While the internet might seem like sunshine and rainbows where everyone lives in harmony, that is not entirely true. The internet can be a very dark place if you are not careful enough. There are certain practices people follow that can take a toll on someone’s mental health. Therefore, you should be an advocate of mental health on the internet so that you could play your part in making the internet a safer place.
There are some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Xfinity that come with controls including parental controls that can help limit your child’s access to potentially harmful content. However, here are some common ways that the internet would have an effect on your mental health:
The Positive Side
To mellow things down, we would obviously talk about the brighter side of things too. There are some ways that the internet can help you deal with your mental health issues. As long as you are aware of these aspects, you can make sure the internet has a positive effect on you rather than a negative one. You can find groups of people on the internet who can help you out with your issues. You can think of these groups as support groups, where you can open up to people. This is how the internet can also be seen as a safe space since it can help you save yourself from loneliness and isolation.
You can also use the internet to read up more about the problems that you are facing and how you should deal with them. You can talk to experts online that can help you figure out what the problems are and how you should be catering to them. This is a great idea for college students since they have a lot of problems going on and they are mostly struggling from a mental health perspective.
If you don’t feel like interacting with other people, you can also head on over to apps and websites that can help you deal with mental health issues on your own. There are websites and applications that can help you get in contact with online therapists and support groups so that you can vent out effectively. If you feel like you have a lot of overwhelming negative thoughts, then you can use apps that can help you deal with negative emotions too. With time, you will notice a very significant uplift in your mood.
The Drawbacks of using the Internet
There are also a lot of problems with using the internet. If you keep it within a healthy limit, then your health would not be affected. However, if you feel like you are becoming addicted to the internet, then that could be a problem. Mostly, our purpose in using the internet is to socialize, and if we overdo the socializing part, we might eventually become addicted to the internet because gone are the days when we would commute to meet people in real life.
The internet can also cause anxiety issues, especially in youngsters. If you begin searching for what is wrong with you and end up finding a lot of similarities in the symptoms, you can get anxiety issues difficult for you to cater to. Usually, the results on the internet are exaggerated anyways, so you would unnecessarily worry yourself and might even see signs of depression if you keep it up for too long.
You can visit Brain Wellness Center to discuss your options for help and treatment. They are experienced in dealing with mental health care, so try to be open about how you have been feeling.
Using too much internet can also mess with your sleep cycle. If you spend excessive time on your phone while you are supposed to sleep, you can ruin your sleep cycle. This way, your body would not recover from tiredness and you will feel exhausted all the time. Eventually, you also form a dependence on the internet for your socializing needs, which is why this can lead to reduced confidence due to a lack of interaction. You also need to keep in mind that everything you see on the internet is not what it seems and it can be based on lies as well.
Exposure to indecent websites can also lead to an addiction that is very difficult to get over. Even these addictions lead to problems such as depression and anxiety that can be triggered at any time. Many people also feel excluded from events and gatherings and this term has been modernized as the fear of missing out or FOMO for short.
Wrapping Up
While the internet has made things a lot easier for us, it has also made things a lot more problematic.. One of the main reasons the internet is challenging is because it triggers anxiety, which everyone should be staying away from. So, you need to make sure you set a limit to your internet usage and you’ll see a drastic, positive change.
