It’s hard to tell chicken from egg when examining negative mental states alongside social media, but here’s why I’m convinced that social media is the culprit o

It’s hard to tell chicken from egg when examining negative mental states alongside social media, but here’s why I’m convinced that social media is the culprit of negative mental states and not vice-versa: I decided to drop my socials about 4 years ago. There will be periods here or there when I think “I have a handle on things; I can start using social media again.” Every single time, without fail, it begins a spiral of addiction and subsequent guilt that I have to crawl out of, yet again. It doesn’t matter how positive or negative my mental state is before re-opening the socials; the result is the same each time. The only good thing about it is that I’ve learned to recognize my pattern of addiction, and I’m better at breaking it after some practice.