influenced by social media addiction, 51% accepted that it diminished their confidence level.

4. Lack of attention: Remaining active on social media sites can result in decreased attentiveness and concentration levels, which are considered to be early symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. This happens due to the fact that constant use of social media websites creates a habit in people of switching from one task to another at short intervals. This has a negative impact on your attention span as you cannot concentrate on a single task for a long time.

5. Fatigue: Social media addiction is responsible for tiring your brain because of availability of too much information in a short duration of time. The brain often fails to process so much of information at such a short amount of time, which can completely exhaust you by the end of the day.


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