The study recommends replacing social media with physical activity. Your mental health will be greatly enhanced if you spend 30 minutes less each day on social media and more time exercising. This was recently demonstrated in a study conducted by a team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum's Mental Health
People who replaced social media with physical activity felt happier, more satisfied, less stressed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and less depressed than the control group.Your mental health will be greatly enhanced if you spend 30 minutes less each day on social media and more time exercising. This was recently demonstrated in a study conducted by a team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum’s Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, led by assistant professor Dr. Julia Brailovskaia.
However, using social media has its downsides as well. Heavy usage might result in addictive behavior, which may manifest as, for instance, a strong emotional connection to social media. Conspiracy theories and fake news may also spread uncontrolled on social media and increase anxiety. Before, during, and up to six months after the two-week intervention phase, the participants responded to online surveys on the duration, intensity, and emotional significance of their social media use, physical activity, satisfaction with life, their subjective feeling of happiness, depressive symptoms, the psychological burden of the Covid-19 pandemic and their cigarette consumption.
Six months after the intervention, the combination group engaged one hour and 39 minutes more each week in physical activity than before the experiment. The positive influence on mental health continued throughout the entire follow-up period.