Why Facebook is Depressing

Why Facebook Is Depressing - Some decades earlier, a new kind of communication has actually conquered the world by broadening considerably the means individuals delight in news and home entertainment: television. At that time television was a large step for humanity, even if there were people that had a various opinion. The poet and dramatist TS Eliot, for instance, stated: "It is a tool of home entertainment which permits numerous individuals to listen to the very same joke at the same time, however nevertheless, they remain to be alone".

Facebook And Depression

Now you can apply the same logic to social networks, specifically Facebook, which in 10 years has reached 1.3 billion clients, half of which passes approximately 18 mins logged. Facebook attaches people around the world. Nevertheless, the impact of this social media is not as favorable as you could assume.

Why Facebook Is Depressing


An enhancing variety of researches recommend that the possibility to be "linked" with other people does not necessarily imply to be better; actually, it could detrimentally influence our mood, since many individuals are linked however still are alone.

In this regard, psycho therapists of the College of Michigan and University of Louvain, have actually chosen to strengthen the relationship in between using Facebook and also an enjoyable life. These scientists asked a team of people to state 5 times a day for two weeks on their emotion. So they located that the use of Facebook is associated with an inadequate health. They additionally found that people say they really feel worse after visiting the social network, not before.

Friendly World Syndrome: Everyone seems to be more happy and successful than us
Why making use of Facebook can impact our state of mind making us feel worse? These psycho therapists suggest that one of our basic demands is the social contact. Social relationships are an incredible source of comfort. However the social media network does not provide us the type of social get in touch with we require to remain healthy and balanced.

One feasible explanation could be the easy jealousy. After all, Facebook permits us to see the accomplishments of people with whom we have actually lost contact. Furthermore, in a specific feeling, this social network has actually ended up being a collection of bluster, a location where people gather their successes at work and also in their individual life, upload pictures of their terrific household, of the pricey car or the remarkable trip.

In fact, this sensation has a name: the "pleasant globe síndrome", which refers to the tendency to think that all of them have a far better life than us. This sensation is the outcome of an impact determined by sociologists in 1970 called the "substantial globe síndrome", according to which, individuals that saw a great deal of violence on television assumed the globe was a lot more terrible than it truly was. Something similar happens to us with Facebook, considering pictures as well as updates, we assume that the others are better than us, which reduces our satisfaction with life as well as might even create us depression.

Popularity Contest: The friendship paradox
There could be one more problem underlying the discontentment and also sadness that generates Facebook, the sensation that everybody is a lot more preferred than us. It is called the "relationship paradox" because, generally, our buddies tend to have even more good friends than us.

This phenomenon is because of an easy mathematical reason: if you're an introvert, there is a good chance that among your buddies there are many extroverted people, which subsequently have numerous good friends. It is a prejudice that comes to be a lot more evident in social networks due to the fact that with a peek at the profile we can recognize exactly how popular our buddies are.

This discovery could sadden lots of people making them believe that they are not worthy of focus or love from their friends, and this can cause depression.

What would happen if you stop using Facebook?
This concern is what some psychologists of the Happiness Study Institute of Copenhagen asked themselves, as well as to react to it have actually hired greater than 1,000 individuals of this social media network. Half of them remained to make use of the web daily, the other half has actually stopped completely.

It is significant that after just one week, 88% of people who have actually quit using the social media network reported really feeling better, much less mad, a lot more excited, much less depressed, and much more satisfied with their lives. Similarly, it was noted that their anxiety level has decreased by 55%.

These psycho therapists have also discovered that we have a tendency to focus on what others have. The study disclosed that 5 out of 10 people covet the fantastic experiences that upload on the social media, 1 out of 3 people covet the evident joy of others, and 4 of 10 envy the apparent success of others.

Certainly, isn't Facebook that is reducing our satisfaction with life and also makes us really feel negative, however our propensity to face as well as the cognitive biases that show up during the procedure. But the fact continues to be that the method which this network is structured significantly promotes such contrasts.

As a result, the most effective service is to concentrate on our the real world, beyond the electronic accounts, as well as prevent comparisons that do not bring anything to us. We have to start to focus on what we actually require, instead of on what others have.