In recent years, the growth of social media has certainly changed the way we connect and communicate. Everything has developed and exchanging information has never been this effective and instant. It has impacted our lives enormously and we've all become so addicted to it that it seems impossible to imagine a life without it. Heck, forget a life without it - most of us can't even go a day without checking their Facebook.
I read an article entitled "Addiction to social media leaving kids 'disconnected" written by Radhika-Acharya in the website www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. It states in the article that excessive use of social networking sites is causing the youth serious behavioral damage. Increased activity on social networking causes people to lose touch with the real world and that leads to depression, isolation, and aggression. Over-exposure on "happy" images and lives of other people increases the feeling of discontentment. The article also states that social network addiction is also as serious as addiction to alcohol, smoking, or gambling.
Dr Radhika Acharya, psychologist at Deccan Hospital stated in the article that "Internet addiction has to be treated like any other addiction for which the person must undergo rehabilitation. Patients are first counseled, advised to undergo digital fasting and are also made to go through cognitive behavioural therapy."
Gone were the days when kids actually gather outside to play with one another, allowing themselves to really socialize and build friendship. Most games that the youth play today are on their phones, tablets, pc, and laptops. They connect easily to any people, but rarely do they build real connection and friendship, thus causing behavioral damage. A lot more factors contribute to this that the social media brings. There has been numerous media reports of death cases among youth that was caused by social media and it's not surprising anymore to know that experts now have gone as far as to say that social network addiction is as serious as addiction to alcohol, smoking, and gambling. As the psychologist advised treatment for this, I believe cold turkey is the key. A person who is currently addicted to social networking has to abstain from it completely and fasting from social networking sites is not easy to do, but it's the best way to grow in self-reflection. There is a discipline in fasting and it will allow the person to really think hard about what's going on, what really matters, and can give the person a new perspective on his/her life.
I read an article entitled "Media Fasting For Mental Health" written by author William Curtis in the website www.futurefocusdirect.com. The article shares a concept called "media fasting". Media fasting is simply abstaining from all kinds of media like radio, internet, television, and spending the time instead with family, friends, or any other valuable activity. The article states how media providers repeat and exaggerate news and how rarely news nowadays promote values and positive stories to uplift its listeners, but providing too much negativity instead. All these stresses the mind, stealing happiness and causing danger to health. The article promotes media fasting as a great stress reduction tool.
The author, William Curtis, states in the article "As the days went on however, I began noticing a clarity of thought and renewed creativity. I also noted my days became more productive, focused, and less stressed."
If you’re like me and a lot of other people, you get a lot of your news on the Internet, you also read a lot of blogs, read books, magazines and newspapers. You listen to the radio on your way to work, and as you get home you watch a lot of TV, where you get entertainment and news as well. Information overload. Our brains are not made to process this much information. We can do it, but it gives us a lot of stress, and we cannot think about any of the information long enough for it to give us real value.
I've found excess and unmeasured consumption of information can contribute a lot to stress and removing this from your informational diet changes your mindset. Fasting from any form of media will clear the mind and heal our own mental state from negativity and information noise. This process will give you a new perspective on the wasted time we allow our minds to be polluted. It could help us engage more deeply in the real world around us allowing examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. It's time to finally heal, and the first step is to unplug.
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