“I spend almost 20 hours a day on social networks,” says Carrie, who suffers from FoMO syndrome

• Our series “Cassé (s) Net” explores the impact of our digital uses on our mental health.
• Carrie, 43, is a mom addicted to social media. “I’m there all the time, all day, almost 24 hours a day,” she explains.
• Like other Internet users, Carrie suffers from FoMO (Fear of missing out) syndrome, the fear of missing something online.

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This is the story of Carrie *, addicted to social media for five years. His testimony joins our series “Broken (s) Net” which explores the impact of our digital uses on our mental health. Hypochondria, dependence, FoMo syndrome (fear of missing out, the fear of missing something)… Each episode will illustrate, with the help of a testimony, a symptom of these abuses.

If your online practices make you or have made you sick, write to us at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]

I’m a real addict to social networks, to Instagram and Facebook in particular. I’m there all the time, all day, almost 24 hours a day. It’s simple, consulting social networks, it’s my main occupation. My whole life revolves around it, and I can’t get over it today. When I get up in the morning, it’s also my first instinct. My eyes are barely open when I’m already tapping my phone. Sometimes I even wake up with
the smartphone by hand, because I sometimes fall asleep with the night before … And each time, it’s the same ritual: I consult first
my Facebook account, then the different pages on which I publish the photos I take (concerts, animals, landscapes…) and then my Insta account, where I also post a lot of pictures.

I don’t waste a minute of my day, even when I go to the bathroom, I go to Insta, Facebook or even TikTok. I’m like a robot, my thumb automatically scrolls through what’s on the screen. I am well aware that all this takes up a lot of space in my life, and that it is not normal to spend so much time there. But it’s a real need, something I can’t live without. When I can’t see my accounts, or my messages, it’s panic. I haven’t always been like this. I am now 43 years old, and it will be 5 years now – since I started
in the photograph – that social networks punctuate my daily life. I can’t even calculate how much time I spend on it each day. As I am an insomniac, and I sleep very little at night, I feel like I never stop. In the end, if I had to do a count, I had to spend between 18 and 20 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“I have the impression of missing certain things, of missing out on certain events”

My entourage began to tell me that I needed to pick up a bit. I often have the right to comments from people around me, but I no longer pay attention to them today. I tell myself that in the end, I’m not doing anything wrong. And that on the contrary, all that makes me feel good, that it helps me to forget my difficult daily life. I was discovered breast cancer last year, and it helps relieve the stress and anxiety caused by the disease. The virtual allows me to escape, to overcome everyday life, which I now take with more philosophy. On TikTok for example, a lot of people talk about their illness, and it makes me feel good to talk to them.
But by always having my nose on screens, I sometimes have the impression of missing certain events, of missing certain things …

“I often have cramps in my right arm. Sometimes I can’t even move it, I’m completely paralyzed ”

I am aware that it is a form of pathology – and that it has a name, the FoMO syndrome [Fear of missing out] – because the idea of ​​missing something on social networks is simply unbearable to me. It’s simple, for me it’s like a drug! It’s a real disease, I know it well, but I can’t help it. I know people around me who get aggressive. Some even stop seeing friends just for fear of missing a social event. I am not yet at this stage, fortunately. But when I see the young generation who have been bottle-fed with networks, it really worries me… I am not ready to lower my consumption for all that. It just makes me feel good talking to my followers, or even people I don’t know. I frankly don’t want to change my habits, at least not today.

Yet my abusive use of social networks has a real impact on my health, mentally and physically. I often have cramps in my right arm, sometimes I can’t even move it, I’m completely paralyzed. It also has an impact on my sight, already that I am presbyopic… I see less and less well, my vision deteriorates. So yes, it’s probably also related to age, but I know that being behind a screen 24 hours a day does not help matters. I would like to be treated, but the problem today is that
social media addiction, and in general, digital addictions are not considered to be real pathologies …