This final post in my series is about using our bodily senses to self soothe. Our Sight. Ways that we can sooth ourselves by looking. Natural Vistas As I’ve already mentioned in a previous post, nature and landscapes are very calming. For example, looking at dappled...
Social Media Anxiety and How To Manage It
The Art of Self-soothing 3: Creativity
Creativity is a sure way to self-soothe. People have lost themselves in creative pursuits since time began. Getting in touch with our creativity is a way of reaching something within ourselves. By allowing this to develop we can usually make something bigger than...
The Art of Self-Soothing 2: Nature
This month’s way to self soothe is by being in nature. It’s long been known and proven that being outside and preferably in nature can improve our mental health. Take a Short Walk The simplest ways are often the most effective. Such as going for a short walk from your...
The Art of Self Soothing
There is so much going on in the world now. It’s hard watching the news, in fact I am more likely to just quickly check a news ap than I am to watch the news in real time. Many people I speak to are unable to watch the news at all because they struggle to think of the...
Interpreting Dreams
In the last of my series on dreaming we look at common images and symbols in dream interpretation. I love working with the unconscious and find dreams fascinating. We can think of them as metaphors for what might be going on in the dreamer’s life and/or the...
Nightmares and Night terrors
It seems difficult for people to talk about their nightmares. Even if the person has told me during their assessment that they suffer from nightmares, I often find people don’t talk about them in any detail until we have been working together for a while. Maybe by...
Types of dreams
Types of Dreams Every dream is as unique as the dreamer, but there are specific types of dreamsthat most commonly find their way into my consulting room. These are daydreams, vivid dreams, recurring dreams, lucid dreams, nightmares and night terrors. This month, I...
Dream Journaling
How To Remember Your Dreams I often work with people who dream frequently and are interested in their dreams. Many suffer from nightmares and night terrors which they remember vividly. I will be exploring these in a later post. But a lot of people don’t remember...
Dreaming
Photography by Gregory Pappas on UnsplashPsychotherapy and Dreams During an initial consultation with a potential client, I often ask about their dreams. Do they dream regularly? Do they have significant dreams from childhood? Do they have recurring dreams? This is...
Time for a Mindset Spring Clean
March is a hopeful month. Officially the first month of spring with emerging colour, bulbs bravely shooting through the ground and trees starting to sprout buds. A couple of years ago in the UK we had a mini heatwave in March. With the unpredictability of the climate,...
Social media can be a fantastic way of keeping in touch with people and a source of inspiration, support, and connection to wider conversations online. It can also link us to people we would otherwise not have access to, for example, brides and grooms who’ve invited celebrities to play at their wedding or getting involved in high-profile discussions on Twitter.
Social Media Overwhelm
But as we know, there are downsides: navigating the daily avalanche of emails, apps, and notifications alongside expected participation on platforms, may lead us to feel totally overwhelmed.
The Immediacy of Social Media
The pressure or obligation we feel to react quickly can also lead to ill-thought-out reactions we later regret. But a considered response takes time. Stepping back to see how things pan out in a wider debate before we jump in, for example, takes a conscious effort on our part. In our fast-paced world, this can seem a luxury. The immediacy of social media, and the burden on us to ‘get it right’ can be distressing, leading to anxiety, stress, or even depression.
Social Influencers who endorse particular products or ways of life have chosen to earn a living that way. They need their likes and views. But for many of us, the constant pressure to engage in online feedback and affirmation, the upset we feel when we don’t get the expected positive feedback ourselves, can lead to feelings of rejection and insecurity. Taken to its extreme, our very sense of who we are might feel ‘cancelled’, we do not exist and are in danger of isolating ourselves completely.
How To Reduce Social Media Anxiety
So, what can we do to stop our use of social media causing more problems than benefits?
Taking back control of your time is a good start, seeing social media in perspective as just one aspect of a life well lived.
Put up boundaries – consciously limit the amount of time on social media. If you’ve got into the habit of tuning in whenever you feel the need, it will take time to develop this habit. Keeping phones, laptops, ipads, etc in another room when we are eating and sleeping can help.
Use Apps creatively – There are apps to close off other apps so we avoid distraction and overwhelm and concentrate on the one piece of work or the meeting we are involved in.
Do something new – Distracting ourselves from our technology is another technique. Take up a new hobby or sport, something in real-time, not an online version of it. This will get you out of the house, out of your cybersphere, and into a new environment that will expand your real world and possibly world view.
Meet up in person – As we found out in the pandemic, online meetings are brilliant for keeping in touch, but there’s no substitute for face-to-face interactions. Make a concerted effort to organise dates with friends and places to meet up.
Using social media to enhance our lives rather than waste our precious time is possible with some conscious effort and organisation. It’s easier to nip bad habits in the bud before they get too unwieldy.
However, if the above feels like an enormous undertaking not achievable, take stock. If you feel social media has really got hold of you to the extent addiction is creeping in, if you feel your mental health has deteriorated because of it, you might consider getting help from trusted friends or if that doesn’t feel possible, some professional support to help you get your life back under control.