We had Olivia Remes visit our work today for #MentalHealthAwarenessDay. Olivia is a PhD candidate at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health. She gave a talk about mental health focussing on anxiety, depression and compulsive obsessive disorder. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to record today’s talk so instead I thought I’d share the above link I found on twitter.
Also this article is very interesting: Naked Scientists – Is Social Media Affecting Mental Health. I do believe there is a lot of truth in this, we need to switch off our phones at bedtime – the constant sound of them beeping in the night cannot be good for us! I always leave mine well out of earshot! But, the younger generation are particularly prone to doing this. SWITCH OFF YOUR MOBILES AT BEDTIME!!!!
You can read Olivia’s other articles here: https://www.cam.ac.uk/people/olivia-remes
What do you think? Is the overuse of social media damaging our mental health? Are we in danger of becoming depressed by all the hyped up positivity we see on Facebook?
Please comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Marje @ Kyrosmagica
Hi.
Welcome to my blog: M J Mallon - Kyrosmagica Publishing. A blog about magic, books, writing, laughter, and much more! I'm a YA fantasy author, poet and reviewer. My first YA fantasy novel The Curse of Time - Book 1 - Bloodstone is set in Cambridge and Book 2 - Golden Healer is now out too. As well as this, I have contributed to several anthologies, created my own with some amazing international writers, bloggers and creatives during the pandemic: This Is Lockdown and written two poetry collections: Lockdown Innit Poems About Absurdity & Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose. I write book reviews on my blog and on Goodreads, book bub and on my bookstagram. I have a penchant for travel and have relatives in far flung places, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore, (my birthplace.) I grew up in in Bonnie Scotland, in Edinburgh, and now live in Cambridge. I love sunny, hot places, particularly Rome, Venice, Portugal, Barcelona, and I forgot to mention the sun drenched beaches of the Caribbean, how could I? I am lucky to have been blessed with two lovely daughters and a husband who I fondly refer to in this blog as my black sheep. Family joke! With my passion for travel, culture, beautiful beaches, good food, books, theatre, writing, and humour, I hope to keep you entertained. I'm loving every minute of this creative journey, please join me.
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M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 
Reblogged this on willowdot21 and commented:
Is social media affecting our mental health..
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Thanks for reblogging Willow. 🙂
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I think it is a very important subject 💜💜
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Me too, Willow. ❤
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💜
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I absolutely agree. I reduced my social media usage to the minimum, going off many of them and It makes all the difference 😄
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That’s great Ameena. We all need to unplug, relax and enjoy ‘real’ life sometimes!
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I know several couples younger than myself, leading modern, stressful lives with responsible jobs and families who will openly admit in person that life often is difficult with a constant battle to juggle every aspect. Any yet these same people paint a very embroidered view on their Facebook pages. Whilst undoubtedly they do have their happy, relaxed times (and I am glad for them) I do think there is an added pressure to portray an idyllic life in their online personas. It might be better for our mental well-being if everyone stopped competing and comparing.
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I agree, no one has a perfect life, we all have our ups and downs. There is nothing wrong in admitting you are having less than an idyllic day whether that is on social media or in real life.
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As a psychotherapist I can say it is time we admit that everyone had some degree of mental health struggle. Some have more struggles than others, and it is our obligation to make their well being our priority. Thank you for highlighting Mental Health Awareness.
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I agree it is much more common than most people realise. There should be no stigma is saying you need help. Dialogue, understanding and compassion is what we need to foster.
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I think Social Media can affect people suffering with mental health problems in a number of ways. As you have mentioned, striving to have the ‘perfect life’ or look a certain way, perhaps envying those that we perceive to have that kind of life, even though we all know there is no such thing. Finally, and this for me is the most important, young people taking their own lives, as you hear so many stories of kids being bullied mercilessly not only at school but on social media too. There is no escape for them and in some instances they have almost been goaded into it. So terribly tragic.
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Bullying is a huge issue Judy and one that needs addressing. I personally don’t think that schools deal with it effectively. Sadly, not all youngsters are able to cope which is very sad. And social media allows another means for bullies to flourish. Often it seems to me that the bullies are the ones that get the most help and the person who is being bullied is almost blamed as if they were the ones who caused all the trouble.
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I totally agree here, Marje. The victims rarely get the support that they need, and for some of the bullies, despite all of the help they get, they are still going to continue!
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I will watch it, dear Marje,… we live in hectic times… and that might lead us to forget the value of the present time… among other things… Thank you for raising awareness on this important issue!. Love & best wishes!
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Hope it might help in some small way. Thanks. so much for joining the discussion and sharing your thoughts and response. 🙂
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Absolutely, too much technology isn’t good for lots of things, – health, relationships, etc. Put down the phones and music and step away from the computer. 🙂 x
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