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How to Quit Comparing Yourself to Others and Focus On Recovery

Written by enlightened solutions on April 17, 2020. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

We all compare ourselves to others sometimes, but for the sake of your recovery, it would be great if you could do it less. Several studies have linked participants’ tendency to make social comparisons to bad outcomes such as envy, resentment, lying, anxiety, and depression. When you consider that most people recovering from addiction already have co-occurring mental health issues, comparing your progress to others certainly doesn’t help matters. These comparisons are never accurate anyway since everyone has different needs and personal attributes, to begin with. Comparison can make you focus on the wrong things and it can turn recovery into a competition when it’s far better for everyone to see recovery as a cooperative effort.

While the evidence is clear that comparisons are bad for your mental health and recovery, it’s often hard to break the habit. The following tips will help you compare yourself to others less and feel better in general.

Cut Down on Social Media

Social media is like a machine for generating unhealthy comparisons. A number of studies have linked more social media use to a greater risk of anxiety and depression. One study asked participants to cut down on their social media use for three weeks to see if it improved their mental health. In the study, 140 participants were divided into two groups. One continued their normal social media use and the other was asked to limit their social media use to just 30 minutes a day. Both filled out questionnaires about their mental health at the beginning and the end of the study. It turned out that the group that limited their social media use felt much better at the end of the study, reporting significantly less depression and loneliness.

Remember That You’re Not Seeing the Whole Picture

Most of us have a hard time not believing our eyes. When we see our acquaintances’ nice pictures on Facebook or the confident way someone presents themselves, it’s hard to believe the reality might be different or more complicated than what we’re seeing. You may have heard the apt analogy that comparing your life to what you see on social media is like comparing your blooper reel to other people’s highlight reels. We always try to present ourselves in the best possible light, while being all too aware of our own doubts, flaws, and mistakes. However, when it comes to other people, we are too ready to believe that what we see is all there is. Never forget that everyone has their own struggles, weaknesses, frustrations, and disappointments, even if we have no clue what they might be.

Focus on Your Goals and Values

Part of the problem with comparing your progress to others’ is that not everyone has the same needs in recovery. This can lead you to focus on the wrong things. Just comparing yourself to someone else is a hollow way of measuring your progress. A more effective way is to keep your goals and values clear in your mind as you work on staying sober. So, for example, a lot of people decide to get sober because they realize their drinking and drug use is hurting their family. Keeping that value in mind will help guide your decisions both in recovery and life. You may set specific goals with these values in mind. These will look different for everyone but as you become more attuned to what you really want, you can judge your activity in recovery by whether it brings you more in line with your goals and values. Judge your progress on whether you’re making headway towards your specific goals and whether you are making improvements from day-to-day.

Practice Gratitude

One reason comparisons make you feel bad is that they reinforce a sense of lack. Someone has something you don’t have and you feel inadequate. One antidote to this is to focus on gratitude for what you do have. There are two easy ways to get into the habit of gratitude. The first is to write down a few things each day that you felt grateful for. They could be big or small. This practice gets you in the habit of noticing the good things in life. The second way is to write a gratitude letter. Pick something you never properly thanked someone for and write a letter describing what they did and what it meant to you. After you write it, you can decide whether or not to deliver it. Studies have found that this makes people feel happier for about a month.

Look for Inspiration, Not Validation

Looking at what others are doing is not inherently bad. It’s only bad when we become judgmental or use it to determine our own value. When someone in your sober network succeeds, it’s good for you too. It shows you can rise above addiction and live a good life. You can also learn from that person. On the other hand, if you see someone struggling, see if there is something you can do for them. Lifting up the people around you strengthens your recovery too and reinforces the fact that you’re all in this together.

Use Envy to Grow

Even if you do everything right by avoiding social media, staying focused on your own goals, and so on, you will occasionally feel a pang of envy. This can either lead you in a bad direction in which you struggle with resentment and feelings of inadequacy or it can lead you in a more positive direction of self-awareness. Wanting things is not necessarily bad; you just have to take some time to reflect on why you want what someone else has. For example, if someone in your 12-Step group has just gotten a job that you envy, what makes you envious? Is it the money? Is it the status? Is it the nature of the work itself? The aim of the work? These kinds of questions can help you clarify what you really value.

Comparisons are not good for your recovery or anyone else’s. To compare yourself to others less, start by avoiding social media and other situations that actively promote comparison. Beyond that, get in touch with your personal values and use them to guide your efforts. Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind that recovery is not a race. No one’s success diminishes your own and, in fact, the opposite is true. Be of service when you can and remember that you’re all on the same team.

At Enlightened Solutions, we know that joy and connection are essential elements in a strong recovery. We emphasize individualized, holistic care for long-term success. For more information, call us today at 833-801-LIVE.

Deleting Facebook: Are Social Media Apps Influencing Young Adults to Use Substances?

Written by enlightened solutions on February 4, 2020. Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, are different but share similarities. First, users generate an account, then link to a network of friends, family, or groups, and proceed to use the platform to share personal thoughts and ideas, videos, photos, and other user-generated content. In the United States in 2019, there were 190 million active users on Facebook, 330 million active users on Twitter, and 110 million active users on Instagram. Although users saturate these platforms, research shows that exposure to other’s social media pages displaying negative behaviors also influences young adults’ use of drugs or alcohol.

Social Media is Addictive Itself

Social networking sites, also known as SNS, include platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The use of these social media platforms causes stress due to their use. When dealing with stress-induced by SNS, users do not just stop using them; instead, they change how they use them. For example, research revealed that social media users would switch from posting updates to scanning news feeds to chatting with friends, depending on which ones were inducing stress. They essentially “bounce around” the platforms to avoid stress, instead of cutting out social media use altogether. These actions may lead to an addiction to the social media platform itself. Using the same social media platforms that cause stress to battle stress seems illogical, but that is how the use becomes obsessive, compulsive, and, ultimately, an addiction.

Social Media is Free Advertising

Seeing other people’s “highlighted” lives may cause negative emotions, such as jealousy and anger. Users of SNS are seeking solace from stress and using these sites as a means of escape or coping. Unfortunately, the use of SNS causes stress itself and may lead to anxiety disorders, depression, and addictions. Addiction to the SNS is not the only possible outcome, as social media use positively relates to increased alcohol use in young adults. The content generated on these social media platforms is from other users, so images of alcohol and drug use are rampant on these sites. Images of drinking and using drugs are known to influence young adults, and social media promotes the sharing of information and connecting to others. Alcohol and drug-related texts or statuses and photos of consumption or use abound on SNS.

Therefore, other users unknowingly become advertisements for smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and using drugs through their own social media pages. Although these advertised risky behaviors become displayed on social media platforms, they are not so quick to display the negative consequences of engaging in them. Embarrassment, hangovers, arrests, or other negative consequences associated with these risky behaviors are rarely, if ever, posted on SNS.

Furthermore, alcohol companies ask users to “like” their social media pages on Facebook and then ask them to take photos of themselves imbibing their specific alcohol beverage. There may be giveaways or contests associated with participating in these requests, which furthers the amount of “free advertising” for the alcohol company. It is difficult to censor the content that a social media user is exposed to on SNS like Facebook. Since generating an account does not require age-verification, you can choose whichever age you wish when setting up your page. Therefore, drug or alcohol-related content exposure for young adults is a real problem.

Psychological Theories Help Explain Social Media Influence

Social media strongly influences young adults and is explored through two classic psychological theories: Social Learning Theory and the Media Practice Model. The Media Practice Model suggests that the role of media choices influence intentions and behaviors, and young adults choose and interact with social media based on who they are or who they want to be in that moment. Therefore, social media users explore content based on behaviors they wish to engage in, which can lead to the reinforcement of these ideas. So, an adolescent who is contemplating alcohol consumption may decide to watch a movie or browse social media content that depicts drinking at a party, which in turn may inspire them to attend a party in the future.

Social Learning Theory is a combination of two other theories, and suggests that there is a strong relationship between peer influence and behavior:

Cognitive Learning Theory suggests that psychological factors influence learning.
Behavioral Learning Theory presumes that we build learning upon our responses to environmental stimulants.

Therefore, combining the two theories, Social Learning Theory identifies four requirements for learning:

Observation, or learning from others.
Retention, or continued use of the substance.
Reproduction or imitating behaviors.
Motivation, or feeling rewarded by acting the same way as others.

Consequently, young adults learn through direct experience and observing others. Observing peers is a significant influence on young adults’ intentions, attitudes, and behaviors. This relationship is evidenced by early alcohol use, which is mainly dependent upon peer alcohol use. In regards to social media use, these observations are no longer limited to physical interactions, but are online, on cellphones and computers.

Looking for Help?

Today, social media is pervasive in our society, easily available, and accessed continuously as a source of information for young adults. SNS combines the influence of social persuasion with the reach of mass media, and exposure to alcohol and drug use through these platforms is associated with higher instances of adolescent substance use. Social media is creating a more powerful influence on drinking behavior for these at-risk populations. At Enlightened Solutions, we offer a safe and nurturing space for a long-lasting road to recovery. If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, call us today at 833-801-LIVE.

How Social Media Can Be Less Toxic For Our Mental Health

Written by enlightened solutions on November 22, 2019. Posted in Anxiety Disorder, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Social media may have good intentions in trying to provide strong connections with others on a professional and personal level, but it can also shatter the mental health and body image of others as well. We may not be able to control what others post, but social media can control the functions they have set up that can fuel the damage that inflicts social media. By social media sites taking responsibility for the functions that make an impact on a person’s mental health, more companies can follow suit and be more aware of their actions.

New Policies on Instagram

A 2017 study showed that Instagram has had the worst effect on a person’s mental health, including eating disorders and body image issues. Facebook is trying to change all of that. They announced two new policies to ensure the wellbeing of members is improved as well as creating a healthier culture around dieting. One of them is that Instagram will prevent those under 18 from being shown any ads that are related to dieting. Another is that it will ban any ads that will glorify certain diets or weight loss products. Facebook has also announced that it is trying to hide likes. While these policies are heading in the right direction, we need to ask if there is a limit to what can be done for social media to not touch the mental health of others.

Commentary From the Experts

Emily Brunner, CEO of the Recovery Clinic and psychotherapist in eating disorders and body image issues, believes there needs to be a stronger relationship between users and social media companies. She believes that these companies need to take the feedback of users more seriously. Brunner also believes that the biggest problem is that users do not have the ability to be specific when it comes to reporting harmful content. When you flag it, it does not tell you why it is reported, problematic, or offensive. This can help companies decide whether this content is personal for one person or could make a negative impact on the masses. Brunner believes that the problem does beyond diet ads.

Dr. Ysabel Gerrard, a lecturer at the University of Sheffield, believes in the opposite in that Facebook’s efforts should be appreciated. That Facebook is speaking to experts, activists, and health practitioners, showing that they care. Dr. Gerrard thinks that there is no point in calling what Facebook is doing a PR stunt as they did not have to engage in any of these efforts. Despite admiring Facebook’s efforts, Dr. Gerrard still believes that these policies are not perfect. Deciding what is considered a “glamorous diet ad” is subjective. There may not be a way to know what ads should not be seen.

Social Media’s Pressure to Compare

In reality, there is only so much that social media companies can do. You cannot control the dialogue that people on social media have with each other about eating disorders and mental health. But, fixing one policy will not fix the lengths of time when women were told how to look, the ads of products and creams, and what the standards are beauty are. The cosmetic and beauty industry is to blame for centuries of putting pressure on women while social media is just another addition to the pressure. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others and the lives they lead which makes us feel small. Before social media, people would compare themselves to models. Now, social media allows us to compare ourselves to average people. Our friends on social media could be making us feel like they exercise more or can afford more than others.

Where to Go From Here

Because Facebook is the largest social media site, the company most likely feels a responsibility to ensure that no member on their sites is harmed by functions that the company places. Removing the like button and controlling the ads may not be the sole solution to solving how social media affects mental health, but it is a start. Big companies like Facebook do have a responsibility to ensure that their websites are making others happy and making any changes to ensure that. While these social media sites may be addictive now, accounts will be deleted and fewer people will join when they realize what these accounts are doing to their mental health. People will find other ways to communicate compared to continuing to go on a site that will make them feel lousy. Facebook taking the first steps to protect the mental health of its members shows just what a priority our mental state is.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress-reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Facebook Breaking the Stigma of Mental Health Acceptance in the Workplace

Written by enlightened solutions on July 14, 2019. Posted in Mental Health, treatment. Leave a Comment

Facebook recently held a live watch video of the cast and producer of “Dear Evan Hansen” speaking about mental health in children and teens and another about mental health in the workplace. Considering Facebook is the most popular social media website, its large team is helping to break the stigma of mental health in the workplace. Facebook believes they can help break the stigma of mental health in the workplace by its three core principles- increasing awareness, improving access to care, and creating peer-to-peer support.

Facebook’s Panel of Dear Evan Hansen

In the panel at Facebook’s New York office, producer Stacey Mindich spoke about how her show “Dear Evan Hansen”, a musical about a teenager with social anxiety and depression becomes part of a lie that involves pretending to be friends with another student who committed suicide, speaks about the importance of human relationships. The more people communicate with each other, the more people will realize that they are not alone. That by speaking to your parents, children, and friends can make an impact in saving their lives.

Mindich wanted to be able to tell this story to show different ways that parents are with their children and how it is still a challenge to be able to speak to your kids. That it is not always about how the conversation takes place, but about a parent being able to sit there and just listen to their kid speaking about any issues they are facing.

Increasing Awareness

In order for Facebook to help increase awareness, their goal is to make it easier for employees to feel comfortable talking about mental health issues in the workplace. Employees need to realize that their careers will not be affected by speaking out about their mental illnesses. Because Facebook has a large team, it was easy for them to create an environment where different seniority levels and offices all over the world feeling comfortable sharing their stories. By having different people work at Facebook, more people felt confident with themselves opening up. It also helps that Facebook used #OpenUp to encourage employees to speak about their mental health battles, coping mechanisms, and success stories online.

Improving Access to Quality Care

The first way to improve quality care is allowing flexibility to get the quality care that employees need to thrive in the workplace. Facebook encourages employees to work hours that they feel comfortable with. This will help them be able to work space in their schedules to be able to attend therapy or go to a doctor’s appointment.

The second way is giving employees access to resourceful care plans. While there are businesses that offer three in-house therapy sessions to employers, Facebook does not think that it is enough to get to the root of an employee’s mental illness. The alternative that Facebook provides is by partnering with a mental health provider called Lyra to provide each person 25 therapy sessions for free. This has helped employees show up at work and have a more positive attitude in the workplace. The third way is in the Menlo Park office in California where there are 12 or 13 on-site counselors also provided with Lyra.

Peer-to-Peer Support

In order to achieve the effects of employees being able to talk and support each other through their mental illnesses, Facebook used an online collaboration tool of their creation called “Workplace.” Because the #OpenUp campaign was a success in having employees share their stories, struggles, and successes within the workplace, Facebook realized that smaller groups within Facebook were facing or faced in the past struggles with their mental health. Lead Software Facebook Engineer Rafi Romero was one of the first employees to share their story in the group after wanting to tell the truth to his employees for a long time. He said that the experience was both terrifying and liberating in being able to share his story.

Three-Prong Approach for Smaller Companies

Renee Albert, director of Facebook’s Life@ benefits program, has a three way approach for smaller companies to have more confidence opening up about their mental illnesses. One way is by creating focus groups and challenging employees to talk about the actual problem that they need solutions for. Mental illnesses can be very broad in that you have anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, OCD, eating disorders, anger management, addiction, etc. By getting to understand the root of a problem, you will know better what to do about it.

The second way is through redefining what quality care looks like. This means partnering with vendors that can help encourage employees about telling their stories and implementing strategies throughout the workplace. When Facebook decided to partner with Lyra, Facebook can provide better quality care to their employees. The third way is for employers to create a culture that lets people have open discussions about mental health. While employees already talk about mental health outside of work, it may be hard for them to talk about it in the office in fear of losing their job. If we are already having these conversations naturally with our friends and families, there should be no problem to be able to speak about mental illness to your co-workers and even to your boss. With a large company like Facebook breaking the stigma of how to better mental health talks in the workplace, more big or small companies can be inspired to do the same.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center using evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will be ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Drug Dealing on Social Media

Written by enlightened solutions on March 16, 2019. Posted in Addiction, Drugs & Alcohol. Leave a Comment

Social media is supposed to be a safe place where family, old friends, current friends, and new friends can get together and socializing with one another. But the internet can be abuse just like any drug and can even be a secret place for drug dealers and teenage customers to make illegal drug deals. It is important that teens are educated on the dangers of online drug dealing and that the internet is not as safe as they believe.

Social media websites like Facebook and Instagram can be used as a weapon for drug dealers and customers to engage. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, teens who use social media are five times more likely to smoke a cigarette, three times more likely to drink, and twice as likely to smoke marijuana. On social media, people can post glamorized, artistic photos of drugs and people using them. People can also make comments of links to their website or personal information on where to buy drugs from them. Teens may find it funny when their friends or friends of friends post videos of themselves drunk or passed out which makes them want to imitate that behavior. They also could be dealing with anxiety or depression and feel like they need to seek solace by taking up a drug or alcohol habit.

Popular social networking site Facebook makes it a rule that “posts may not promote the sale of illegal, prescription or recreational drugs.” These drugs include marijuana and its products, pipes, bongs, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and kits, etc. That any related act being caught on their site will involve account deletion and/or legal action. In Colorado, there was a hidden Facebook group where high schoolers would sell cannabis, synthetic marijuana, prescription drugs, methamphetamine, MDMA, and LSD. There were 900 members in that group including 171 high school and middle schoolers. It was not until one man got arrested who was in that group that investigators contacted Facebook about that group and the group was shut down. Unfortunately, it is not until a post is reported or investigated that these acts are discovered.

It is important to be aware of certain terms that drug dealers use so that you can tell when they exist online. “Pharmacies” are a code that drug smugglers use when they have legitimate groups that sell their drug products. Young people are lured into chat rooms by “doctors” seeking “consultations” with customers for drugs. They take advantage of people who complain about any ailments they have and are looking for pills and tablets to help them. These customers are normally poor, poorly educated, or unemployed who want to hear what they want to hear that what is being offered to them will be the cure to what ailment they have. What they do not know is that their “cure” can end up leading to a dangerous drug addiction habit.

When people think of social media sites, the first thought in their head may be Facebook. The truth is that there are other social media sites used for drug dealing such as Grindr. Grindr is a site for gay and bisexual men to find a romantic partner near their area. Grindr is also used for drug dealing as there is a privacy feature where you can make yourself anonymous, making it easier for you not to get caught. Customers have said that they find this method safer compared to buying drugs on the street as you have to deal with the risk of robbery, shootouts and busts. Grindr can also allow you to evaluate each other before any transaction is complete.

The Coalition Against Drug Abuse said that there were 50 drug deals in social media accounts like Instagram that they found in a single day by typing keywords like “weed for sale.” This led to postsing of marijuana, painkillers, and MDMA. Requests can be made through direct messaging or commenting on a page. Payments can be made electronically and immediately through money sending websites like PayPal. The dealers will take pictures of images of their products and emojis which will give customers information on their drug quality, purity, the amount, and the cost. Instagram has photo filters that can make your photos look very professional. If the photos of drugs are of high quality, this will only strengthen the drug’s appeal and chances of buying it.

If you feel like your teen is buying or selling drugs through social media sites, speak to your kid. Let them know about any suspicious activity you have noticed such as unusual bank transactions or any suspicious friends they have on their social media account that you have never met before. You should also ask your child if they are surrounded by friends who drink. Maybe they have made drinking appealing to your child and they felt pressured to try it to fit in. If your child refuses to talk to you, tell them that they are only allowed on the internet with your supervision as they should have nothing to hide if they claim that they are not buying or selling drugs. Educate your child on the legal actions that could occur if you are caught buying or selling drugs online and how this can spiral towards addiction. Buying drugs online can bring dangerous consequences to your health and to the rest of your life.

Through years of experience working with art and music therapy, we know how powerfully beneficial they are in healing and relapse prevention. Call Enlightened Solutions today: (833) 801-LIVE.

Three Key Ways Social Media Can Lower Self-Esteem, Cause Depression

Written by enlightened solutions on March 7, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Social media use is not always healthy. During the early months of recovery and addiction treatment, it is best to leave social media to itself while you focus on healing.

Comparing Your Insides To Others Outsides

It’s always newsworthy and deemed revolutionary when someone posts something real to social media. Something about the bad day they are having, the amount of hours it takes to create the perfect shot, the “reality” of their lives behind their carefully curated social media profiles. What we often see on our newsfeeds are just small chosen moments to depict the best of the best rather than the realest of the real. Spiritually, we are reminded to consider what is behind every person’s smile. It isn’t always happiness. We aren’t aware of what happens beyond a photo, in real life. When we start to make assumptions and judgments, we set ourselves up into a trap of false beliefs- not just about someone else’s life, but about our own. Comparing what we see in other people’s “outside” to what we see within ourselves and how we feel about our own lives can lower our sense of self-esteem and cause feelings of depression.

Scrolling And Posting For Dopamine

Dopamine is that tricky neurotransmitter which communicates pleasure to key areas of the brain like the reward center. Numerous brain imaging studies have found that various components of interacting with social media cause a spike in the production of dopamine. For example, scrolling through the news feed of any social media platform can cause dopamine production which mimics stimulation from cocaine. Getting a “like” or a “comment” on something we post gives us another big boost of dopamine, as well as a boost of ego. There is more to the psychology of social media than meets the eye. Some studies have even suggested that the impulsive need to check social media devices is causing dopamine production as well. Before you even start to scroll, your brain is happier. Thus, once you put it down and have to go another set of hours without social media, your brain lacks in dopamine production, which can simulate feelings of depression.

Other Negative Influences

Social media is a breeding ground for lies, judgments, bullying, and false realities. Fake news, political arguments, and offensive comments can be common. Social media is a public landscape meaning very little is private. Instead of having healthy, regulated conversations in real life with people, everyone has the opportunity to hide behind their keyboards. Losing out on human interaction, people can begin to feel isolated and alone.

Recovery is an opportunity to redefine every area of your life from mental health to substance abuse. Enlightened solutions wants to show you how. Our unique program blends proven areas of treatment together to create a meaningful, holistic partial care program. Recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. Call 833-801-5483 for more information.

Billboards Have Nothing On Instagram For Body Image Damage

Written by enlightened solutions on January 12, 2017. Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

“Put your best face forward” is a cliche which has taken on a whole new meaning in the age of social media. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have been criticized for promoting body shaming, and pro-anorexia communities. Instagram especially comes under fire as the “news feed” for the social media platform is 100% photos. It is easy to fill one’s newsfeed with nothing but photos of idealized perfection in models, celebrities, and more.

Self Editing

For the ultimate Instagram photo, there is a lot of editing involved. People even buy special backlit photo cases to be able to take the perfect “selfie”. Apps help people digitally edit their faces or their bodies to make it look more “perfect”. Many people argue that social media is damaging to self-esteem because people portray their real-life identities to the online identities of others. Recent research suggests that instagram might be more damaging to body image than big media mediums like billboards.

Social Media Comparison

According to theSydney Morning Herald, “research found women rarely compare their appearance to others’ in magazines or on billboards, and only sometimes compare their appearance to others’ on TV.” Women are more apt to make social media comparisons than any other, the research found, and social media comparisons describe the way young women are comparing themselves all the time.

The results of the study were startling. Women were asked to report how often they compared themselves to other women and social media and what their mood, body image perception, and thoughts about diet and/or exercise were like. “Women reported being in the worst mood after social media comparisons relative to other comparisons,” the study explains. “When women made social media comparisons, they also reported being unhappier with their appearance.” In addition, women were more “motivated” to start drastic weight loss regimens. All of these reactions were more extreme when women compared themselves against images on social media.

Body image can lead to a damaged sense of self-esteem and encourage extreme behaviors which can lead to the development of an eating disorder. Spending too much time online can be problematic. If you or a loved one are concerned about body image issues leading to an eating disorder, call Enlightened Solutions today. We provide dual diagnosis treatment for body image, eating disorder, and co-occurring substance disorders as well. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

Should You Quit Social Media For The Holidays?

Written by enlightened solutions on December 6, 2016. Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

The holidays aren’t merry and bright for everyone. Though winter cheer is supposed to warm our hearts despite the frightful weather outside, for many, the holidays are a dismal time. Far from being a bah-humbug, some have experienced great loss, abandonment, or trauma during the holidays. Growing up without the picture postcard perfect holiday celebrations can make witnessing the celebrations of others difficult. Recovery is a time to redefine how you want to relate to and spend your holiday season. It is also a time to learn how to manage your fear of missing out, the way you compare yourself to others, and the way you feel about yourself. Even so, the holidays can be hard. For this reason, many 12 step meeting clubhouses around the world have 24 hour meeting schedules during specific holiday celebrations. There is usually a spike in sobriety dates during January as people hit their bottoms during the holidays.

Social Media Detox

Holidays are just a season and a single day in the year. As we’ve learned to do, we take it all in stride, one day at a time. The holidays will pass and there will be a whole other set of eleven months during the year until they return.

It is perfectly okay to feel slightly disturbed or uncertain during the holidays. Engaging in regular self-care is of critical importance during these times. One practice that might be beneficial to add to your holiday self-care regimen is quitting social media temporarily.

Getting Your Head on Straight

New research suggests that quitting social media, specifically Facebook, can increase your sense of happiness. However, the research is limited in its credibility. Many studies have shown that Facebook can increase feelings of FOMO, isolation, and depression. Going without Facebook long term has not been studied longitudinally or in a blind study. However, the results from such studies show that there is a definite difference between those who can give up their social media vices and those who cannot.

Taking A Holiday Social Media Detox

Set out a final post wishing everyone a happy holidays and sign off. With your free time, read a book you’ve been eyeing, pick up a new hobby like playing the guitar, or spend time exploring an area you’ve been wanting to see. Make the holiday season yours by creating your own memories.

At Enlightened Solutions we offer clients a way to create a new life for themselves integrating therapeutic practices and holistic lifestyles for total transformation. Our certified treatment center works to help those with substance use disorder issues as well as co-occurring secondary issues. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

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