HEALTH & WELLNESS
Disconnect: The impact of
social media on your mental health
I feel so old sharing this but I remember that
during 9/11 and its aftermath, my husband and I
created an “I love you” page, where we put the date
of our wedding into our pagers to let each other
know that we were OK and to send love to each
other. Having a Blackberry meant that I was part
of the technology era, and now those pagers and
Nextels seem so antiquated and useless!
CHERIE
It seems the emergence of cellphones has
CASTELLANO
connected
the world over the last 20 years,
Cop2Cop
especially since Cop2Cop is a telephone number
that a cop now can call from anywhere. But in fact,
recent studies say that the technology we use does not connect
us; instead, it may disconnect us from ourselves in many ways
that can affect our mental health.
The rise of social media has meant that we as a global
population are more connected than we have ever been in
the history of time — but that has implications. Our reliance
on social media can have a detrimental effect on our mental
health, with the average person checking their phone as often
as 28 times a day.
While social media platforms can have their benefi ts, using
them too frequently can make you feel increasingly unhappy
and isolated in the long run. Do the pros of social media
outweigh the cons? The constant barrage of perfectly fi ltered
photos that appear on Instagram are bound to knock many
people’s self-esteem, while obsessively checking your Twitter
feed just before bed could be contributing toward poor quality
of sleep.
An article by Sabrina Barr recently explored the six key
impacts of social media. She warns about documenting your
every move on social media because of the toll it may take on
you. Here are six ways she says social media could be negatively
affecting your mental health.
Self-esteem. We all have our insecurities, some that we
speak about openly and others that we prefer to keep to
ourselves. However, comparing yourself to others on social
media by stalking their aesthetically perfect Instagram
photos or staying up-to-date with their relationship status on
Facebook could do little to assuage your feelings of self-doubt.
A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen found
that many people suffer from “Facebook envy,” with those
who abstained from using the popular site reporting that they
felt more satisfi ed with their lives.
“When we derive a sense of worth based on how we are doing
relative to others, we place our happiness in a variable that is
completely beyond our control,” writes Dr. Tim Bono, author
of When Likes Aren’t Enough, in Healthista. Becoming more
conscious of the amount of time you spend scrolling through
other people’s online profi les could help you focus more on
yourself and boost your self-confi dence.
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ SEPTEMBER 2018
Human connecti on. As human beings, it’s so important for
us to be able to communicate and forge personal connections
with one another. It can be hard to connect when we’re glued
to rectangular screens, becoming more acquainted with our
friends’ digital facades than their real-life personas. A study
published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that
assessed 5,208 subjects found that overall, regular use of
Facebook had a negative impact on an individual’s well-being.
Part of the national attention that we are receiving at Cop2Cop
is based on reports from callers and the research data from a
recent study done by UNC that our peer-to-peer counseling
and response work makes cops feel connected to someone and
combats the isolation they may feel from stress. We have stayed
away from social media at Cop2Cop over the years because of
confi dentiality concerns; however, it seems this year that we
have to connect with the young offi cers who have grown up on
social media.
Memory. Social media can be great for looking back fondly on
memories and recounting how past events occurred. However,
it can also distort the way you remember certain tidbits of your
life. Many of us are guilty of spending far too much time trying
to take the perfect photo of a visual marvel, while not actually
absorbing the fi rsthand experience of witnessing it with your
own eyes.
“If we direct all of our attention toward capturing the best
shots for our social media followers to admire, less will be
available to enjoy other aspects of the experience in real time,”
writes Dr. Bono. “Spending too much time on our phones will
detract from those other aspects of the experience, undermining
the happiness we could be gleaning from them.”
Sleep. Having enough sleep is of paramount importance.
However, many of us use our phones too close to hitting the hay,
making it harder to doze off. Going on social media before you
go to bed can negatively affect the quality of your sleep. As Dr.
Bono explains, “…the light from our mobile device just inches
from our face can suppress the release of melatonin, a hormone
that helps us feel tired.”
Try setting a strict rule of not using your phone for at least
40 to 60 minutes before going to bed, and see if that makes a
difference in the quality of your sleep. Cops as a group already
struggle with sleep issues, so beware of exacerbating the
problem.
Attention span. It’s not just your subconscious brain that you
need to worry about, but also the extent to which your brain is
able to fully concentrate when you’re awake. While it’s incredible
to consider the amount of information readily available at our
fi ngertips thanks to social media, it also means that people have
become far more easily distracted. If you’re unable to refrain
from checking your phone for at least a few minutes, then you’d
do well to practice exercising your willpower on occasion.
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