Social Media Is Officially Making You Unhappy

It’s been scientifically proven that social media – the art of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and even MySpace if you’re still living in 2006 – can trigger a dopamine high. As in, the likes roll in and your body releases chemicals that make you feel good. But could it also be making us unhappy in the long-term, and even sick in some cases? An Australian study has found a remarkable link between social media usage and lower self-esteemed. University of South Australia PhD student John Mingoia analysed over six separate bodies of research totalling 1,829 people, and found that a greater frequency of social media time was more likely to induce feelings of inadequacy and an obsession with the perfect body. Plus, it seems men have been susceptible long before Mark Zuckerberg came around. “I’ve done some research in the past looking at males, and found that the use of traditional media is related to men wanting to be larger and having that low body fat percentage as opposed to wanting to be excessively thin,” said Mingoia on the study. The remedy? Take the world of #fitspiration with a pinch of salt. Realise that many images are photoshopped to within an inch of a bodybuilder’s waist, and are indeed no reflection of a ‘real body’ in the slightest. That, or just delete your apps altogether.