A social media addiction is actually an Internet addiction. Are you busy with your online audience, friends and discussions? Do you know what's on your best friends' minds? Or have you actually not really talked to your real best friends in a while? Currently, many people with smartphones are also partial social media addicts, which can cause problems.
To ensure that you suffer less from social media addiction and can refocus on your physical surroundings, in this blog I will discuss internet addiction and what you can do about it.
A social media or Internet addiction is something people don't readily report for. After all, the Internet is something that plays an important role in most people's daily lives. In the Netherlands, there are 10 million people who use Facebook, and 2/3rds of them even look at it daily.
The use of social media is considered normal.
There are also other social media, such as blogs and vlogs, that people use. You can read and watch them, but you can also blog and vlog yourself. Especially if you then attract an audience, this can cause you to become fanatical. After all, you can make money from it.
Especially if you can do that, it makes a lot of sense. If you can make your hobby your job, you are often happier in the end.
However, having a large audience can also make you feel obligated to write a daily blog. One successful blogger, who got burnout from blogging, even wanted to update every half hour.
Vacations he did not take, vacations were weeks when he could sleep in instead of setting the alarm clock. But even during vacations, he was still blogging. So the only difference was whether or not he set an alarm clock.
Selfie photo shoot
If you have more of a social media addiction, this can manifest itself as you can spend hours taking the cutest selfie.
You may even adjust your life to include only the nicest locations. Regardless of whether this makes you happy yourself.
With your friends, you don't actually talk, but rather, you app very much.
As you can see, there are multiple ways you can be addicted to social media or the Internet. Five types of Internet addiction are themselves distinguished from each other.
- Gaming addiction
- Information addiction, e.g. reading lots of news and blogs
- Online shop- gambling addiction
- Porn addiction over the internet
- Addiction to cyber relationships
In this article, we will actually focus on the2nd and5th types of cyber addiction. Addiction to cyber relationships can include being addicted to likes and number of readers of your blog or chatting via the chat options that social media can also offer. This is actually more about the positive and negative feedback you get from others than an actual relationship with those people.
Also, searching social profiles, such as those of former classmates or unknown people, is something that reminds your brain of hunting for food. Then when you have found someone it gives you a positive feeling. This system is also activated in game addicts and other addictions.
Opportunities and causes for Internet addiction
Research shows that women are more likely to suffer from social media addiction than men. People with low self-confidence are also more likely to suffer from internet addiction than those with high self-confidence.
Research also shows that if certain goals are achieved through social media, such as good business connections and income this increases the likelihood of an addiction that is ultimately unhealthy.
Being dissatisfied with your life can also lead you to use social media more to get life happiness out of it. Chinese research shows that boredom can also be a reason for being on social media and becoming addicted to it.
Narcissists also often spend a lot of time on social media because it helps create a good image of their "ideal self." In the process, narcissists are more likely to develop addictions, for example, because reality catches up with them and they cannot live up to their desired image.
If you have a business that makes money online, an Internet addiction can merge with a work addiction. The business is then used as an excuse.
Internet addiction can also coexist with other forms of addiction, such as alcohol addiction or eating addiction. For example, alcohol addiction can coexist with social media addiction in that one receives positive feedback after posting messages that include beverages, such as wine.
The symptoms of Internet addiction
If you suffer from an Internet addiction, you can tell by the following things:
- You'd rather be on the Internet at night than with friends.
- You get restless if you don't have a smartphone, laptop or tablet handy.
- You have concentration problems and keep looking at social media or other Internet sites/apps.
- You'd rather be busy with the Internet/social media than with your family.
- You use the Internet/social media to escape unpleasant situations/emotions.
- You change experiences so they come across better on social media. (One hour of taking selfies for real "cozy" photo.)
- You hide your social media use from others. (Secretly on the toilet or at night)
- When you're not using the Internet or social media you're thinking about it. (This is also fun for on Facebook/ Instagram/ Snapchat/ my blog or vlog)
- You argue about how much you engage on the Internet with people in your immediate circle.
- You have more contact online with people you don't know than with people you do know "in real life."
- You deliver worse work or get lower grades due to overuse of the Internet/social media.
The effects of a social media or Internet addiction
Dutch research shows that social media actually makes young people between the ages of 10 and 19 feel less confident due to negative messages they receive on that social media. If you encounter this too often, it can even lead to depression.
In addition, there are cases of people losing their jobs due to their social media addiction. The literature mentions a case of a secretary who spent five hours a day on social media and spent a lot of time on it during work. In the end, her boss fired her.
Treating social media or Internet addiction
Treating Internet addiction is very difficult because the Internet plays an important role in our society. For example, much communication with the government is done via the Internet.
Therefore, it is important to reduce Internet use to a normal amount and ensure that other important tasks, such as maintaining social contacts and being able to focus on work, are again performed without difficulty.
If the addiction goes along with another addiction, it may even be enough to address the other addiction first.
One way to do this is with hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Beliefs about the importance of social media
A major factor in addictions are beliefs people have about the "stimulant." Initially, therefore, beliefs about the importance of the Internet, blogging and social media must be identified from the person who is addicted.
Then those beliefs can be changed. For example, by using hypnotic suggestions, such as:
If I am not satisfied with my life I need to do something instead of sitting behind a PC.
I get happier when I talk to people in real life.
No one shows imperfections on social media.
I don't need to be updated on the latest news.
Sitting all day is unhealthy.
Mindfulness for better focus
In addition, of course, an Internet addiction is 1 very big distraction. As in the example of the secretary who was eventually fired, this addiction can prevent you from getting to your work in a normal way.
This is incredibly bad for your productivity and focus. As a result, you spend longer on your work and your work is of lower quality.
Still, to be less likely to get distracted, you can use mindfulness. By applying mindfulness , you will more quickly recognize when you are distracted and be able to better focus on the task at hand.
In the process, it can also help identify triggers for addicted Internet or social media behavior, after which you can take steps to deal with those triggers differently.
Wifi free day to really do something
Social media addiction can also stem from boredom. Research shows that people who are bored often turn to the Internet to entertain themselves. This is very unfortunate because there are many more ways to be entertained than through social media, reading or writing blogs and watching or creating vlogs.
You can challenge yourself with a wifi free day. That day you turn off your wifi and have to entertain yourself in some way other than the Internet. Maybe you exercise or just pick up a book. A world may open up for you.
If you find this difficult, you can also build it up from a wifi free hour, to a wifi free afternoon and eventually a wifi free day.
Want to learn more about mental techniques to suffer less from addictions and for greater happiness and focus? Then come to a seminar or workshop and check out the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' courses on this website.
Sources:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/9/3528/htm?hc_location=ufi
