{"id":28332,"date":"2021-12-02T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhealthcommission.ca\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=28332"},"modified":"2025-08-28T13:46:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:46:24","slug":"protecting-your-mental-wellness-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/mentalhealthcommission.ca\/resource\/protecting-your-mental-wellness-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting your mental wellness on social media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Take stock of how your feeds make you feel<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next time you finish scrolling, take a moment to think about how you\u2019re feeling. While it\u2019s easy to miss small changes when you quickly move on to something else, even short periods of lowered mood, self-doubt, or anxiety add up over time. After checking in a few times, you may notice that even \u201charmless\u201d content noticeably affects the way you feel \u2014 especially when your consumption level is high and repetitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Understand what\u2019s happening in your brain<br><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the brain, seeing is believing. For example, even if you know intellectually that a photo has been heavily retouched, it\u2019s difficult for your brain to make that distinction. And since humans respond strongly to visual stimulants, most of us are compelled to continue scrolling even when those images make us feel insecure or not good enough.<br><br>We\u2019re also reeled in by the hit of dopamine, the feel-good hormone that kicks in when we\u2019re using a medium that offers us easy wins. Likes, hearts, shares, and comments give us bite-sized endorphin rushes, without requiring much in the way of effort. Understanding these and other neurological processes at play are an important part of safe social media consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Try not to compare<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it\u2019s natural to compare your own experiences with online content, remember that you\u2019re looking at a curated version of reality. Even without filters or Facetune, individual users (and organizations) carefully select what they want the world to see. To protect your mental well-being, treat social media like a movie: through the lens of entertainment rather than reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Put some usage boundaries in place<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If logging in to your social media accounts feels more like a habit than a conscious choice, try removing the temptation. Leave your phone out of sight or beyond reach while doing other activities or else keep it out of your bedroom at night. When your phone <em>is<\/em> accessible, set some additional boundaries around consumption, whether that means logging in only between certain hours or for a set amount of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Get strict about curation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While you can\u2019t control everything you see on social media, you can be highly selective about who and what you subscribe to. The simple rule: Don\u2019t follow anyone or anything that doesn\u2019t serve you. If posts from an account leave you feeling less-than, unfollow or block them. You can also take charge of the algorithms that give you more of what you use most often by focusing on feel-good content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Start over (or step away entirely)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out) might make social media feel essential, for most of us it\u2019s not. Don\u2019t feel compelled to stay on any platform that isn\u2019t serving you. Try taking a week off \u2014 you can even delete apps without losing any personal content \u2014 and see how you feel. When (or if) you return, consider starting from scratch. You can unfollow everything and everyone, then start over with more selective content. Also, the fewer accounts you\u2019re subscribed to, the less time it will take to get \u201ccaught up.\u201d If you decide you\u2019d rather leave one or more platforms for longer, that\u2019s OK too! A temporary FOMO is a small price to pay for improved mental wellness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take stock of how your feeds make you feel The next time you finish scrolling, take a moment to think about how you\u2019re feeling. While it\u2019s easy to miss small changes when you quickly move on to something else, even short periods of lowered mood, self-doubt, or anxiety add up over time. After checking in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28333,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[808,191],"tags":[],"program":[],"program-area":[],"audience":[122],"covid-hub-category":[],"health-canada":[838],"class_list":["post-28332","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-resources","category-tip-sheets","audience-for-you","health-canada-stigma"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Protecting your mental wellness on social media - Mental Health Commission of Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Take stock of how your feeds make you feel The next time you finish scrolling, take a moment to think about how you\u2019re feeling. 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