Facebook Makes You Depressed

Facebook Makes You Depressed - Some decades earlier, a brand-new kind of interaction has actually overcome the world by increasing considerably the means individuals appreciate information and also home entertainment: television. At that time tv was a large step for mankind, even if there were individuals who had a different point of view. The poet and playwright TS Eliot, as an example, specified: "It is a medium of amusement which allows numerous individuals to pay attention to the same joke at the same time, but nevertheless, they continue to be alone".

Facebook And Depression

Currently you can use the very same reasoning to social networks, specifically Facebook, which in ten years has actually reached 1.3 billion clients, half of which passes approximately 18 mins logged. Facebook connects individuals around the globe. However, the influence of this social media network is not as positive as you could assume.

Facebook Makes You Depressed


A boosting number of studies suggest that the possibility to be "linked" with other individuals does not necessarily imply to be better; in fact, it can negatively impact our state of mind, due to the fact that many individuals are attached yet still are alone.

Hereof, psychologists of the University of Michigan and also College of Louvain, have chosen to grow the relationship in between using Facebook as well as an enjoyable life. These researchers asked a group of individuals to state 5 times a day for 2 weeks on their emotional state. So they found that using Facebook is connected with a bad well-being. They also located that individuals state they really feel even worse after seeing the social media network, not before.

Friendly World Syndrome: Everyone seems to be more happy and successful than us
Why the use of Facebook can influence our state of mind making us really feel even worse? These psychologists suggest that one of our basic requirements is the social call. Social partnerships are an amazing source of convenience. Yet the social network does not offer us the type of social contact we require to remain healthy and balanced.

One possible explanation could be the easy envy. Besides, Facebook enables us to see the accomplishments of people with whom we have actually lost call. In addition, in a certain feeling, this social media network has come to be a collection of bluster, a location where individuals gather their successes at work as well as in their individual life, upload images of their terrific family, of the pricey automobile or the extraordinary holiday.

Actually, this sensation has a name: the "friendly globe síndrome", which describes the propensity to assume that all of them have a far better life than us. This sensation is the outcome of an effect recognized by sociologists in 1970 called the "considerable world síndrome", according to which, people who saw a great deal of physical violence on tv believed the globe was a lot more terrible than it actually was. Something comparable occurs to us with Facebook, looking at images and also updates, we think that the others are happier than us, which decreases our contentment with life and also may even cause us anxiety.

Popularity Contest: The friendship paradox
There could be an additional issue underlying the frustration as well as unhappiness that generates Facebook, the feeling that everyone is a lot more preferred than us. It is referred to as the "relationship mystery" due to the fact that, as a rule, our good friends tend to have even more pals than us.

This sensation results from a straightforward mathematical factor: if you're an introvert, there is a likelihood that among your close friends there are numerous extroverted people, which in turn have lots of close friends. It is a prejudice that ends up being much more apparent in social media networks due to the fact that with a glimpse at the account we can know exactly how preferred our close friends are.

This exploration can distress many individuals making them believe that they are not worthy of attention or love from their friends, as well as this might cause anxiety.

What would happen if you stop using Facebook?
This inquiry is what some psycho therapists of the Joy Research Institute of Copenhagen asked themselves, and also to respond to it have actually recruited more than 1,000 individuals of this social network. Half of them remained to use the net daily, the other half has actually quit completely.

It is significant that after just one week, 88% of people who have quit using the social media network reported feeling happier, less mad, a lot more excited, less clinically depressed, as well as a lot more satisfied with their lives. Likewise, it was noted that their tension degree has decreased by 55%.

These psychologists have additionally located that we have a tendency to concentrate on what others have. The study exposed that 5 out of 10 people covet the remarkable experiences that others upload on the social media, 1 out of 3 individuals covet the obvious joy of others, and 4 of 10 envy the apparent success of others.

Naturally, isn't Facebook that is reducing our complete satisfaction with life and makes us really feel negative, yet our propensity to challenge and the cognitive biases that appear during the process. But the truth remains that the method which this network is structured substantially assists in such comparisons.

Therefore, the very best service is to concentrate on our real life, beyond the electronic profiles, and avoid comparisons that do not bring anything to us. We have to start to focus on what we actually require, instead of on what others have.