The PsyCreative Column

It’s no secret that people love social media. Whether it’s Facebook which has over 2 billion active users as of October 2018, Instagram with it’s 1 billion users or LinkedIn with its 590 million users, each platform offers a unique place to interact with friends, family and sometimes strangers. Although these platforms allow us to connect with others, they can also pose a threat if we aren’t cautious. Social media permeates the lives of many people – we use it to stay in touch, make new friends, shop, and have fun. But reports show that social media is also increasingly where scammers go to con us. More than one in four people who reported losing money to fraud in 2021 said it started on social media with an ad, a post, or a message. In fact, the data suggests that social media was far more profitable to scammers in 2021 than any other method of reaching people. For scammers, there’s a lot to like about social media. It’s a low-cost way to reach billions of people from anywhere in the ...

  How often do we find ourselves mindlessly going through our feeds on social media- constantly switching between platforms and consuming unnecessary content? Contrary to what most people believe, this is not without reason. Switching between content within a matter of seconds causes our brain to release dopamine, bringing about a momentary sense of extreme joy and satisfaction. The availability of a wide variety of information sourced from all over the world on social media allows us to pick and choose what we expose ourselves to. In an attempt to stabilise and optimise our current moods, we tend to gravitate towards content that brightens our mood, instead of actively practicing mindfulness and finding alternative and healthier sources to enhance our moods. This works as a healthier, easier out. A number of theoretical approaches concerned with behaviour speak about selective exposure to media and content. A proven concept worth mentioning is that of mood-dependent memory. Being...

There is a hypothesis that states that, with age, the ability to change decreases. We see examples of this in our daily interactions with people of various ages often manifested as ideologies and thought processes. It is much easier to accept the status quo than to challenge existing beliefs and to adopt newer ways. The ‘Lindy Effect’ also emphasises on how if something has been around for longer, it inevitably develops a resistance to change. Hence, it is so incredibly difficult to rationalise with older people about the rut of patterns that they have so conveniently adopted without much thought. Adding to this, even when people make up their minds to change, there is some comfort in sticking to what you are used to and subconsciously swaying away from any kind of modification. Unlearning well ingrained beliefs takes magnitudes of internal effort coupled with a strong rationale to lever a motivation towards change. Just like trauma can be apparent over generations, so can beliefs. We ...

  Likes, shares, followers, views, all of these words have come to mean more than just social media statistics. These numbers have become directly proportional to how happy people are. The greater the likes and followers for their pages, the more satisfied they are with their social media presence. And what do these posts on social media contain? Some are informational pages, some about mental health, and some official pages of brands, but there are a few types of pages that talk about humans and humans alone. These are the lifestyle bloggers, fashion pages, and, of course, personal accounts of various people on the planet.  While not all, but a lot of them talk about figures, clothes, skin, beauty, a happening life, and a lot more. Such discussions lead people to compare their real life with the ones portrayed on social media. “She looks so pretty!”, “I wish I lived a life as interesting as his.”, “I wish I could pull off such a dress.”. Comments of wishing to live a life lik...

  *DING*. Check out your best friend’s latest post.*DING*. Check out Taylor Swift’s  new music video.*DING*. Check out the updated exam schedule. Just a regular 2-mins in our life filled with constant information quickies. So, before beginning, I would like to challenge all of you to block out this noise and  read this whole article without opening another app, notification, or that meme your friend sent. I’m guessing you know by now, I will be hating on the internet a little but hear me out considering all this information is also from the internet and not from my mum telling me my phone gives me that stomach ache. A mind-boggling research done by Microsoft in 2015 stated that the average attention span of adults is now merely 8.25 seconds, shorter than that of a goldfish. I suppose Nemo might be better at finding a way to focus. Now, this research was widely used by well-known outlets of information like Time magazine, USA Today, the New York Times, and the National Pos...

  Men and Mental Health Boys from a very young age receive tons of messages from society, family, and friends that they must be strong because showing vulnerability or reaching out for help are signs of weakness. These messages, when carried into adulthood, can become "toxic masculinity". Toxic masculinity can make it difficult to express emotions, which is common. The way our society thinks about masculinity perpetuates this stigma around men's mental health. Men's and boys' mental health is frequently disregarded and neglected. Women are known as emotional beings and tend to express feelings easily as compared to men. Men like women, experience anxiety, depression, and mental illness. It is crucial to remove the stigma associated with mental illness and to remind males that getting help, expressing feelings, and seeking counseling are not only good but also necessary. In recent years, our society has made significant progress in recognizing the significance of m...

Seeking Therapy in 2022 The approach to therapy has entirely changed its face in the past couple of years, especially given the fact that we’re living in a post-pandemic era. The pandemic did a number on all of us. It gave us enormous amounts of anxiety but also made us realize that dealing with that break-up could be smoother with professional help. Honestly, the world of psychology has seen a tremendous amount of acceptance in all its forms. Social media being one of the greatest factors of psychoeducation, the word therapy is now normalized enough to be an adjective. Therapists are a very common mention in influencer’s constantly evolving Instagram reels and while that can be tricky in terms of the message being delivered, on a larger scale, more people find the relevance of seeking professional help. The survivors of the year 2022 suffered losses, of their people, workplaces and to an extent, even themselves and this however, has become a revolutionary stage in the history of psych...