Balancing Good Mental Health and Social Media Use

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and with 1 in 5 Americans experiencing mental illness in any given year, chances are that this topic hits close to home.

While social media is inherently good, I know that it can easily become an interwoven thread in our mental health stories, and I’m glad to be observing and participating in more conversations around this topic.

Through spending the last ten years working in social media marketing, I’ve identified ways to protect my own mental health by establishing strong boundaries around how and when I use social media. 

While it’s not always easy, there is a way to find the balance between positive social media use and good mental health.

What’s the first step? Bringing awareness to our challenges through shared stories.

This is exactly what Mental Health Advocate Bryan Piatt aims to do with his interview series, Mind Matters, which makes it a point to talk about and normalize mental health. I was honored to share a few quick social media tips for setting boundaries with Bryan that I’ve used both personally and professionally with coaching clients for the series.

At a high level, these tips include:

1. Following accounts that make you feel good, inspired and informed. Let the rest of them go

2. Setting time limits on your social media apps that alert you when you've reached your daily limit 

3. Scheduling your social media time on the calendar, just like you would for any other commitment

For in-depth information on how to implement these tips, head to this Social Media Wellness blog post.

In addition to creating strong boundaries around your own social media usage, there are a plethora of other ways to support good mental health. I've curated a handful of holistic resources from my immediate community below. If you are a mental health advocate and have a resource that you'd like to add to this list, send me a comment below this post. 

Additional Resources and Tools

Nutrition: Functional Nutritional Therapist Kristin Rowell supports clients in healing their bodies and minds using the power of real food. For optimal health, she recommends incorporating nutritional principles from The Weston A. Price Foundation. According to Kristin, this is an excellent starting point for learning about the connectedness between mental health and diet.

Movement: Stretching expert Angel Cecere designed the #FLEXOUT Mind+Body Stretching Program to help people achieve cognitive transformation that shifts their mindset into a mobile place, fully allowing them to unlock the abundant healing benefits of stretching. Learn more about the 15-day program here.

Mindfulness: Metal Health Advocate Bryan Piatt is a yoga and breath work instructor who leads conversations around mental health regularly in partnership with brands like lululemon, and hosts a weekly meditation on Instagram Live. Connect with him on Instagram here.

Community: It's Hard Podcast by Paige Boner is a mental health podcast + community that has authentic conversations allowing people to learn, grow and feel less alone in what they are going through. Learn more and listen to this podcast here. 

Information and Tools: The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides information and tools to help fight stigma, provide support, educate the public and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness. Learn more here.

Emergency: If you are in a life-threatening situation, call 911. A list of emergency numbers for those outside of the United States can be found here.