Contents
Good day to all! Today we will try to figure out how to get rid of addiction to social networks. Scientists call it quasi-communication, that is, an imaginary form of relationship that creates illusions about a partner or interlocutor that are not at all combined with reality. After all, the Internet is present in almost every home, and only a small percentage of the population does not have an account in social networks. Not only teenagers are under threat, but also adults, mature people who find an outlet for energy from stress and failure in the virtual world.
By the way, to determine the degree of your addiction, you can take this test.
What it is?
Addiction develops gradually, sometimes it can even take years. Signs should be familiar to many, and if you find at least a third of the list, it’s time to sound the alarm.
- An irresistible urge to check your mail, your account, hoping to see a new like or comment. And this check happens more than 10 times a day.
- In places where there is no access to the Internet, it is not at all interesting to be. I would like to quickly find Wi-Fi in order to «recover», look for any news or entertainment.
- One feels tension and irritability if the time without virtual communication drags on for at least an hour and a half.
- It becomes easier to write a message than to call someone, with friends you are already mostly chatting instead of real meetings.
- You constantly scroll through the news feed, hoping to find something interesting, and sometimes you find yourself reading information that is completely unnecessary and uninteresting to you.
- Relations in the family began to deteriorate, as you prefer to spend your free time with your phone or tablet.
- Instead of family dinners, when everyone communicates and shares the events of the day, you drag your plate to the computer, preferring to eat in front of the monitor.
- Even at parties and in noisy companies, you try to retire with your phone, or take a photo specifically to put it on social networks.
- You don’t notice wasted time. For example, they looked in for a minute, but got carried away and “sat” for several hours, forgetting about work or sleep.
- There is simply a need for constant commenting and posting information about each step. The feeling of the quality of lived moments is lost, because on a trip or meeting with friends it is important to take beautiful photos so that they get a lot of likes.
All these symptoms are manifested mainly as a result of loneliness, and sometimes invented, because in reality there are close people, but from whom it does not work out to get the necessary amount of recognition or attention. Also, of course, addiction appears due to the presence of complexes, because you can hide the old renovation of a rented apartment and take a picture against a beautiful background so that others have envy or admiration.
Stages of addiction
There are 3 groups of people according to the level of addiction who have at least one account:
- Independent. Verification of information occurs very rarely, a maximum of once a day, mostly once a week or even a month. Personal data is most often hidden from view, an account is needed more in order to find the contact of the right person, or contact him when it is not possible to find in reality.
- Transition period. They already appear online not out of urgent need, but out of interest and a sense of boredom. Most often, during this period, gradual addiction occurs and the need for virtuality increases, rather than returning to independence again.
- Dependents. There is a constant updating of the page, and even realizing that nonsense is written in the tape at the moment, it still continues to scroll through it. There may be a feeling of despair due to the lack of messages, likes or comments. Or vice versa, arrogance in the case of illusory popularity on the network.
Aftermath
- Relationships with relatives, friends, colleagues are destroyed, as involvement and empathy disappear. An addicted person gets used to treating all kinds of information superficially, not particularly getting involved in the process.
- The level of concentration of attention decreases, it becomes “floating”, due to the constantly arising temptation to do several things at the same time — to do work and look through the news on the Internet, for example. And even adults can develop hyperactivity, with symptoms such as impulsivity, anxiety, and restless sleep.
- In addition to attention, the level of intelligence also decreases, since the brain is occupied most of the time with useless information that is not absorbed. Therefore, development is suspended, although resources are spent.
- Due to the fact that resources are used completely aimlessly, without bringing benefits, over time the body is depleted, which causes fatigue, lethargy and irritability.
Recommendations
If you have realized that you have developed an addiction to the Internet, and decided to fight for the quality of your life, then the following recommendations will help you:
1. Get ready
In addition, it will be very difficult for you. In order not to complain that the advice of a psychologist does not help, you need to understand that 90% of the result depends only on you. Connect willpower, all your resources, enlist the help of loved ones, their support. But resist the temptation, learn to control yourself.
2.Start with a time limit
For example, allow at first to “walk” on the network no more than two hours a day, while reducing the limit at least once a week. For non-compliance — a penalty in the form of an hour reduction. You can also come up with a to-do list, only after completing which you will allow yourself to look at your smartphone.
3. Think about your hobbies and entertain yourself in your free time
Something with fine motor skills is best, and start practicing meditation, it will help restore the ability to concentrate. Let me remind you that we discussed meditation in the article: “What is meditation and what will it give to an ordinary person.”
4. Review all the groups you subscribe to
And leave only those with the help of which you will develop and learn something new and important. Do not overstrain your brain with unnecessary rubbish, take care of yourself. The same goes for the list of friends. Leave the really important ones, not the added ones for the sake of quantity.
5. Read books, develop, act
For example, instead of endlessly liking all sorts of photos with recipes, sign up for cooking classes.
I recommend reading the article on the benefits of reading. Perhaps it will inspire you to give preference to the study of books.
6. Go in for sports
The resulting amount of endorphins, hormones of happiness that are produced during physical exertion, will be quite enough to switch attention to reality. And if you engage in group activities or a game, then real communication will also be added, the circle of acquaintances will expand.
7. Invite friends
On nature, in a cafe, having agreed to leave the phones in your pocket or bag with the sound turned off. Everyone determines for himself whether it is good or bad — the presence of accounts and the constant desire to control them, but during a meeting it is important to be able to notice the other person, because the feelings received and lived from real relationships can never replace virtual ones, albeit in saturation at first they can be brighter. Have you noticed for yourself that you do not always open your state to another in correspondence? Sending a funny emoji and sitting there with tears in your eyes? Over time, virtuality leads to isolation, feelings of acute loneliness and depression. The discrepancy between beautiful photos in your account and real life can even lead to suicide. So call your friends to see them for real, and not behind a series of pictures and statuses.
Conclusion
I also recommend that you read the article: “15 books for self-development and self-improvement of a person’s personality.” From these books, you will understand that you can’t waste your time on social networks like this.
That’s all, dear reader! And it doesn’t matter if social networks bring you evil or you still know how to control yourself — be careful and remember that life is worth saving without wasting valuable minutes. No one will be able to return them to you, and the time spent on the Internet will not be remembered, will not be deposited with pleasant memories, to which you will want to return again and again.