When asked about the effects of social media on mental health, Dr.

S heldon Zablow, an author and nutritional psychiatrist. Medical News Today discussed this study with D r. With this paradigm, they hypothesized that the positive dimension of their intervention would “increase life satisfaction and subjective happiness.” The negative dimension would decrease “depression symptoms and addictive tendencies of SMU.” The study’s authors noted that mental health “consists of two interrelated but separate dimensions: positive and negative.” The Journal of Public Health recently published these findings.Įffects of social media use on mental health At a 6-month follow-up, the subjects continued to report spending less time on social media, maintaining physical activity, feeling happier, and smoking fewer cigarettes. Julia Brailosvskaia, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the university’s Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, led the two-week experiment.īrailosvskaia and her team observed that the interventions they suggested may have helped enhance participants’ satisfaction with life. Researchers at the Ruhr-Universitätt in Bochum, Germany investigated the effects of reducing social media use (SMU) and increasing physical activity, or both, on emotional well-being and tobacco consumption. However, excessive screen time has led to addictive behaviors, stronger emotional attachment to social media, and deeper mental anguish for many people. Millions turned to Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and other platforms to escape feelings of isolation, anxiety, and hopelessness. Social media use exploded with COVID-19’s lockdowns and contact restrictions.

Reduced social media use also correlated with less tobacco consumption.

Participants who cut back on social media and exercised more experienced greater happiness and less stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The benefits of exercise lingered as much as 6 months after the end of their study.Replacing 30 minutes of social media use per day with physical activity can enhance emotional well-being and reduce stress, German researchers say.Share on Pinterest Spending less time on social media and more time exercising can enhance emotional well-being and reduce stress, according to research.

Books on effects of social media