Mental Health Awareness Week starts on Monday 15th May, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation.
To support this initiative, we’ve got some tips on digital wellbeing we’d like to share with you. It’s important to feel good when you’re using your smartphone, and we think this advice will help you do just that.
Avoid social comparison
We all love scrolling through our social media feeds, but the downside is that it’s easy to feel like you’re in competition with others. Remember, what you see online isn’t an accurate portrayal of reality – so if anyone’s images make you feel insecure, try and ignore them. Better still, unfollow or block that person.
Be yourself
When you’re on social media, be yourself and stay positive. Write posts that will put a smile on your friends' faces, and don't feel like you've always got to put filters on your photos before you share them. You’ll feel better for it.
Use mindfulness to stay positive
Mindfulness can help you focus on the things you like about yourself. It’s a great way of managing your thought and feelings, and changing the way you relate to experiences. If you’re interested in learning more about mindfulness, we recommend you visit Be Mindful.
It’s the Mental Health Foundation’s website on mindfulness. Your smartphone can help too – check out our recent blog article on apps to give yourself a mindfulness refresh.
Choose your friends wisely
If you’re worried about body image or other personal issues, chatting to your closest friends can often be a great help. We’re talking about your genuine, real-life friends, rather than your social ones. If you’ve got an online friend that you don’t know in real life, think carefully about whether you actually need them. Remember, social media isn’t a popularity contest – so why not go through your friends list and make sure they’re all actual friends? If not, you can easily unfriend them by hovering over the 'Friends' button at the top of their profile, and selecting 'Unfriend’. And in the future, don’t accept every friend or follower request you get – only connect with people you know in real life, or whose identity you know is definitely genuine.
Restrict the time you spend on your phone
Phones are great fun, but it’s important to spend some quality time away from them. Research has shown that being on our phones too long can take a toll on our mental and physical wellbeing. Some studies even suggest that people who spend more time on social media are less happy. Surprisingly, perhaps, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have their own activity trackers to help you set time limits and take a break. Or you can dive into your phone’s settings… If you own an iPhone (or you want to monitor a child’s), the Screen Time feature tells you how much time is being spent on individual apps, and lets you set time limits. Go to Settings > Screen Time, and ‘Turn On Screen Time’. If you’ve got an Android phone, Google’s Digital Wellbeing tool does the same thing - showing you how much time you’re spending on apps, and letting you set time limits.
Filter out harmful content
Harmful and unsuitable content that makes you feel bad is only ever a few clicks away on the internet, unfortunately. So you might want to put some extra safeguards in place. For example, you can block explicit results on Google using SafeSearch, or set up a restricted mode on YouTube. We can help too. The free iD Mobile app has a handy adult content filter that lets you restrict access to 18+ film and video content. Go to ‘My Services’, ‘Adult content filter’ and toggle it on.
Never be afraid to ask for help
If you’re concerned about your mental health, or the mental health of someone in your family, there are lots of services and organisations that offer help and support. You can find contact details on the Mental Health Foundation’s Getting Help webpage. If you’ve got any questions or thoughts on any of the points above, feel free to post a reply below. It’ll be shared with the rest of the Community.