I was diagnosed at a young age and went through the special education system in public schools. Family is incredibly important to me as I grew up in a large supportive family. I enjoy being outside in nature and arts and crafts.
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I’m struggling to decrease the amount of time that I’m using social media. Lately, I find that spending time on social media leaves me feeling angry, sad, anxious, and many other negative emotions. What makes this even worse is that social media algorithms show me more of whatever I have watched or marked as “liked.” This leaves me with a very unbalanced view of the world. It’s easy for me to watch and get angry and concerned about watching short videos that are often designed to agitate people.
These high-intensity videos feed into my tendency to think of things in black and white and my tendency to think you’re either my friend or my enemy. I think this is because many videos give too little detail and are often presented as if these people are “horrible” and that I should have nothing to do with them. After watching these videos, it makes me want to have nothing to do with the people I don’t agree with. It even makes it hard for me to be friends with one of my friends because her viewpoints and beliefs are very different than mine. I believe my autism makes it a little harder because I tend to have easily aroused emotions. I don’t think I’m alone in this.
I know we hear about the addictive nature of social media with kids, but it also makes me wonder how it affects other populations like adults who have autism or ADHD, as I do. I don’t think I’m alone in spending more time on the internet looking at social media than I intend to, and in turn, this increases my feeling that it is unhealthy for me.
I also think the algorithms that power social media tend to promote videos that have triggering content. I think the term is “rage bait” for this kind of media. I really don’t think this is good for me in either the short or the long term. In the short term, it makes me depressed, angry, and anxious after watching this type of content, especially if I binge-watch it. Well, I’d rather watch dancing videos, singing videos, nature videos, and cat videos. I tend to find things in my feed that bother me. Could it be that I click on them too often? Could it be that the algorithms are putting things out that attract attention?
What can I do for my mental health and wellness? I can try to limit how and where I spend time online. I need to make sure that I remember that lots of videos don’t show the whole picture. I can seek out media that tells a more balanced and complete story if the subject is important to me. I can look for content that brings me joy and happiness, like professional dancers or silly cat videos, for instance. I can try to spend time connecting with the people and hobbies that bring me joy. I can spend more time outside.
I don’t think I’m alone in wanting and needing to be careful of what I see on the Internet. I want to look for things that help me be a better person. I want to see the best, not the worst, in other people. I want to take the time to see and hear more than one viewpoint, even if I don’t agree. I’m trying to remember that my time is limited and valuable
Out-of-Sync Woman
