Rupert, are you on social media quite a lot? Like what's your use like? Be honest now.
Rupert Saunders, Headspace National Clinical Advisor: Yes, I am on social media. Um, probably use it a little bit too much. Yeah, sometimes I do for myself lost in scroll, as we do.
Amelia Moseley, BTN Reporter: Oh, I feel you because I actually have a setting on that says to me, like you know, "You can only have an hour a day". Ah, the problem is it pops up and I immediately go 'Oh! Get rid of it!’ And then I just kept doing what I was doing. So tell me about this study from Headspace?
Rupert: So, what we found was about half of young people, so 51 percent of the young people we surveyed said that they wanted to take a break from social media, but they had that real fear of missing out for what's going on, on social media. Thirty-five percent of young people also felt that they had the urge to use social media more and more and more, despite having an awareness of some of the negative impacts of social media. People only put what's good on social media, they don't post when they're having a bad day. So it can make people's lives seem really positive all the time, which is just unrealistic.
What are some of the signs that maybe it's time for you to take a break from social media, or, or look a little more closely to social media use?
Rupert: You're feeling pretty bad about yourself, especially the way you look, think, or feel, or feeling like your life isn't measuring up to other people's. Disrupted sleep is a really early warning sign that maybe we might be experiencing some mental health challenges. If you're finding yourself irritable, if you're finding yourself angry a lot, if you're finding yourself feeling stressed, worried or anxious, and also if you're feeling bullied, ostracised or targeted on social media, definitely a time to take a break.
What are some tips, Rupert, if people are trying to get off social media and not be on it quite as much? Because obviously, a lot of people seem to be struggling.
Rupert: Um, put some boundaries around it, and it can be really hard, so you can get help from a trusted adult. Speak to your parents or speak to a friend, to keep you kind of accountable. There's also lots of settings on your devices that can help track how long you're on something, or limit how long you're on something. A really good thing if you're not wanting to take a break is to clean your feed, so unfollow those accounts that might make you feel not very good. I think it's really important with everything in life to have a healthy balance of how much you use something, or engage with something. But not all social media use is problematic. There are some really positive aspects to it.
I use my social media a lot as well for um, looking at like um, other people with hair like mine, and being able to get tips around like how to, how to manage it and style it. Um so yeah, social media definitely not all bad, right?
Rupert: Yes, it's a really great way to connect and learn about things. Often young people feel it's the best place to be their most authentic self, and that’s also a great way of keeping up to date. You know, there's a lot of news on, on social media.
Yeah, definitely like BTN.
Rupert: Yeah.
BTN High. Shameless promotion, there!