EIP Roadmap

The podcast discusses the impact of social media on mental health. Excessive use of platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook can lead to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and comparison. It can also contribute to anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying. The podcast suggests setting boundaries, limiting screen time, unfollowing triggering accounts, and taking breaks from electronics to maintain a healthy relationship with social media. It emphasizes the importance of finding supportive online communities and engaging in offline interactions. The podcast also includes personal experiences and perspectives on social media and mental health. Overall, it aims to raise awareness and promote a positive balance between online and offline interactions for better mental well-being. Welcome to Jillian's podcast, my name is Jillian Vandermont and you're listening to my EIP podcast which today I'm going to be talking about mental health. After listening to this podcast I hope you guys have been brought more aware about the impact of social media on one's mental health and how you always have sources to reach out for help and emphasize the need for action when times feel like you need it. I hope this podcast can be a resource for others whose mental health is struggling. I know that no matter what you're going through, no matter how lonely and isolated you feel, knowing that you're not alone can bring you a long way. This project is allowing me to analyze and evaluate my thought processes and reflect on the steps that got me to the places where I am and I hope that I can continue to grow and make my mental health stronger and follow the steps that I'm going to be talking about. Starting off I wanted to talk about the impact of social media on mental health. I feel like excessive uses of social media being Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook all contribute to feelings of inadequacy and comparison along with low self-esteem. With social media I feel like there's lots of comparison of what you look like compared to what someone else looks like, how many friends someone has compared to other people and it kind of just relates back to you and the negative effects on body image, anxiety and depression. One thing I wanted to cover through this would be the impact of social media on mental health. I know I've said it before and I feel like mental health has been talked about but I feel like there's a lot of things to it that haven't been brought up from the surface. Excessive uses of social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and lots of like the older Instagram social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter all contribute to feelings of inequity, comparison and low self-esteem. A big word that I think of when I think of mental health is comparison, especially on Instagram and growing up I feel like you're always seeing your friends and seeing random people you know on Instagram and seeing how they look and who they hang out with and how they have so many friends. It can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression. With this it also opens ways to cyberbullying just because you aren't really like everyone else because not everybody is the same and everyone looks different and everyone does different things and has different interests. I feel like in today's society being different from the normal average person you kind of feel like something's wrong with you or you're just not right which affects your mental health in a way where you don't really know what to do with yourself and you feel lonely. I know in middle school growing up it was the beginning stages of COVID and before then just the normal middle school stages stalking people's Instagram was a big thing I feel. A lot of teenage girls did and that definitely led to lots of depression and sadness just because growing up your body's still developing and it's completely normal but at the time you don't really understand that and you think wow they have it so much better than you but the truth is everyone is going through things just different things at the same time. It's as if once you start scrolling it feels like a loophole and it's almost nearly impossible to stop scrolling which is why you need to think about ways to maintain a healthy relationship with social media and the influence of cellular devices like your cell phone. Some ways you could do this would be to set boundaries and limit your screen time. Another thing again with the stalking on Instagram you can unfollow accounts that trigger negative emotions and that make you feel upset and not happy. It's also good to take breaks from the electronics and go outside and go offline and do things with your friends that allow you to feel balanced and happy in a different environment along with unfollowing things that trigger you. You can also follow certain accounts that will support you in what you do and you could follow accounts that share similar interests with you like if you're interested in sports you can follow the sports page. If you're interested in running and mentorship you could follow someone that posts reels about how they go through the struggles that you feel like you may also be facing in some sort of way. There are lots of online communities that will help support you even if you don't realize it. Lots of online support groups and communities allow people to feel wanted and a part of something even if it is just a like a follow you feel like you're a part of a group that you may not have been before. Along with being engaged in social media it's also important to take a break from being a part of the digital age and the Gen Z-er. Taking a break from the screen is definitely also important to promoting a positive mental well-being especially because people our age are so addicted to their phones it goes with them everywhere like the dinner table like to friends houses and you don't realize it but sometimes you're on your phone more than you are talking with your friends. Some tips would be to put it away during dinner there's no reason to have your phone on you while you eat or if you do like watching shows try watching it on a TV instead where you can do something with your family or friends just feeling a sense of community outside of the electronic. It's very important to prioritize mental well-being and make a healthy balance between online and offline interaction. One thing that a few people in my family and a few people in my friend group have done would be digital detoxes. There are many different types of digital detoxes but the two I specifically am talking about would be go cold turkey and just give up your phone for a day or two days or just like a few hours where you just don't stress over what is going on on your phone because honestly a lot of the times the distractions that come with it aren't as important as you think they are. Like I said before another type of digital detox would be to put that screen time on. Try to limit your screen time to only one hour a day or two hours a day or even less just to refrain from using the social media apps just because that can be drawn to negative triggers because of the whole comparison and seeing everybody else do stuff and kind of like a fear of missing out that you aren't one of them. For the purpose of this podcast I was able to talk to a few people about their mental health status and just to answer a few of the questions that we talked about previously. For the purpose of this podcast I was able to talk to a few people about the influence of COVID and the pandemic and the relationship of that and their mental health with social media. One of my friends was talking about how coming out of COVID it was very hard for her because it felt like it was a lazy period where you had to make yourself do things because a lot of the time everything was just done online and social media contributed to it because it was one of the only ways that people could still technically hang out. She thought that social media took time out of her day where she could be doing other things like hanging out with her family and building relationships instead of just scrolling through TikTok. My person that I was talking to for this interview is a Christian so I'm going to be talking about a few Christian related things so if you want you can skip to about two minutes. She felt with the influence of social media it was very hard to stay focused on the godly word because the world is trying to distract us with things especially with TikTok and Instagram. Being over consumed with social media that ended me draw her closer and she wanted to get rid of the addiction of constantly scrolling so she deleted TikTok. I feel like this was very good for her because it kind of deleted a sense of lack of time and lack of spiritual self and she was able to fill that time with different things like online bible studies and watching church online and just listening to some podcasts that boost her up instead of like tear her down. Continuing with the social media she was able to put it to good use and follow people like influencers on Instagram where they're going through similar things or they have the same interests and they're able to just talk about things that are entertaining but in a good and fulfilling way. Next I did talk to someone else who also had controversy feelings and an attitude towards social media and mental health and put it into a more positive perspective. This person felt like it helped because it allowed her to talk to her friends and find out what was up and especially in a new atmosphere where you miss home and friends it's nice to have links where you know you can talk to people and stay updated but not allowing yourself to get drawn into the addiction and the repetitive scrolling and liking. She felt that maintaining a healthy relationship with social media was easy as long as she limited her time on it. She did set time limits for herself where she felt she would be on her phone too much she'd put it down for an hour. She was able to realize the positive and negative relationships linked on the phone over social media and she was able to exclude the negative out and unfollow the content that she wasn't exactly feeling good about and was able to follow the ones that she was. She did mention to utilize social media as a tool rather than a toy. I felt these words definitely did stand out just because I feel like you're able to set clear goals and be intentional with who you follow and the content that you're seeing like your feed. You're able to engage in social media thoughtfully and use it as a platform for good conversations instead of hateful ones. As I now wrap this podcast I hope you take what you've learned and be able to apply it to your own life. Remember to set boundaries and prioritize your own mental health and self-care. You have control over your mind and your emotions and although I have talked about a lot of the negatives of social media, remember that it isn't completely bad. Social media is an outlet to reach out to others and look for help in times of struggle. Remember to stay mindful of how you're using your social media platforms and stay true to yourself. Thank you all for joining me throughout this podcast and I hope you all have a wonderful day, afternoon, and good night.