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It is time to spring clean your social media accounts.
Have you ever noticed a change in your emotions after scrolling through your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feed?
For example, maybe you were feeling down but cheered up after viewing some encouraging memes.
If happiness were the only emotional outcome of scrolling through social media, then I wouldn’t be writing this article….
Too often social media leaves people feeling depressed, anxious, unworthy, or angry. These emotions, while normal, can and often aggravate chronic pain.
The good news is that there is a way to overcome it! Read on!
So what do you do when what your friends and family post on social media has a negative effect on your mental well-being? You take control!
Here are five options for taking control of your social media feed and emotional health.
*Disclosure: I am not a medical professional. I am not issuing medical advice. Consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet or treatments. This post contains affiliate links. Meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission from purchases made through my links.
Spring Clean Social Media by Choosing What You See
Don’t scroll through your feed. Instead, only visit the pages of the people and or businesses that won’t instigate unwanted feelings.
Need a pick me up? Visit the accounts of those who often brighten your day.
Sometimes We Need a Little Help
As I stated earlier, it is normal to feel the feels that many social media posts invoke. However, if you find that you are unable to let go of them, they consume your mind, or they are affecting your health, it is time to get help.
I am not saying that everyone needs to seek out therapy, but if you find yourself drawn to posts that increase the intensity of negative emotions there is a problem.
Hide and Don’t Seek
You love your Aunt Sally, but she every day she goes on a political rampage. Her posts are angry and hostile, which leave you feeling the same after viewing them.
Guess what? You don’t have to endure those posts! Do yourself a favor and hide her posts from your timeline. Facebook allows you to be friends with people, yet gives you the option to hide their posts!
To make sure you aren’t missing anything important, you may want to pop over to her page once every blue moon to see if she has posted anything of importance.
I have assigned someone to check the pages of those who trigger extremely unpleasant emotions for me. It doesn’t bother them and it makes my life so much better.
Spring Clean Your Social Media with a little Unfriending and Unfollowing
If hiding their posts doesn’t work, you may have to unfriend or unfollow them. I save this option for those who lack personal boundaries.
For example, you can post whatever you want on your page. I have the right to not go there and see it. But you cross a line when you continually tag me or post your vile content on my profile page.
Just because you are related to someone or are friends, it doesn’t mean that you have to be their social media buddy too.
If socializing with them online is going to send you into a panic attack, cause you to socially withdraw, increase your blood pressure, or cause you to go into a rage, let them go!!
By the way, if the people in your life are the cause of negative emotions or activities, please seek help from a therapist. They can help you determine which relationships can be saved and which are truly toxic.
Last Resort
Your last option is to leave the platform that leaves you with the most destructive of feelings and thoughts.
Having a social media account isn’t a requirement of life.
Yes, they provide an easy way to keep in touch with and to connect with our friends and family on a daily basis, but if they are creating a problem for you, let it go!
Feelings of sadness, anger, etc. are inevitable. However, if you find that those feelings are becoming a way of life or all that you feel, there is a problem.
The answer isn’t threatening people to only post what makes you happy or to unfriend you.
The answer is first finding out if your reactions are typical, second recognizing just how much you can handle, then last but not least, taking action to protect your mental health.
With that said….. Before you decide to take a social media vacation, be sure to subscribe to my blog! I would hate for you to miss out on a blog post just because of a few rotten apples! Click here to subscribe!