Social Networking a big NO NO for Anxiety/Depression Sufferers

[sarahlou1983]

Hi there,
I wanted to post a new thread to ask you guys your view on something..Has anybody found that social networking sites can affect their depression or anxiety to rocket sometimes???.

I have had certain things happen to me in the past that have really got me down to the point of making myself ill. Silly ridiculous things

Its caused me so much grief that i hardly ever go on things like Twitter or Facebook anymore ,i just don't enjoy them like i used to.....

I have that all too familiar saying rattling around in my head "if only i knew then what i know now i wouldn't have gone near them".......

Has anybody had any similar experiences????

[cookieb]

I kind of get what you mean hun....to me though it's not that it gets me worse I'm just unsociable when it's bad so I don't feel like talking commenting....xxx

[Rennie1989]

I often avoid social networking sites (unless promoting work) whilst depressed because it is all too tempting to see how much happier other people are, especially when they are out with friends whilst I am cooped up at home or work. Social networking does not really affect my anxiety unless there is a subject from the news that is particularly worrying me.

In saying that I keep reminding myself that certain people will not upload or share anything negative on social nertworking sites because they only want their friends to know the positives of their lives. So, yes, whilst it all looks peachy for them it is only a facade. And if anybody is purposely making me anxious they get blocked.

[wabbit1]

I too find it really upsets me when I'm feeling low. I just have to see someone posting a pic of them with friends and it sets me off about how much of a loser and a loner I am.

I sometimes think of deleting my accounts but most of the social things I take part in are planned on FB as most of my friends are scattered throughout the UK. It also allows me to keep up to date with what my family are doing and I get to see pics of my niece and nephew so for me it does have its plus points.

[sarahlou1983]

I suffer with GAD anyway so social anxiety is the absolutle worse thing I can be on (sorry :) i should of clarified that in my initial post) ..I'll give you an example of something I went through recently ...

I posted something on my Twitter feed recently @mentioning somebody who I though would appreciate it ,they re tweeted the post but later on I found that they had liked a comment saying that the video had been removed ,so then I started thinking all sorts thinking "all my god ,I hope I haven't upset them,what have I done...!" and I worried about it for days after...thinking I had offended this person,,despite my sister and friend telling me it was most probably an innocent mistake and that they wouldn't of posted it if they didn't like it etc etc

Of course I know all this ,but when youre wrestling with two sides of your brain telling you different things ......its difficult to see clearly .....all I kept telling myself was I had upset this person...and I tortured myself over it.....

maybe its just me condoning these sites because of my bad experiences,i don't exactly make it easy for myself ..but when anxiety is thrown into the mix ....its just bedlam :(

[NoPoet]

My use of social networking relates directly to how anxious I am. When I am highly anxious, I tend to withdraw and experience panic whenever I get emails or texts or whatever, but when the anxiety is under control I tend to become curious and extroverted and I post lots of crap on Facebook :)

[Charlotteee89]

It only affects me when my obsessional thinking has kicked in as what I see on Facebook directly links with it - I get obsessive thoughts about loneliness & having no friends (which isn't true) & going on FB & seeing my FB friends spending time with their friends etc makes me feel awful! :wacko:

[sarahlou1983]

there was a time when my life revoved around facebook or twitter ,it was so easily addictive and i become too involved in things....i would find myself checking my phone every five minutes ,to the point where i had to purposely log out of them so as i wasnt tempted..
im rubbish at remembering login details anyay,which probably helps me ,cause it means i have to keep going through the process of resetting a new password ,which most times i cant be bothered with :)

---------- Post added at 18:21 ---------- Previous post was at 18:19 ----------


It only affects me when my obsessional thinking has kicked in as what I see on Facebook directly links with it - I get obsessive thoughts about loneliness & having no friends (which isn't true) & going on FB & seeing my FB friends spending time with their friends etc makes me feel awful! :wacko:

i can totally relate Charlotte ,youre not alone :hugs: xoxox

[Charlotteee89]

i can totally relate Charlotte ,youre not alone :hugs: xoxox

It's a horrible feeling! Most of the time I'm fine & can easily scroll through FB without any thoughts at all, other times not so much!

I get anxious when I'm at home doing nothing after a while so as soon as those thoughts kick in (like "UGH I'm so bored! I need to do something! UGH I need to get out of the house I feel like I'm in prison!") whilst I'm at home as soon as I go on FB I get thoughts like "Ugh look they're with their friends, I'm not, god I'm so pathetic!" "Oh I wish I was doing something fun like they are!" etc etc. :wacko: It's crazy what anxiety can make you think & feel like!

[ankietyjoe]

I genuinely don't care what people think about me, and I also don't care that people are doing 'better' than me. I think that's an inherently unhealthy way to live anyway.

My issue with social networking is that it encourages 'flitty' thinking. It's like your mind can't stay on one thing for more than 15 seconds. It is what people thought TV would be 50 years ago.

It does not encourage mental calm.

[Oosh]

I am RUBBISH on twitter. I might tweet "GOOOOOOAL #LFC" now and then but that's it.

I use it to collect funny people and funny tweets. Then I read them back when I'm bored to make me giggle. I keep having to remind myself that's what I do because sometimes you can just feel like an outsider looking in on all the normals.
Dont be fooled by the normals though. I often am surprised when I see some of them go off footy topic and start confessing social anxiety and depression problems.

I used to be on Facebook but packed it in because I thought it was a weird medium were different demographic groups all mixed together. And I'd be horrified to mix work groups with family groups etc
I keep myself to myself mostly at work (apart from a small few) and I do not want these others, who aren't in my close group, observing my life.

The whole Facebook thing just made me uncomfortable.