Is social media addiction as dangerous as alcohol and drug addiction?

According to the Conversation (Australia), when we talk about “addiction”, we often think of alcohol and drugs. However, recently, a new type of addiction called social media addiction has appeared. This type of addiction causes long-term harm to emotions, behavior and relationships.

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Nowadays, many people often use technology, especially social networks such as Facebook, Twitter to relax and interact with others. They love social networks very much. Social networks are like another life outside the real world.

Although people of all ages are using social media, the negative impact of social media on young people, especially those born between 1984 and 2005, is greater than on older people.

Social networking addiction may not cause as much physical harm as addiction to cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs, but it does cause a lot of mental harm to the addict.

Social media addiction can cause addicts to change their behavior. Once addicted, they will need more and more time on social media to get the same feeling of comfort. This means that social media becomes the main activity of the day, taking up more and more time, and other activities will be pushed aside.

Addicts also get distracted from doing other things, feel uncomfortable when not using social media, or immediately return to using social media after stopping for a period of time.

In addition, social media addiction also affects sleep and real-life activities such as interaction and social communication. Social media is also considered to be a part of the reason why users feel lonely and bored.

According to The Conversation, young people addicted to social media often feel uncomfortable or cannot stand not being able to access social media regularly or posting a certain message. Moreover, they are more likely to make risky decisions and are always ready to provide information online. They often mistakenly believe that if something goes wrong, they can seek help from the online community, even if that community is full of strangers.

In addition, people addicted to social media have difficulty building their own image. Instead, they will use an inappropriate image from others. That is like a person under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

There is currently no cure for social media addiction. According to The Conversation, we need a clearer definition of the symptoms of social media addiction and how they develop over time. We need to answer some important questions: Is it genetic? Can a blood test differentiate social media addiction from other mental disorders? And can drugs or psychotherapy be used to treat social media addiction?

According to Infonet