Mental Health Benefits of Replacing Social Media with Exercise
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- Replacing social media use for 30 minutes a day with physical activity improves emotional health and reduces stress, according to German researchers.
- The effects of exercise persisted for 6 months after the study ended.
- Participants who used less social media and exercised more experienced greater well-being and less stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A decrease in social media use was also correlated with a decrease in tobacco consumption.
Lockdowns and contact restrictions due to COVID-19 have caused an explosion in social media usage. Millions of people turned to Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and other platforms to escape feelings of isolation, anxiety and hopelessness.
However, excessive screen time has led to addictive behavior, stronger emotional attachment to social media, and deeper emotional distress for many people.
Researchers at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, investigated the effects of reducing social media use (SMU) and increasing physical activity, or both, on emotional health and tobacco consumption.
Dr. Julia Brailosvskaia, an assistant professor at the university’s Center for Mental Health Research and Treatment, led the two-week experiment.
Brailosvskaia and her team observed that the interventions they suggested may have helped participants increase their life satisfaction. At six-month follow-up, subjects continued to report spending less time on social media, staying physically active, feeling happier, and smoking less cigarettes.
of public health journal We recently published these findings.
The study’s authors said that mental health “comprises two interrelated but separate aspects: positive and negative.”
In this paradigm, they hypothesized that the positive aspects of the intervention “increase life satisfaction and subjective well-being.” On the negative side, it would reduce “depressive symptoms and dependency tendencies in SMUs.”
medical news today We discussed this study with author and nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Sheldon Zabrough. He was not involved in the study.
When asked about the impact of social media on mental health, Dr. Zablow affirmed:
“Activities are harmful if they interfere with the customary basic age-appropriate milestones of economic self-sufficiency, socialization, or health maintenance. , exercise choices, or entertainment choices, especially social media.”
Dr. Zablow warns that excessive social media use can weaken social relationships and negatively impact mental health.
MNT David A. Merrill, an adult and geriatric psychiatrist and director of the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California I talked about this research with Dr. He was not involved in the research.
Dr. Merrill argued that the term social media is “a bait-and-switch misconception” designed to “increase user engagement.”
Excessive social media use “can exacerbate” mental health problems in people with behavioral health conditions and addiction vulnerabilities.
“There is a reward system in the brain for clicking and scrolling and maintaining social media usage,” Dr. Merrill said.
“I think [that the authors are] It causally shows that we need to be consciously aware of the need to limit the self-soothing aspects of social media use, and that we also need alternatives, so we need another way to bring joy into our lives. Especially during a pandemic. ”
As a psychiatrist, Dr. Zablow emphasizes: Without exercise, psychotherapy and, if necessary, medication are ineffective. ”
Dr. Zablow added that exercise increases the production of neurotransmitters, the brain’s “natural antidepressant and anti-anxiety molecules.”
As a result, more exercise can build mental health, but reduced activity due to excessive social media use can compromise healthy brain chemistry.
Dr. Brailosvskaia and her colleagues concluded that “a conscious and controlled reduction in time spent in SMU and an increase in time spent in physical activity can causally reduce the adverse mental health effects of the COVID-19 situation.” We can reduce it,” he reasoned. They also thought that combining both interventions could amplify this effect.
The professor said the method would easily fit into everyday life with little cost, effort, or risk of violating COVID-19 protocols.
Additionally, scientists hoped their experiments would reduce stress caused by COVID-19 and reduce smoking behavior.
Researchers recruited 642 healthy adult social media users and divided them into four experimental groups.
There were 162 in the social media (SM) group, 161 in the physical activity (PA) group, 159 in the combination group and 160 in the control group.
Over a two-week period, SM subjects decreased their daily SMU time by 30 minutes, while the PA group increased their daily physical activity by 30 minutes. The combination group applied both interventions, whereas the control group did not change their behavior.
of the World Health Organization
Participants completed an online survey and a ‘daily compliance’ diary at the beginning of the study, 1 week, and 2 weeks later. We also submitted follow-up studies after her 1, 3, and 6 months of the experiment.
Dr. Brailosvskaia and her team concluded that their intervention helped people spend less time in SM.
Six months after the experiment, “participants still reduced their first SM time each day by about 37 minutes in the SM group, about 33 minutes in the PA group, and about 46 minutes in the combination group.”
Additionally, participants reported decreased emotional connection with social media.
All interventions also promoted more physical activity. “After 6 months, our participants increased their physical activity time during the first week by 26 minutes in the SM group, 40 minutes in the PA group, and 1 hour and 39 minutes in the combination group,” the authors wrote. increase.
Even the control group had a 20 minute increase in activity.
Dr. Merrill was impressed by the study’s “surprising findings of combining less social media with more physical activity.” He agreed with the idea that SMU restrictions require complementary activities that bring joy and fulfillment.
According to the authors of this study, the “experimental longitudinal design” of the current study allowed us to establish a causal relationship.
However, the study population lacked diversity. All participants were young women, Germans, Caucasians, and highly educated.
Dr Merrill said it would be “interesting” to replicate the study in the United States with a more diverse group, but felt the results would likely be similar.
This study did not consider the form of SMU being used by the subjects or specify the type of physical activity performed by the participants.
Dr. Brailosvskaia’s research suggests that moderate changes in SMU and physical activity can protect and enhance mental health in a convenient and affordable way.
The professor and her team see how SMU helps minimize segregation and disseminate information.
“Sometimes it’s important to consciously restrict access online and get back to our human roots. […] A physically active lifestyle to stay happy and healthy in the digital age,” the researchers wrote.
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