Social Media Anxiety And 5 Ways To Combat It

I’ve talked about mental health regularly on my blog, lately however I’ve had so much anxiety surrounding social media, I mean it has been constant. I struggle with anxiety anyway, but on social media it’s never been as bad as it is right now. As a blogger you know you’re going to be using social media on a regular basis, whether it is sharing blog posts, taking part in blog chats or interacting with your friends. Let’s remember that social media can be absolutely amazing, I have met so many fantastic people through it and not only that it has opened so many doors for me! Lately however there has just been this constant worry, the stress of it all, and to be honest it is taking an emotional toll on me. When you worry about something that honestly isn’t that important it gets to you. Social media isn’t the be all and end all, social media is an amazing platform, but like anything it can always have it’s downfalls.

I’m the kind of person that as soon as I upload something I always overthink everything, like oh no is this going to come across in the wrong way, will I offend someone, are people going to think I am a bad person? Not only that I end up panicking, feeling ridiculously emotional and just wanting to fade into the background.  You know the usual.

I have been taking important steps to deal with the way I am feeling, and I’ve also been changing my mind set about the way I feel about social media.

1. Take regular social media breaks 

There was recently a blog chat about blog breaks & also social media breaks if I remember rightly. I can’t remember the blog chat but it definitely has been on my mind since my social media anxiety got worse. Taking time away can really help. I feel like social media can put so much pressure on you like I said in my post the other day (you can read that post all about comparing our lives and rushing ourselves here) time away can give you some chill time.

2. Uninstall the app

We all get notifications throughout the day, whether it is Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat if you still use it, we will get some kind of notification. Sometimes to get a proper break away, No more app, no more worries about notifications!

3. Unfollow people who trigger you

I know this might be an easy one, but if someone is causing your anxiety to be worse than normal, then hit that unfollow button. You can mute on Twitter, but I don’t think you can do that on Instagram, so unfollowing is a way to just completely clear your mind, not have to worry about them popping up on your social media.

4. Be yourself on social media

This might sound so simple, but always be yourself, I mean I’m not saying be rude or anything, but what I am saying is share your thoughts and feelings (99.99% of the time you’re not alone in those thoughts!) As long as you’re not offending anyone, being nasty to others, you’ll have the right people around you. You are in control of your social media.

5. Surround yourself with good friends

Good friends understand the struggles, they will support you through basically everything, and not only that they’re the people you can vent to when you need to get everything out your system. These are the best people in the world, and I have some of the greatest people as my friends!

It’s important to remember that social media isn’t everything, if you’re overwhelmed, take time out, it will be okay, I promise!

Do you struggle with social media anxiety? Do you struggle with these feelings? Let me know in the comments!

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