Lived Experience Forum

[holly299]

@BlueBay  Its not so much a deliberate construction and I personally believe in being authentic as much as possible but I acknowledge not everyone portrays an accurate depiction of their life which helps me avoid comparisons

[nashy]

Heaps of decent insight from everyone so far. Let's shift perspective a little 🙂

As mentioned earlier, social media isn’t inherently bad and can even be beneficial to your mental health. What are some positives that can potentially come out of social media use?

[holly299]

I have had some wonderful experiences on social media. One example of this is how important the online community has been in helping me accept my sexuality (a huge part of my mental health journey). By following and connecting with other LGBTQI+ people it helped me accept myself. It gave me people to connect with when I wasn’t able to come out ‘offline’. Having a safe space is so important especially when you’re part of a minority/marginalised community and Instagram and tumblr gave me that.

I’ve also been able to learn a lot and expose myself to a greater intersection of people which has helped me grow as a person and learn from others experiences.

Further, I was able to connect with other mental health advocates which have often inspired more self-compassion and given me much needed reality checks

[Adge]

Well it was a "mild habit" for a short while @nashy 

When I had such continuous difficulty with disabling "notifications" from a particular site (F) - I had to largely back off, & leave it alone.

That comes at a cost - because people I know, increasingly only communicate via social media sites.

They have my email address, yet they will not communicate personally via email.

So not using social media sites means that I have no contact with several people - people who I actually would like to maintain some personal contact with.

Adge

[frog]

Me too @BlueBay it gets me down. I sometimes feel like a loser 

[TAB]

Hi @Adge

[nashy]

@frog  It's a low feeling hey. However, you're not a loser no way you're a worthy, valuable wonderful human 🙂 

[TAB]

Im just a whiny show boating so and so @nashy sorry . Thanks for your wishes and happy to persist well in background maybe

[nashy]

I don't think you are any of those things @TAB  🙂 And we're happy to have ya!

[nashy]

Next Question!

What are some practical strategies we can use to maintain a healthy headspace when using social media?