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Ever since the start of 2019, my parents considered me as a social media addict. My day would consist of me waking up and going straight to surfing the media. I would consistently scroll through Facebook and Instagram at the time. The number of likes and reactions I receive and how people had something good to show unfortunately had a big effect on my mental health.

Social media and how it seems like a system that makes people present themselves better made me insecure about myself. To me, it was a platform for the popular and how they could show everyone their successes in life. It was really damaging to me, but I knew that comparing myself to others had to stop. I deleted my first Instagram account after it was already affecting my mental health.

Nowadays, I still use social media especially during this time of pandemic. It is a place for me to speak up about my thoughts and show my experiences. Fortunately, I limit my usage of social media everyday as to avoid spending too much time on it and being affected mentally. I now focus on other important things like acads and love life

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At one point, I had to take a break from social media because of all the problems and news coming up from my feed all at once. It was when I had a lot of personal problems and thinking about the external problems just made me feel more anxious. So I took a break and started to focus more on myself. I also took a break because I see people getting the most out of the pandemic and are actually being somewhat successful while I was still on a journey and actually still unsure of my future.

Social media is something that I use very often especially when I have nothing else to do. But usually, it is where I usually when I procrastinate and lose most of my time for work. So I learned to focus more on my work and try my best to avoid social media for a while

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The summer before senior high school's classes began, I was completely hooked to social media. This was a time wherein there was almost nothing else to do, since quarantine kept everyone confined within the walls of their own homes. Everyday, all I did was play online games, a bit of basketball, a bit of working out, some chores, and, for a majority of the time, monitor the latest happenings on social media. It was basically at a point where it could be called an addiction to such. I dealt with a lot of problems because of this. My mind was basically a warzone conflicted with numerous thoughts about my insecurities and other things too. It also restricted me from studying in advanced for the school year and preparing for the lessons that we would take up in school. My mental health was in shambles. I thought I was doing nothing productive in life, but, at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking of checking my phone for notifications on social media and the posts, stories and other latest happenings concerning my friends, other family members, popular celebrities, etc.

I then decided it was time to do something about this. I took less time on social media and spent more time with my family and physical activity in order to take care of myself. My mental health state got better and I learned to be happier about more things rather than to focus on the negative insecurities I once had. I compared myself less to others, and I learned to love and appreciate myself even more.

Social Media Addiction truly is no joke, and it's one that definitely could ruin a person's mental health state. It's one that shouldn't be treated as simply a minor issue or something that can be put off in the meantime, for the longer this remains an issue, the more difficult it will be to recover from it's effects on one's mental health.

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Social media has been my default when there is nothing to do. And I have been more addicted to it ever since the lockdown. For the longest time I've been on social media,  I realized that scrolling through social media can get mentally tiring. Since I'm addicted to it, I sometimes can't stop myself. But aside from that, social media has made me more aware of the happenings around me. After realizing that I would spend too much time on social media, recently, I would limit the time going through social media by engaging myself in more productive activities.

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Sa aking tanang buhay, ako ay nakababad sa ibat-ibang klaseng social media mula pagkabata, hanggang sa hinaharap. Ito ay nagbigay sakin ng kaalaman at ito rin ang dahilan kung bakit nauubos ang oras ko sa pang araw-araw. Lingid sa kaalaman ng nakararami, ito ang dahilan sa pagkakaroon ng mga sakit, (physical or psychological). Nilalayo tayo ng mga bagay na ito sa kung ano talaga ang importante, ang totoong pakikisalamuha sa mga tao.

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During the summer of 2019, I became addicted to social media. I spent my whole day staring at a lifeless screen. I wasted my life because of this, I missed out on plenty of opportunities that I regret not taking.

With all the thoughts that were going through my head, one main thing was in the middle of it all, and that was social media. Social media was mainly affecting how I lived my life, I would scroll through Instagram and look at the lavish lives of some people, this would make me question my life and self-conscious.

Now, I reflect back on my past and I'm glad that I changed my way of life. I still use social media but, the time I spend on it now is greatly reduced. I now spend more time on my studies and focus on the goal I have in mind rather than focusing on my status as a person whether it'd be on social media or out of social media.

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Addiction to social media is a disease that not everyone is aware of. Social media had taken over my life at some point. I had a mindset that getting a huge number of likes means that people around you, like you, and vice versa with having none. It seriously harmed my mental health to the point where I frequently doubt myself, asking if people don't like my posts or just me.

I kept on hearing whispers inside my head saying, "You should be like them" or "They are much better than you" worst, "No one likes your posts, nor you."

In conclusion, social media creates a fictitious reality that can lead to psychological problems and insecurity.

Now, sign off of social media, and sign in to a better you. :)

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Back in 8th grade, I was addicted to social media. I used to spend nearly all day scrolling through Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately, what I failed to realize at the time was that this was affecting my mental health.

I remember that I would sometimes not even study for a test to browse social media. This, in turn, made me get lower grades than usual, which caused me to get depressed and disappointed in myself. I also remember how I used to feel inferior to other people because of how many more likes and followers they had over me.

Currently, I still use social media because this is my way of socializing with my friends, especially amidst this pandemic. However, I have lessened my usage time to focus on my studies. I have also become more confident in myself, as I have outgrown the need for likes and "popularity". Overall, I can safely say that I am much more mentally healthy now. :0