How to Protect Your Mental Health from Passive Scroll Effects?
We are all on the same road, so let’s keep our eyes on the horizon.
I had many friends in high school but couldn’t get close to anyone. Everyone was so busy trying to fit in and look cool that they didn’t have time for someone like me who was different.
They wouldn’t even talk to me.
At one point, I wanted to kill myself. I remember sitting in my room and looking out the window. I thought about jumping from the second story.
It was scary, and I knew I would die, but it felt good to think about dying.
After leaving my parent’s house, I lived with two friends. We were all busy with school and work, which was a hectic time.
Our lives were chaotic. We would wake up late and rush out the door for school or work. By the end of the day, we would be exhausted, have no time to relax, and have to keep ourselves busy so that we didn’t get too bored.
We were constantly doing things and never had enough time to do anything. Every day was filled with stress, anxiety, and fear, making me sad. I felt sad because I had no idea what to do with my life.
I would often sit on my bed and scroll through my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter news feeds. It made me feel good about myself, and I thought I was productive.
But I should have realized that I needed to get something done. I was killing time.
My passive scrolling habits were affecting my mental health. I was stressed out and anxious because I spent so much time scrolling through social media and not focusing on my goals.
But now, luckily, I’ve overcome my passive scrolling habit and improved my mental state. I want to share how it affects our lives and how to crush such a fatal habit to improve ourselves.
Sometimes when you get depressed, it feels like all you want to do is avoid the pain and the world around you. Taking baby steps is the best way to change things.
How Passive Scrolling Steals Your Mental Health?
Passive scrolling is when you sit on your couch with your phone in hand and click, scroll, and scroll without looking at what you’re doing.
You scroll through your Instagram feed, then the comments section, then the newsfeed, and then you scroll through the Instagram feed again.
Your eyes never leave the screen. Your mind never stops thinking about the thing you’re looking at.
It’s a problem.
In my case, I began to suffer from this “passive effect” while scrolling through Twitter. I would look at the news feed and think, “This is terrible,” or “I should probably fix this.” But then I would scroll past another tweet, thinking, “That’s terrible.” “I should probably fix that, too.”
After a few minutes, my mind would get tired, and I would lose interest in reading Twitter.
Instead of fixing all the tweets, I would scroll until the next time the news feed refreshed and start the cycle again.
1. You feel inadequate.
There’s no denying it; we all scroll for different reasons. Some of us scroll when we’re in the middle of an excellent article.
Others scroll when we’re not interested in reading articles. They scroll because they lack alternatives for passing their time. Or they’re just lazy.
Still, others are only half paying attention to what’s happening before them, but they scroll nonetheless, and then some actively scroll.
For most of us, passive scrolling only happens sometimes. But when it does, it can mess with our minds.
I experienced the passive scroll effect so much that I thought I was inadequate.
It’s important to note that the passive scroll effect is not just limited to the web. It happens in real life.
You’re forced to interact with people you don’t know when you’re out at a dinner party. You start scrolling through messages on your phone.
Passive scrolling leads you to feel worse about yourself. Because of the passive scroll effect, you feel like you’re not a good person.
2. The “you’re bored” mind trap.
Scrolling is terrible for you.
It causes you to get stuck in an endless loop of “I just want to finish this article,” “I’m going to go eat a sandwich,” and “What do I do now?”
Your brain begins to think you’re bored.
Humans are born to explore the world around them — to learn about it, understand it, and grow as individuals.
We’re social creatures wired to learn from other humans, including online people.
The brain is the most powerful learning tool available to us, and when you stop learning, you start dying.
It’s straightforward to get distracted by passive scrolling, but recharging is essential.
So, to combat this, we must take breaks from the internet.
You know the feeling.
You’re scrolling through the articles on a site, and you come across something that interests you. You click on the link, and you start reading.
Then, after a few minutes, your eyes feel heavy, and you decide to stop.
Then you scroll down again, thinking, “I just want to finish what I started.”
You want to continue scrolling because you think you’re boring or missing out.
All you’re doing is repeating the same action. But when you do this, your brain decides you’re not learning.
If you don’t take breaks, then you’re dead.
3. It steals focus from the essential things in your life.
One of the most common stressors in modern life is the constant threat of being distracted by our phones.
It has two significant effects.
i) We are less likely to be mindful.
Our attention is stolen by an infinite number of notifications, emails, and other things that distract us from our actions.
ii) We become obsessed.
While we may not actively search for a new phone, a new smartphone is an addiction.
When we find ourselves with a new device, we check it every few minutes to see if there is a new message or email.
And before we know it, we’ve spent nearly an hour per day checking our phones.
If this sounds familiar, you’re suffering from a version of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
We get addicted to social media because it makes us feel like we’re missing out on something.
And, of course, we are. Because it’s not real life, it’s a fantasy world.
What are we missing out on?
We miss out on all the fascinations that are going on around us.
It’s true.
We need to catch up on people talking to each other face-to-face.
We are missing out on the actual experiences that can only be had when we connect with others.
It’s important to remember that there is a vast difference between being social and being addicted to social media.
Think about your life for a minute.
Do you get pleased when you’re out with your friends?
Or are you happier when you sit at home alone on your smartphone, scrolling through your friends’ photos?
Your happiness depends on your state of mind, not on other people.
4. It creates negative emotions.
Social media is a great way to learn but it can also be a huge time-suck.
For people who spend large amounts of time on social media, the passive nature of scrolling can generate a variety of negative emotions.
Many users are on social media because they love socializing and enjoy it. But there is a difference between scrolling and interacting with friends.
Social media draws attention away from the things we want to focus on.
If you’re scrolling through social media, you need to catch up on reading posts on your feeds.
How to Overcome Passive Scrolling Effects?
Stop scrolling on the internet.
You can do it by committing to no longer visiting websites that are only useful for consuming content.
Instead, only visit websites where you’re going to do something productive, such as editing or writing.
Also, try to be more selective when consuming content on social media.
Make an effort only to follow accounts that share high-quality content useful for you in the future, let’s say something like tutoring you on how to make money online.
Turn off notifications.
Notifications are a huge distraction.
As a result, you’ll spend more time looking at your phone than actually doing what you’re supposed to do.
You must disable as many of your push notifications as you can.
You should probably maintain a few, including your calendar, WhatsApp (but for the love of God, mute all of your hyperactive WhatsApp groups), Slack, or other work-collaboration apps (though silence this outside of office hours), and FaceTime or similar call-receiving apps.
However, for social media, news, email, and other non-urgent notifications such as learning applications, airline apps, shopping apps, and games, try going black to get a feel of what you are and aren’t missing.
Turn off your smartphone.
According to a recent study, cutting back on your smartphone use by just one hour every day for a week will help your mental health.
Turning off your smartphone can also reduce distractions and improve your focus.
If you’re struggling to focus on something, it may be time to turn off your smartphone.
A study found that people with their mobile phones turned off are more likely to read, study, and exercise.
Set up a social media schedule.
Setting aside a specific time for social media will increase the chance you’ll get around to doing it.
That is especially useful for social media apps such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Although social media is here to stay, we still have a choice over how we use and navigate it.
Here are six suggestions to help you have better interaction with social media:
- Take a break from social media
- Keep an eye on your screen time
- Establish work-life limits
- Take control of your social media feeds
- Place self-care first.
- Foster relationships and offline communities
When you work in social media, you must always be “on,” whether it’s to skim through feeds for ideas, reply to comments, or monitor trends.
You could have a one-way ticket to burnout city if you also factor in the news cycle and online trolls.
While social media work may be a lot of fun, it’s crucial to look after your mental health.
So, whatever it appears to you, prioritize self-care, take breaks, and limit your screen time.
