Too much scrolling leads to Insta-gloom
of us are guilty of mindlessly scrolling through Instagram at least once a day – if not multiple times – but, according to experts, this guilty pleasure could be taking a heavy toll on our mental health.
In recent, but not entirely surprising, news: people who check social media multiple times a day are more likely to be unhappy with their appearance.
The Butterfly Foundation, Australia’s leading eating disorder charity, is calling for body dissatisfaction to be treated as a critical public health issue, warning it can lead to depression, risk-taking behaviour and eating disorders.
A survey of more than 5000 found 73 per cent want to change how they look and more than half (53 per cent) “rarely” or “never” speak posiMOST tively about their appearance, Daily Telegraph reports.
It also found those who use social media “multiple times per day” were more likely to be “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their bodies.
On the other hand, people who stayed away from news and magazines, or who were socially isolated, also reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction.
Of those surveyed, nearly one in five had tried to change themselves to look like those people they had seen on social media.
The Butterfly Foundation is asking users to change the conversation with the hashtag: #loveyourbody.
www.whimn.com.au