Social media can cause symptoms of anxiety and depression. Studies show that people who frequently check social media throughout the week have 2.7 times the likelihood of depression, and people who spend the most time on social media throughout the day have 1.7 times the risk of depression.
If social media causes such bad effects, why do we keep turning back to it? Social media offers instant gratification: a like, a comment, a quick hit of dopamine, and these short term benefits then result in long-term bad effects.
With stressful lives, we seek a source of relaxation, often found in doomscrolling on social media. Rather than unwinding, we instead give ourselves more stress in the forms of anxiety and depression.
What can we turn to for relaxation in place of Social Media? To find healthier ways to relax, I decided to try five different activities and rank them from best to worst based on how relaxed I felt afterwards. For me, being relaxed means I can take my mind off stressful things in my life and let my mind wander for a bit. I’ll also describe the process of each activity.
- Swimming (9/10)
I went to the pool and swam at a relatively slow pace for about 30 minutes, taking breaks as needed. While I was swimming, I felt my mind quieting. I was focused on the repetitive motions of swimming. Afterwards, I was really calm and a little tired. It was also nice because I felt the satisfaction of exercising.
- Coloring (8/10)
I sat down at a table and colored simple pictures of cartoon animals. Since these coloring pages were simple, I completed 4 of these in the span of 35 minutes. This activity was very fun and relaxing for me. I enjoyed the simplicity of it. Despite this, I felt frustrated when I made mistakes while coloring, which is what caused it to be lower than what my prior suggested.
- Crocheting (6/10)
I grabbed some yarn and a crochet hook and practiced doing a simple chain. Beforehand, I looked up a video on basic crocheting steps. I’m not an experienced crocheter, so it took me a while to get the hang of doing a chain. Due to my lack of experience, crocheting the chain took a lot of effort, and many mistakes were made, resulting in redoing the chain. Although my mind was focused on crocheting, I couldn’t find it relaxing. I can see how this could be relaxing for a more experienced crocheter. However, at times, I was confused and frustrated.
- Drinking herbal tea (4/10)
I made immune support tea with some honey in a mug, and then sat by the window while I sipped on the tea. It made me feel cozy and warm, which made this a comforting experience. However, drinking tea didn’t make me feel relaxed.
- Meditation (3/10)
I began by lighting a candle, setting the mood, and settling down with my mat in a calm place. I closed my eyes and practiced box breathing. The technique consists of doing breath in for 4s, holding 4s, breathing out 4s, and holding 4s. Towards the end of my meditating, I lied down because I found it more comfortable. At the end of the 10-minute session, I felt about the same. Meditation was good at the start, and I was able to relax. However, I felt bored after some time. I found myself yawning. I can see how box breathing may help those with anxiety. However, I did not find meditating a relaxing activity.
