Thread by @Opatolaemmy

Yesterday was #WorldMentalHealthDay and I engaged my WhatsApp audience on Social Media vs Social Depression

I'm not a pro actually😂😂😂😂

I just want to express my concern.

Follow this trend

We are all social creatures😁😁. We need the relationship with others to thrive in life, and the strength of our connections has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Being socially connected to others will seriously help us at every facet of live and we can't do ...

anything without relationship and companionship with others. Social connection can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to your life.

On the flip side, lacking strong social connections can pose a serious risk to your mental and emotional health. Right? Yes, it is

You know, nowadays, majority of us rely on social media platforms such as WhatsApp,Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram to find and connect with

.
.

each other. We even prefer connecting with people virtually than physically. While each has its benefits, it’s important to remember that social media can never be a replacement for real-world human connection. It requires in-person contact with others to trigger the hormones

that alleviate stress and make you feel happier, healthier, and more positive. Ironically for a technology that’s designed to bring people closer together,spending too much time engaging with social media can actually make you feel more lonely and exacerbate mental health problem

*Let me tell you a short story about Promise*

Promise is a 21-year old lady who is very much outspoken and ambitious. At the age of 10, she already had her 15 years future plan with no marriage plan inclusive. At the age of 17, she graduated from high school as the best

graduating student even though she had no access to mobile phones. During her valedictory service, she was awarded the latest iPhone as one of the prizes she won. Winning not just a mobile phone but a smartphone like iPhone elevated her desires to be the best.

That very night, she started using the phone by downloading several Research, religious and browsing apps. Few days later, her friend pressurized her to join Facebook and so, she registered and join Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter.... All in a single day 😁😁😁

It's time to fly 🤣🤣🤣🤣
By the end of 3 month most, her friend list on the 4 platforms combined was 452. Ironically, most of the people she connected too are government officials, Organizations, CEOs and directors (80% of them are people of big personalities).

She narrowed down are network to the people that she can learn from and benefit from By the way, due to the league of her connection, she always have little engagements on her innovative and creative posts that ought to generate thousands of likes, retweet, shares and comments.

She then reached out to her friend who invited her to join the social media on how she can increase her audience because she want to be recognized and noticed. She want her message to be held my thousands, millions and the world. The friend just advised her to network with normal

people, friendzone them and improve her networking skills. She tried it for the next 4 months and No Improvement🤣🤣🤣. She became nervous and anxiety set in. She will just be angry without cause. She is not posting frequently again. Not even her own picture.

She just do the "Login-read post-like-no comment-logout" trend like most of us do nowadays. She lost concentration and sees social media as one place she use as an excuse for been busy even though she's only reading/viewing posts and logging off.

One day, her friend did her birthday and guess what, she uploaded a picture of herself in a Rolls Royce, another with her family on a beach, another with a curly fries in her name and she added a captain, "+1 in the gold". The post generated 12,000+ engagement in 3hrs.

Promise saw this and she Held her breath, sigh, picked up a chilled soft drink, uploaded, "😅😅😅😅😞😞😞😞☹️☹️☹️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️" on her Facebook and WhatsApp stories and then, she slept off🌚.

Two days later, a big celebrity did her wedding with another popular celebrity.

The whole social media was flooded with the hashtag, #MENWOM. The thoughts of marriage which wasn't in her initial plans started flowing through her head. Promise was heartbroken that night as she saw the post of her friend with the friend's boyfriend as they celebrated 3yrs in

Relationship. One month later, she already got a guy who is cool like me 🤣🤣🤣🤣. The relationship was going well but she wanted more Because of what she is seeing on Social media.
On a fateful day, she ran into one of her high school mate who is now building a house at Ibadan

She asked him how he did it. The friend' said, "I always write reports for lecturers and they pay me. One day, one of them referred me to a big newspaper company and I got a job without interview and CV".

Promise thought writing is the way, she then ventured into it as

she wanted more due to the bigger picture she had built for herself back then. She even registered on various platforms as a writer but nothing came forth after 6 months. She started posting beautiful and cute pictures of herself online plus the pictures of her events, shopping

fruits etc after her friend advice her to do so and she wanted it badly. Her social media engagement rose by more than 1000% in 6 months. She broke up with the guys after 4 months and she was just posting a lot of stuffs about herself, gender activism (well, in the wrong manner)

Shopping etc. She now made social media her mini-office (well A debit weighted company because she is wasting her time, she is not gaining anything and she is trying to gain the fame and be among. She borrowed a lot of money from people just to be online, shop and post.

Few weeks later, she had a car accident due to depression and loss of thought. Her friend (the adviser) came to visit her for the first time even though they've been in contact for more than 3 years. Promise was shocked to see the friend on Slippers and an old attire.

Before the friend asked about Promise health, Promise already asked, "What happened to you? Why are you dressed like this?" The friend answered and said, "What's wrong with clothes? Are they bad?" 👀👀👀 Promise was shocked🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️ and vexed. She further asked and said,

"What about the Rolls Royce on your birthday, the nice clothes on always wear, your dating ring etc... Or are you wearing this dress to mock me because I am in the hospital?☹️☹️😞😞" The friend bursted into laughter and said, "No, stop it😂😂😂 all those things you see na cruise

😂😂😂.. My brother is a graphics designer and we always go for window shopping and post nice contents. And for the events, dear, I just borrow stuffs and attend and then we rock". No qualms regarding that. It's life!!"

Promise burst into tears and all she could say was that,

"You have destroyed my life, Rosemary 😞 I am currently in this state of madness today because of you and the food you gave me to eat. I'm finished"
The stage Manager then closed the curtain to the fictional story 😂😂😂(all characters and situational resemblance are imaginary)

In several recent studies, teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms were shown to have a substantially (from 13 to 66 percent) higher rate of reported depression than those who spent the least time.

Does that mean that Instagram and Facebook are actually causing depression? These studies show a correlation, not causation. But it’s worth a serious look at how social media could be affecting teenagers and young adults negatively. One reason the correlation seems more than

coincidental is that an increase in depression occurred in tandem with the rise in smartphone use. “The less you are connected with human beings in a deep, empathic way, the less you’re really getting the benefits of a social interaction,” points out Alexandra Hamlet, PsyD,

a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute. “The more superficial it is, the less likely it’s going to cause you to feel connected, which is something we all need.” Since it’s a relatively new technology, there’s little research to establish the long-term consequences,

good or bad, of social media use. However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts etc

Three days ago, I was discussing with my roommate and I asked him a question. I said, "Where do you think most people go to in search of love and pleasure? Where do most people go to during the moody and depressed time?" He smirked and said, "It's social media of course" 😂😂😂

I laughed and said, "That's true but do you know that it's better not going online than going?" He said, "why?". I said, " it's simple, they will never get the desired motivation but they will only be seeing posts and messages that will either expand their wound or expose them

to new difficulties". These technologies can predict our feelings and they will just give us what they think can solve our problems They are never wrong nor right. We have the key to unlock that.
It's only left for us to decide how we use the key.

As I conclude, let me ask you these questions:
Who is feeding you? Who and what motivates you? What are your social media activities like? What are you seeing? How are you reacting to what you are seeing and hearing?
Your life is in your hand.

Monitor and limit your online activities, take online breaks, engage in offline activities, see yourself as the best no matter the situation

Thank you 😂😂😂

Like I said, I'm not a pro. I'm just a young and local lad from a local booth in Nigeria

Thanks for coming to my small @TEDx talk 😂😂 @TEDTalks
Happy #InternationalDayoftheGirlChild
#internationalgirlchildday
#InternationalDayoftheGirl
#MentalHealth
#MentalHealthAwareness
#MentalHealthAwarenessDay
#WorldMentalHealthDay
#SocialDilemma
#socialmedia
#EndSARS

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