Facebook and Depression

Facebook And Depression - Some decades back, a new form of communication has actually conquered the world by increasing considerably the way people appreciate news and also home entertainment: tv. Back then television was a big action for humanity, even if there were people that had a various viewpoint. The poet and playwright TS Eliot, for example, mentioned: "It is a tool of amusement which permits millions of people to listen to the very same joke at the same time, however even so, they remain to be alone".

Facebook And Depression

Now you could apply the very same logic to social media networks, especially Facebook, which in 10 years has actually gotten to 1.3 billion clients, half of which passes approximately 18 minutes logged. Facebook connects people worldwide. Nonetheless, the influence of this social network is not as positive as you might think.

Facebook And Depression


An increasing number of researches recommend that the opportunity to be "linked" with other people does not always indicate to be happier; in fact, it could detrimentally influence our state of mind, since lots of people are connected however still are alone.

Hereof, psycho therapists of the University of Michigan and University of Louvain, have made a decision to strengthen the connection in between making use of Facebook as well as a satisfying life. These researchers asked a team of people to state five times a day for two weeks on their emotion. So they found that the use of Facebook is related to a bad health. They also discovered that people claim they feel even worse after seeing the social media network, not previously.

Friendly World Syndrome: Everyone seems to be more happy and successful than us
Why making use of Facebook can influence our state of mind making us feel worse? These psycho therapists indicate that a person of our basic requirements is the social call. Social relationships are an amazing resource of convenience. But the social network does not give us the type of social contact we require to stay healthy.

One possible description could be the straightforward envy. Besides, Facebook permits us to see the accomplishments of individuals with whom we have actually shed call. Additionally, in a particular sense, this social media has come to be a collection of bluster, an area where people accumulate their successes at work as well as in their personal life, upload images of their wonderful family, of the expensive vehicle or the phenomenal getaway.

Actually, this phenomenon has a name: the "pleasant globe síndrome", which describes the tendency to assume that every one of them have a much better life than us. This phenomenon is the result of a result identified by sociologists in 1970 called the "substantial globe síndrome", according to which, people that saw a great deal of physical violence on television thought the world was much more violent than it actually was. Something comparable occurs to us with Facebook, taking a look at images and also updates, we assume that the others are better than us, which minimizes our fulfillment with life and also may also create us clinical depression.

Popularity Contest: The friendship paradox
There could be another issue underlying the dissatisfaction and also despair that produces Facebook, the feeling that everybody is much more prominent than us. It is called the "friendship paradox" since, as a rule, our buddies tend to have more friends than us.

This phenomenon results from a simple mathematical reason: if you're an introvert, there is a likelihood that among your pals there are several extroverted individuals, which subsequently have lots of friends. It is a bias that becomes much more obvious in socials media because with a quick look at the account we can recognize exactly how preferred our pals are.

This discovery might sadden many individuals making them think that they are not deserving of focus or love from their good friends, as well as this could cause clinical depression.

What would happen if you stop using Facebook?
This inquiry is what some psycho therapists of the Happiness Research Institute of Copenhagen asked themselves, and to respond to it have recruited greater than 1,000 users of this social media network. Fifty percent of them remained to use the web daily, the other half has actually quit completely.

It is notable that after just one week, 88% of people that have actually quit using the social media network reported feeling better, less mad, more fired up, less depressed, and much more completely satisfied with their lives. Likewise, it was kept in mind that their stress level has decreased by 55%.

These psychologists have actually additionally located that we often tend to concentrate on what others have. The study revealed that 5 out of 10 individuals covet the wonderful experiences that others upload on the social network, 1 out of 3 people envy the noticeable joy of others, and 4 of 10 envy the apparent success of others.

Certainly, isn't Facebook that is minimizing our satisfaction with life and also makes us really feel poor, but our tendency to challenge as well as the cognitive prejudices that show up during the process. However the reality continues to be that the method which this network is structured substantially promotes such comparisons.

As a result, the very best remedy is to focus on our the real world, past the electronic accounts, and stay clear of comparisons that do not bring anything to us. We have to begin to concentrate on what we really need, as opposed to on what others have.