Instagram, Facebook and Co. almost always only show the beautiful. Negative remains hidden. What does that do to people?
Do you know that? You’re sitting on the couch in sweatpants and with greasy hair scrolling through your Instagram timeline. The people who share their photos there are pretty, stylish, do great things and grin happily at the camera.
You yourself suddenly feel useless and out of place because you are not doing exciting things, but sitting at home lazily and without make-up.
“One often forgets that the people who share their great photos only show a selective section of a chosen reality,” says psychologist Linda Leinweber from Fulda. You then no longer notice that what is on the screen is not always the truth.
This phenomenon is called “toxic positivity”. “There is just this urge that everything should always be positive, great, special and shiny. I think to distance yourself from it is a daily task. “
Addicted to likes
In addition, it has been proven that the body releases dopamine – i.e. happiness hormones – when we receive positive feedback in the form of likes on Instagram, for example. This practically increases our urge to only share beautiful things.
However, if we force ourselves to always show the positive things about our life and to hide the dark sides that every person has, then we no longer allow ourselves to feel difficult feelings such as sadness, fear or helplessness. We become completely blunted as a result.
Anyone who talks about feelings is not cool
“This means that these negative feelings are becoming more and more taboo – even if they just exist,” says Leinweber. In their eyes, this is one reason why mental illnesses are so stigmatized in our world today.
It makes you seem like you’re annoying or not cool when you talk about negative feelings. “However, it is officially a part of our society and we should start to bring transparency into it, otherwise we have no chance at all to cure it.”
Because no life is always just beautiful and great. But if we get this held up permanently, then it can do a lot to us. According to Leinweber, the goal is to take all the feelings we have and to take them seriously and then to regulate them.
“It is of course a challenge to develop this ability,” says Leinweber. But, if the alternative is to become numb and not be able to perceive any feelings at all, then that is probably only a small task.
Avoid smartphones before going to bed
In order not to be dragged down by the always positive images on social media, Linda Leinweber recommends the following: “I would avoid spending a long time on the smartphone before going to bed. And you should pay attention to what content you look at. ”With all the risks that social media entails, there are also channels that inspire.
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