Not so social media

Social media. Where to begin.

Around a month ago, for the first time in my life, social media began to really get under my skin. At times, it was even controlling my mood. I think most people can admit that over the last few months social media has not been the nicest place in the world. It has been pretty toxic. In fact, it’s been a cesspit.

I’ve had to take a few breaks from certain platforms because I would find myself scrolling through them at night, gradually feeling lower and lower as I read one negative post after the next.

As a recovering alcoholic, I know how important it is to remove things from my life that are not good for me. It doesn’t matter that I’m 4 years sober next month, I will always live my life that way until the day I die.

Now, I realise the irony of me writing this, as a lot of you will be reading this from my post on social media. I’m not suggesting anyone stops using social media all together, in fact I think social media can be a great thing.

All I’m saying is, if you feel social media is beginning to have a negative effect on you, take a break from it. Don’t torture yourself. There’s enough for everyone to deal with at the moment, without putting yourself through an hour of depression every evening as well.

This is especially relevant to anyone battling addiction. Anything was an excuse for me to drink when I was really in amongst it. Seeing so much negativity from so many people on the internet would have easily been enough for me to reach for the bottle.

For me, it’s all about protecting my state of mind. I may be able to deal with a hell of a lot more now than I could before, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to cling on to unnecessary negativity. Life’s to short for any of that.

Like I said, social media can be a great thing. It enables people to connect, share and communicate like never before. But just recently it’s taken a dark turn and one that can easily have a negative effect on, not just addicts, but anyone’s emotions.

So, take a break if you need to. Life still goes on without social media for a day or two. And for anyone battling addiction – don’t give yourself extra hurdles to jump.

Thanks for reading. Toby.