Social media can cause you stress, combat it with moments of silence 

You wake up to your alarm, you reach for your phone. Immediately, you’re flooded with notifications. Your best friend sent you a TikTok, someone you “may know” has followed you on Instagram, your chemistry class GroupMe is asking about the homework that is due. You manage to get out of bed and put on your favorite playlist to get ready. 

Before you can even change out of your pajamas, you get a text about plans for this weekend that must be answered. While getting ready, thoughts are soaring through your mind. You’re thinking of a funny video you saw, an exam you have later today and the drama that happened in your study group last week. By the time you walk out the door to head to class, you’re anxious and overwhelmed by the enormous list of tasks for the day. 

This was my daily routine for far too long as a college freshman. Now, in my second year, I have learned several valuable lessons regarding my social media and real life balance. I remember the feeling of constant stress that all of these stimuli were bringing me. 

There was a sense that my life was so “noisy” in a way it had never been before. That’s when I realized what all these distractions were — noise. All the time spent on social media and even listening to music was blocking out what was really important. Starting the morning by filling my brain with useless information did not set me up for success throughout the rest of the day. 

I’m sure we’ve all heard the “social media is bad” talk before, and you’re probably just as tired of it as I am, but I hope to dive into why this is the case and what we can do to solve this generational problem. 

Whether we realize it or not, our brains are starving for a way out. It doesn’t take much digging to find that this constant connection isn’t natural. 

The stress that social media brings is perfectly reasonable when we take a step back and consider the enormous reality of what we interact with every day. We are constantly seeing snapshots of hundreds of peoples’ lives. It’s no wonder we feel like we can’t keep up. 

According to a study done at Capital University in Ohio, students who regularly use social media can experience many effects including negative comparison, sleep disruptions, addiction, time management issues and a filtered reality, just to name a few. 

There is a case to be made for these platforms, however, my personal experience and the experiences of others around me reflect these negative effects almost perfectly. But what can we change? In a world that seems to constantly revolve around the latest trends and the fastest information, what can we do to protect our minds from overstimulation? 

The answer is not a complex “dopamine detox” that you can find on the very platforms you are seeking refuge from. The solution is not even cutting social media out completely. 

The best way, in my opinion and experience, to bring back some semblance of peace and calm in our busy lives, is silence. 

Think back to the last time you experienced true silence. How long has it been? For many of us, silence is the ultimate punishment. It means that our phones have died, a test is being taken or our AirPods are charging. The truth is, silence can save your mental and emotional health. 

Piedmont Health released a study with research on the effects of silence on the human mind and body. 

The emotional benefits of time spent in silence were improved clarity, emotional processing time and enhanced decision making skills — all of which college students could use. The gifts silence has to give you extend beyond your mind, however. 

Silence helps to relieve so much of the stress that daily life puts us all under by lowering our blood pressure and heart rate which in turn brings the body to a state of relaxation. 

So silence is good, but isn’t it a little bit impractical to think that college students can spend all this time in meditative solitude? Nope! My favorite aspect of silence is that it demands so little of us. Silence, just like its counterpart noise, is surrounding us at all times, we only have to choose to tap into what it has to offer us. 

Here are a few ways you can use silence to combat the stress that social media can bring this week. 

Take five minutes when you first wake up, before scrolling, to make coffee or choose an outfit in complete silence. 

Find a quiet place to study and don’t drown out the silence with music or a podcast. 

Take a few minutes at the end of each day to spend in silence, reviewing the day mentally. When walking between classes, don’t listen to music. Limit time spent on social media with apps like Screen Time. Spend time outside listening to the sounds of nature! 

Simply put, social media is a drain on all of us in one way or another and we are desperate for a way to recharge. Silence is one of the easiest ways I’ve found to pause the stress that life as a college student can bring and I highly recommend it.