Mental health & wellness has escalated to become one of the top issues facing young people today. One of the key predictors is the increasing usage of digital devices and social media amongst teenagers, causing a rise in reports of less sleep, greater fear of missing out, and social comparison leading to negative self-esteem and poorer body image. This programme helps youths identify the issues they may be suffering from. Students evaluate themselves on sleeping habits, depressive symptoms, addictive use of technology, and unhealthy comparison on social media. Through case studies, storytelling and perspective-taking, participants are taught the right mindset to adopt when using digital devices. They also gain awareness and practical ideas to take steps to regulate technology use and to safeguard their wellbeing.
Something I liked was that I learnt more about how social media affects me and my mental health, and it can actually be more harmful to us that we think.
I like the way the trainer brought in newer areas of mental wellness and social media like FOMO (fear of missing out) and sleep deprivation.
To fully stop and prevent social media addiction, the best way is to go on a dopamine detox. Train your discipline. Do the hard work especially when you don’t feel like it.
I like the connection to our lives, as it tells us the students that this problem is closer to us than we expect. Real life examples were also useful to us.
Social media is almost as addictive as drugs, and we are getting hooked on it without even knowing! And it’s ironic, the fact that social media is meant for us to connect with people across the world but is actually making us more isolated and lonely.
The programme is filled with a lot of interesting content where we will learn about the connection between social media and mental wellness. Learning how to use it in the correct and healthy manner instead of abusing it.
I enjoyed the quiz where we counted the points we had accumulated after reflecting on various scenarios about social media usage. It opened my eyes to how many of these scenarios applied to me and urged me to better manage my social media usage.
I learned how addictive features on social media platforms result in high levels of dopamine, which makes us even more addicted, and how it affects lack of sleep as well.
I learned that we must protect our own mental health to prevent situations like FOMO/Addiction/Sleep deprivation to happen. This also keeps us fit mentally. Instead of social media, there are also other activities like hanging out with our friends to keep us occupied.
