Social media addiction linked with alcohol and drug abuse – Aftercare Programs and continuing care programs in Alberta and British Columbia – Options Okanagan Alcohol and Drug Treatment Centers in Kelowna, British Columbia treating drug, opiate and alcohol addiction and recovery.
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Social Media Linked With Addictions
Anyone can be addicted to social media. As weird as it may sound, some people cannot do without social media. Many won’t even stay for more than 5 minutes without checking for followers and status updates on various social networking platforms. If you spend more than 60% of your time on social media and feel phantom vibrations when not close to your phone, chances are you are an addict. Although you might not be fully addicted to social media, displaying behaviors of an addict makes you vulnerable to substance abuse as well.
15% Of All Social Media Users Display Addictive Behaviors
Studies show that a good number of social media users show similar behavior to that displayed by substance abusers. A study conducted at one of the leading Universities in Canada on undergraduate students shows that around 15% of these students display certain behaviors common with addicts, even when using social media. The survey also included modeled questions aimed at determining dependence on alcohol. Students exhibiting signs of substance addiction scored very high on internet addiction as well. This is to say, some of the social media users are more likely to struggle with substance abuse and emotional regulation.
Social Media as an Addictive Reward
Many people use or see social media as a form of reward. The same applies to alcohol and drug users. Their quest to get the said ‘reward’ puts them deeper into addiction. How do you feel when you get/hear a social notification on your phone. Many people feel an unexplained excitement or pleasure and cannot wait a minute longer to see what it is. The notifications can be from someone having commented or liked your Facebook status, or someone just followed you on Twitter. The brain sees this as a form of reward, hence will keep wanting more. Sounds similar to drug or alcohol addiction.
Social media dependence is a form of addiction that puts one out of control or becomes compulsive. Numerous studies have been launched to determine why many people see social media as a form of reward. What makes the status updates, comments, and likes a much stronger or pleasant reward as compared to other activities. According to research, the act of sharing information about what you do, yourself, and anything else is instinctively rewarding. Such acts engage parts of the brain responsible for appreciating a reward, which again increases the risk of addiction.
How Social Media Is Linked To Alcohol And Drug Abuse
There’s no reason to be alarmed simply because you use social media every day. Using social media doesn’t make you vulnerable to alcohol and substance abuse. If you, however, cannot do anything without checking the social media, chances are you are susceptible to substance abuse. Several researchers believe social media addiction is one of the risk factors of substance use and addiction. Those addicted to social media show signs of regulating emotions, impulsive behaviors, etc.
Many of the individuals addicted to social media displayed behaviors such as the urge and craving to check comments and statuses, increased irritability, and spending tons of time on social media. Most of these individuals even struggle to log off from the social sites, and would rather postpone an urgent assignment just to check statuses or chat. Such impulsive behavior raises a red flag for increased risk of drug and alcohol addiction.
If you consider yourself addicted to social media, limiting the amount of time you spend on the same might help. A good way to do this is by turning notifications off on your phone and setting a limit on social media use. You will be surprised at how much you can achieve from merely staying away from social media.
Options Okanagan Opiate and Alcohol Treatment Centers in Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Vancouver, British Columbia – Men and Women are recovering and healing from Alcohol and Drug Abuse at our treatment center here in the Okanagan right now.
Our unique and distinctive Opiate Drug and Alcohol treatment program allows men and women to come in from Calgary as well as Edmonton as we offer airport pickup.
Numerous clients come to us from Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and other locations in Alberta and even other provinces for Opiate addiction treatment, heroin drug treatment, many other drug and alcohol addictions for rehabilitation because of the uniqueness of our treatment center.
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Options Okanagan Alcohol and Opiate Treatment Center
551 Sherrydale Crescent, Kelowna, British Columbia, V1V 2E6
Toll Free Phone Number : 1-855-335-0331