Breaking Chains from Social-media Addiction

If you are confused with yourself whether you are addicted to social media or not, here are few questions for your aid:

· Do you spend a lot of time, when you’re not online, thinking about social media or planning to use social media?

· Do you feel impulses to use social media more and more over time?

· Do you use social media to forget about personal problems?

· Do you often try to reduce your use of social media, without success?

· Do you become agitated or troubled if you are unable to use social media?

· Do you use social media so much that it has had a negative impact on your job, relationship or studies?

If your answer to few of these questions is YES, you are more likely to be considered as a habitual social media user. And like many other people trying to overcome social media addiction, you would probably benefit from a “digital detox”, a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, perceived as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world. This can be achieved through a few basic steps such as turning off the sound function on your phone, only allowing yourself to check your phone every hour or so and consecrating periods in the day as self-imposed no-screen time.

However, if you answered “yes” to most or all of these questions, then you may have or be developing an actual addiction to using social media. Like any psychological disorder or condition, the only way to confirm this is through a formal diagnosis from a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.