Social media can be brilliant and it’s bad; delighting and detrimental; heartwarming and harmful. Used in a healthy way, it can keep family and friends closely connected, even when they’re separated by oceans. It helps people who’ve lost touch to reestablish bonds. And it’s an incredible research tool for travelers seeking insight and inspiration on their personal Eat, Pray, Love journey to new horizons - or just when you’re looking for something cool and fun to do in your local neighborhood over the weekend. But when your use goes from casual to compulsive and dependent, it can be harmful to your health. 

Addiction to social media – an affliction that plagues an estimated 12 percent of users across social networking sites – can cause mental health destruction and manifest in mood, cognition, physical, and emotional reactions, as well as interpersonal and psychological problems. In short, when you’re not getting your social media fix, you’re moody, and you tend to lose the ability to think clearly, or even perform to an acceptable standard in your job.

Whether it’s living vicariously through others, keeping up with the Joneses, or portraying an untrue, glossier version of yourself online, social media can wield untold power and retain a toxic hold over you - and just like any addiction, there are tell-tale signs when your dependance on it has become pernicious.

Here are 10 “red flag” indicators that you’re addicted to social media, and three steps you can take to help you recover. 

1. It's the main way you communicate

From GIF contributions to WhatsApp group chats, to meme tags on Instagram and emoji replies in Messenger, you only seem to connect with people in an online setting. And because of that, social media has become your last thing at night, and first port of call in the morning. Sliding into someone’s DMs or tweeting to kick off an interaction isn’t always a terrible idea, but sometimes absolutely is, and it doesn’t often give you meaningful human connection.

2. You find yourself excessively and obsessively refreshing

Just like *spoiler* Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg at the end of The Social Network displayed as he obsessively refreshed his browser for a friend request update, spending excessive time on a social media platform can leave you feeling unsatiated and constantly craving more. It’s hardly surprising, when this act of refreshing a feed or page again and again occurs because you’ve already consumed everything on offer and are just feeling a burning need for your next “fix”. When even flicking between TikTok, Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter does nothing to quell the thirst for content, it might be time to put the phone down and breathe.

3. You have become negligent with your friends and family time

Having potentially found a sense of community on the web, social media addicts tend not to feel the same satisfaction from spending time with their real-life friends and family. You can be a different person online – a self-perceived more interesting person – and as you retreat into that world free from the eyes of those that know you best too often, it is also quite often to the detriment of your long-established offline relationships.  

4. You regularly skip social events that you used to enjoy 

Social media addiction may present in different ways for different people, and one less obvious sign of damaging dependance is skipping social events. Your absence from your public or social life can be attributed to any number of addiction-related issues, such as increased depression, anxiety, and self-consciousness - but it can also be due to an inability to live up to a picture-perfect portrayal of your peers, or indeed your online self. 

5. It’s become your favorite thing to do

When you lose the will and moxie to entertain any or all of your favorite pastimes or hobbies, you lose a little piece of what makes you you. When instant gratification and validation from strangers becomes your entire identity and your absolute favorite or go-to way to spend time without a second thought, it’s a clear sign that it’s time to step offline and reconnect with a digital-free environment.

6. You’re suffering from emotional withdrawal

The worst of social media is evident and most problematic when it becomes a crucial mechanism to combat stress, loneliness, or even depression. The continuous rewards – likes, thumbs up, positive comments – afforded by your social media society (which often don’t translate into real-life recognition) will likely lead to severe phubbing and oversharing of content on the one hand, and an emotional withdrawal from friends and family that don’t match that online energy on the other.

7. You feel lackadaisical and lackluster

The benefits of exercise and physical exertion are well-known, and narcissists with a mild addiction to social media may even increase their serotonin-releasing workout output and posts in search of more plaudits. A more serious social media addiction, however, has the power to reduce exercise exertion and other activities that are prone to produce happy hormones, as you simply don’t have the time or desire to interrupt your internet fixation.

8. Your performance is becoming substandard

Addiction in almost any form will adversely affect your aptitude for academia and work, whether that’s your grades or your job. When you’re frequently highly engaged with social media, you’re less likely to focus on more important duties. It stands to reason that if your well-being is affected by addiction, then that will filter through to other parts of your life. Substandard performance may come about by believing other social media users are more successful and happier, influencing a bout of depression and anxiety. 

9. You get FOMO when you’re not on it 

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is not a new sensation and is hardly a debilitating condition with regards to a night on the tiles with friends. But when it relates to obsessive social media consumption, you risk physical as well as mental health issues. In fact, social media platforms are almost intrinsically designed to arouse FOMO. The constant connection to your social media-filled screen – staring at your channels and profiles to stay as up-to-date as humanly possible – may result in blurry-visioned eye strain, neck pain, and disturbed sleeping patterns, all because you didn’t want to miss any “important” posts.

10. You have a phobia of being without your mobile phone

Not drastically different to social media FOMO, nomophobia is a real psychological condition where you have a fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity, with symptoms including trembling, perspiration, agitation, and disorientation. For those addicted to social media, the strong attachment to your smartphone has a real chance of developing into a phobia, where a distressing concern over what might happen if you suddenly couldn’t access information kicks off a downward spiral to a full-blown panic attack.

So if you are suffering from a social media addiction, how do you recover? It's not good enough to simply be aware of a problem; there also needs to be a solution. But knowing the signs of social media addiction will help you identify it in yourself, or someone close to you - and it can set you on this three-step road to recovery.

Do a “digital detox”

Quitting an addiction “cold turkey” tends to have a low success rate, since addiction by nature undermines our willpower. Simply cutting back on social media, however, can help avoid FOMO and nomophobia. It might also prove prudent to turn off your notifications. Know that you don’t have to cut it out entirely – you can cut back in steps if need be. Perhaps don’t take that selfie when you head to the gym, try to skip the daily “foodstagramming”, and remember that you can always catch up on your socials a little later. You can take solace in the knowledge that by scaling down your usage you will free up some time to better spend on the things you once loved.

Spend your time wisely

It's important to restore the balance in your life. Before you became addicted to endless scrolling in search of thumb-stopping content, you had hobbies, you hung out with friends, and you were focused on your career or studies. To find your way back, make a plan and allocate windows within the day to the various former fun aspects of your life - including social media. To ensure you start your day in the right frame of mind, consider not reaching for your phone and socials first thing in the morning. Have a stretch, a shower, a cup of coffee, and slowly ease yourself into your social fix instead.

Talk to a professional

If giving up your social media time and devices is a step too far, and the thought of it fills you with anxiety or rage, then it is probably time to see a therapist who can help you develop strategies for cutting back. Mental health professionals are trained to deal with the demands of addiction - digital or otherwise - and they have the ability to help you work through the emotional and well-being issues that arise from your dependence on social media. There is always a path to a healthy recovery, especially when you have the right support along the way.

All of the content on our website is thoroughly researched to ensure that the information shared is evidence-based. For more information, please visit the academic journals and other resources that influenced this article: Social Media Addiction: Its Impact, Mediation, and Intervention; Social Media Addiction: Symptoms And Way Forward; Signs of Social Media Addiction; Social Media Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, Risks, and Treatment; Effects of Social Media Addiction; Nomophobia: No Mobile Phone Phobia.