A Physio's Perspective on SMS 'Social Media Syndrome' | Mental Health Awareness |

Nothing is what is seems. What you see is rarely all that is there, we never see the full story from the outset so we must remember this. The visual top section is a representation of someone's success, beneath the water, the part we don't see is the hard work, sacrifices, dedication, failures etc. Do not ever believe what you see!

"Social Media Syndrome (SMS)- The condition in which a person lives vicariously through themselves".

Social media, friend or foe? Most people are using some form of social media today, whether to drive their business, educate themselves or to entertain themselves when bored. We can find anything on social media today and over time its getting more and more advanced which draws more appeal to the previous non-users. Therefore, not to your surprise the few people you know who like to keep a private life are now adding or following you.

Its funny but true, we all know someone who seems far livelier and all round more interesting online than in real life? It is an observable phenomenon, but what is causing this behaviour? Are people just lying to make themselves appear more interesting? Well of course, obviously we will post the positive and good things in our lives more than the bad things, but we want to create a sense of achievement, self worth and existence. If you haven't posted or participated in any form of social media all day you somewhat feel isolated or left out, the thought of being the only one not to read about the latest natural disaster on social media or celebrity break-up was daunting.

Many people might wonder whats the link between SMS and physiotherapy . Its hardly just having painful thumbs and stiff necks surely? There is a link, in this day and age many patients in the NHS suffer from some form of mental health illness. A mental health illness can effect over all health and well being of a person. Every aspect of your life can very well be effected by it and if you didn't have any previous musculoskeletal pain or injuries, you may be more susceptible if your mental health is effected.

As a physiotherapist working in healthcare, from the top of my head I can only think of two other physiotherapists who are not active or use any form of social media, these people will openly admit to being the 'dinosaurs'. Lest they know they are missing out on some form of madness!😂However from chatting to people about which one they most use in this profession, it was twitter. Many people tweet and others will just sit back and observe with the popcorn out. Twitter is not only very easy to get involved in and set up but its extremely informative and educational. Facebook and Instagram appear to be used for businesses but for personal accounts mostly when you look at the statistics.

The pros and cons of being a sufferer of SMS☝🏼

Having a more active and vivacious life online is usually the result of being introverted. As an introvert, social media can give you the opportunity to interact with society as much as you want to. You can express yourself and say whats on your mind minus the crippling anxiety than you would most likely deal with in a real life scenario. Sounds idealistic!

The downfall of this is that this often comes off as fake or false to the outside observers. So what can you do to balance your online life with your real life social interactions? You can simply do less, don't exaggerate, keep it real! We do not need to be someone we are not. Why do we feel the need to 'dress, to impress and spark this bitches interest' ?!!!!

✨The beauty of Social Media is the ability to be ourselves, to put forth an image to the world of what best represents are thoughts and feelings✨

The reason I wanted to write a blog on this topic is because exaggerating your real life activities online can be hazardous to your health. It can lead to social media anxiety disorder, and has been found as a source of additional stress in our lives. Many people in the United States have already turned to drug and alcohol abuse as a form of social escapism. Don't let this be you. Do not put the extra pressure and stress on your shoulders when you are in fact in control of your own social media platform.

Patients will rarely come in to see a doctor or a physiotherapist about their pain and dive into telling you they have social media anxiety disorder. They aren't aware they may have this condition. They may have no idea why they are feeling down or stressed, in pain or struggling with normal daily activities. Any stress in our lives can always be a burden to our physical and mental health, a contributing factor to our pain, lack of sleep, general fatigue etc.

8 Simple steps to avoid SMS.....

1.) Set 'SMART GOALS' - whether you are a student, mother, house-wife, office-based worker, health professional we all need goals for direction in life, something to stride towards and keep you working to your potential. The most important thing is that these goals are tailored to YOU so your focus is on you and you alone. Social media can veer you into the lives of others leaving you with much less time to really focus on YOU. The one that matters. Once these goals are set you will notice you have little time to be 'scrolling' for hours on other peoples amazing lives.

S - specific

M - measurable

A - achievable GOALS GOALS GOALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

R - realistic

T - timescale

2.) Posting on your social media platform without fabricating something, exaggerating something, keeping it as real as possible avoids the extra pressure and stress on you when you have those frequent or infrequent encounters with people in a real life scenario.

3.) Regular exercise (outside is preferable but not always convenient)- this can entail of stretching, yoga, walking, running, swimming, gym work. Physical activity can enable our brains to function better, improve our concentration and enhance mood, therefore a constant reminder to live your life to the best. Also keeping you away from your phone.

4.) Ban yourself from use of your phone whilst socialising with friends and or family. Aren't you sick of your peers complaining about your lack of attention when you meet them because your neck is locked into flexion and its hard to resist and look up at whats happening in the here and now?!

I was recently in a restaurant in Manchester with my partner having a meal. The manager walked over to us after an hour or so of sitting down in there and said 'congratulations ye are the first customers we have had in here which haven't taken out or used their phones, ye are actually communicating with one another and that is satisfactory to ye' I was shocked I didn't see that coming and I was pleased, both on his part for his observational skills and then to inform us of this, whilst we were completely oblivious. Remember, the onlooker sees a lot more.....

5.) Unfollow folk - As you are in control of your own social media you are in control of what you can see most frequently, therefore it is best not to follow people of different interests and beliefs to you. Certain topics or pictures can be damaging to you without knowing yourself. The whole concept of the 'NORM', whats normal and whats not we don't even know ourselves!!! Don't get sucked into thinking others are normal or have the perfect life, when most likely they are suffering behind closed doors with their own demons they will never reveal. Remember we are all in the same boat.

6.) Education - The best method for awareness is to educate yourself on the topic. We learn about the causes of SMS and most of all the implications of it. We already know that SMS can impact ones life by affecting their mental and potentially physical health. It is the elephant in the room, we are all frantically using our mobile phones, students, professionals, carers everybody but we don't see much threat. All we see is the GAINS, we are gaining knowledge, useful and useless information, gossip, facts, world-wide news to what the cat next door vomited on today.

7.) Something New - try doing something outside of your comfort zone, a new hobby such as reading, exercising, joining a social club, football club etc. Integrating into society on another level has many benefits for you as daunting as it may appear. You can improve on your social skills and reduce the urges to pop onto your social media to see what everyone else is getting up to. You will soon realise how valuable one productive day off your phone can be once you start living a life free of worries and stress.

8.) Reflection - Daily or weekly reflection is a good habit to get into. It is closely linked with your goals. When we reflect on a certain incident or topic of conversation you had earlier on that day you realise that you learn from it. Reflecting on your actions allows you to analyse and evaluate, make sense of a situation. We can learn from others or learn from ourselves. There are many models of reflection (Gibbs model) and it can be both used for work or socially.

All these simple steps to avoid SMS are general and some are obvious! We could all think of these off the top of our heads but sometimes we need to see it and read it in order to live it!

✨'To lead it, we must live it' ✨

Once again,

Happy New Year from GMK Physiotherapy!