A 17-year-old podcast producer who was addicted to endless scrolling on social media said his health and life dramatically improved when he quit it all in a digital detox.
Ilias Michael, from Lostwithiel, Cornwall, a county in England’s rugged Southwestern tip said combining it with meditation has helped with ADHD and improved his mental health.
“I know, through experience, that using social media you get sucked into the endless scroll,” Illias said. “Many people don’t understand the negative impact it can have on their lives, but I personally know it’s not ideal for me.”
Sharing more about how his addiction to social media began, the teen said that during the 2020 lockdown, going on social media was all he did.
“I can tell you from that experience it is the worst thing you can do for your mental health,” he said.
Illias described that period as a “dark time.”
“I felt completely worthless. Obviously social media wasn’t the only thing that made it so bad, but it was a big factor when I was 15,” Illias said.
Each day he would spend hours on social media.
“I was going on Instagram seeing jacked dudes who are super ripped, which made me feel bad. It’s all the stuff people say you shouldn’t look at, but it’s really hard to stop,” Illias said. “Scrolling through social media, every new post creates another spark of dopamine, which seems fun, but it doesn’t last and there’s hardly any effort put into getting that hit.”
He realized that everything else seemed boring after a certain amount of time without that spark of dopamine.
“People can’t read a book or go for a walk because it seems flat in comparison,” Illias said.
He also felt that the more social media he used, the less motivated he felt to improve himself and to slow down and enjoy the little things in life.
“Sometimes you will find [that] you open the app without even thinking - ‘yo I did not choose to do this,” Illias said.
He quit the use of social media in 2021 when he began meditation.
“Deleting social media is good but what motivated me to continue to stay off it is meditating,“ Illias said. “When I started meditating and started being mindful and living in the moment, I realized that social media is the opposite of being mindful.”
He began to feel that life was good without random posts of random people.
“Now I try to meditate every day and it really helps me stay focused and off social media,” Illias said.
The only social media apps that Illias now uses are Instagram and Facebook, which are for his professional online profiles as a musician and a podcast co-producer—with his mother, Laura Jane Williams.
“I still use digital tools for specific work purposes. For example, I edit videos for the podcast, and I use social media just to promote the podcast,“ he said. “Why would you need social media when you can produce music? It’s amazing!”
He uses Whatsapp for messaging family and friends.
“Now I use my phone for 1-2 hours a day, which might still seem high, but it’s a lot better than it used to be,“ he said. “The majority of that time I spent messaging people.”
Initially, on giving up social media, Illias was worried about the social aspect of it.
“But then I realized that if I’m really friends with them I’ll have their phone numbers anyway, so now when I speak to my friends it’s over the phone or text,” Illias said.
While it was sometimes hard to not always follow the same social media trends as his friends, the experience has helped him appreciate life more.
It has also had a positive impact on his friendships and he says that he has better friendships now.
“I will meet up with friends and go for a walk. Some people my age will think that’s weird, but I’m very grateful for being in the moment like that, by myself or with a friend,“ Illias said. “I really enjoy being present with the little things. Sometimes when I’m out on a walk I’ll see a leaf and be like, yo that’s a great leaf. You know?”
With social media, he believes that one is never in the present moment but in someone else’s life or a time in the past or future.
Ilias was diagnosed with ADHD and said reducing his social media usage has helped him manage this condition. According to him, social media is very enticing to people who have ADHD, since there is an element of instant distraction.
But since quitting the use of social media, Illias has been able to concentrate better.
“Growing up with the internet, it’s ingrained as a part of your identity and personality. So it’s really hard to separate it from yourself,” Illias said.
He is worried about those generations below him as he feels it’s worse for them.
“They’ll just think social media and being on screens all the time is a part of life and a necessity,” he said. “To other people in Gen Z, I want to say, just try to go out for a walk, stop being on social media so much. Try meditation, try living in the moment more.”
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