I’m at a point in my life where myself and everyone around me is dealing with some kind of mental health issue and it’s quite scary. My friends and I constantly talk about our mental health and how we aren’t doing well in that aspect of our health. One main factor is the pandemic, of course, and life lacking normalcy. However, even prior to the pandemic, there were a number of us still finding it difficult to cope with stress, anxiety, and/or depression. The number of people with mental health issues has shot up drastically and there are many young adults facing these issues currently.
After not understanding why I always felt anxious or triggered by every little thing, I decided to dig deeper. Yes, the pandemic and me being confused about what I want to do with my life adds to my poor mental health too. However, I realized that social media and my phone itself are aspects that play a huge role in how I am feeling. I know that’s not much of a surprise to a lot of people, but I used to deny any possibility of my phone’s harmfulness every time someone would bring it up. My parents and older sister would constantly tell me to get off my phone and do something else, but I never understood why.
The truth is, I’m attached to my phone as if it’s some sort of security blanket and I need it everywhere I go (and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere). When going out was not illegal and I was left alone in public, I always had to look through my phone in an effort to not look “weird”. I don’t know who put that idea into my head, but it’s completely untrue. I know that I am not the only one who thinks this, because it is rare to spot people my age alone and just doing nothing.
I am slowly learning to not be as attached to my phone even though it’s very hard. There was a point not too long ago where my screen time on average was 12 hours a day. To do some quick math, that is 12 hours on my phone, plus 8 hours of sleep, which is 20 hours in a day gone just like that. This leaves me with only 4 hours to do anything else. I learned that my phone is not my life; it is just a tool I use to improve my life. It is going to be a long and difficult journey to break away from the habits I have been creating for years. Nonetheless, I am not going to let that stop me and am willing to go through phone withdrawals, as crazy as that sounds.