Month: July 2022

Wellness, it seems, is the next big thing that everyone must conquer. The past two years of pandemic upheaval have given people a chance to assess and reflect on their overall health and well-being, prompting a wellness renaissance. However, jumping on board with trends may lead to the actual value and understanding of wellness to become diluted by social chatter and marketing buzz.

For wellness to be purposeful, it must be personal. In this article, we’re going to look at wellness from the standpoint of how one-size-fits-all solutions aren’t the answer. We’ll go back to basics examining wellness as a multi-dimensional concept and explore what it means to be well overall. We’ll look at some of the foundations of physical and mental wellness by addressing how some of our choices complicate our ability to find the right balance, including nutrition’s effect on your brain. Finally, we’ll discuss determining your path to wellness, sharing some tips and strategies that will help you kick start your journey.

Wellness, defined

Wellness has always been linked to good health, preventative care, and positive lifestyle choices. It’s a concept that’s been present for thousands of years but has gotten a lot of attention, especially over the past decade. More people are paying attention to wellness, which is reflected in the general interest and messaging we regularly see from governments, businesses, medical experts, and the media. Because health and wellness are intrinsically linked, where sometimes the terms are used interchangeably, it helps to look at each individually and their relationship. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (illness)” and wellness as “the optimal state of health of individuals and groups… expressed as a ‘positive approach to living.”¹

Multi-dimensional wellness

Wellness encompasses many different things and is often contextualized using these eight dimensions²:

Physical

• How you fuel your body
• How much you move your body
• How you rest to restore your body

Intellectual

• Things you do to learn, be creative and grow
• How you view the world
• Finding enjoyment in trying something new

Emotional

• How you use positive thinking
• How resilient you are
• How you recognize and use your strengths

Social

• How you interact with family, friends, coworkers and communities
• Practicing gratitude and kindness
• Communicating and building relationships to decrease feelings of loneliness

Spiritual

• Connecting with something “greater than ourselves,” be it religious beliefs, the planet, other people, or with something more profound
• How you live according to what you value
• How you are mindful of the effect you have on your surroundings 

Occupational

• How purposeful you feel about contributing to the world through work, school, or volunteering
• Appreciating and joining efforts to improve or help something you believe in
• How you can gain meaning from helping others

Financial

• Learning about money so you can use it strategically
• How you budget
• How you can be happier making financial decisions that improve other people’s lives and your own

Environmental

• How aware you are of your surroundings
• Choosing “calm, safe, non-toxic” environments
• Finding balance by spending time in nature

What does it mean to be well overall?

Wellness is fluid and adaptive depending on evaluations of circumstances and situations. There is no singular correct approach because each of us has a different view of the world. Determining your view of wellness comes from being self-aware and self-regulating to make choices that help you form habits. However, living fully aware of what makes you feel fulfilled and recognizing and realizing your potential gets you only part of the way. Whether they are beneficial to us or not, our habits are determining factors in our wellness. Knowing what is good for us is one thing, but ultimately, we determine the amount of effort we are willing to invest in ourselves. When you make conscious choices to integrate good things into your life, you increase the degree of wellness that you will feel. For example, caring for yourself, by extension, is an act of caring for others: both the people we care about and those who care about us. Remember that highly personalized wellness is based on your choices, actions, and attention to maintaining it.

What we tend to focus on: Physical and mental wellness

We often focus on physical and mental wellness and take actions to care for our bodies and minds to maintain or improve current health and protect our future health. However, some other wellness dimensions heavily influence our physical and mental well-being. For example, if you worry about your job security, money, paying the bills, or think that saving for the future is only a dream, you can undoubtedly feel stress building that will affect your physical and mental wellness. Similarly, if you feel lonely or disconnected socially, this stress will also show up physically and mentally. As humans, we need to connect actively, that is, through speaking, laughing, interacting in shared spaces for our brains to process the benefits. Research has shown us that “social connection can lower anxiety and depression, help us regulate our emotions, lead to higher self-esteem and empathy, and actually improve our immune systems. By neglecting our need to connect, we put our health at risk.”³

While many would argue that social media does an excellent job of helping us stay connected, it and even other technologies such as video chatting do little to reduce loneliness. Social media can contribute counterproductively to overall wellness because of its addictive and passive nature. Many people find themselves scrolling through posts from others’ lives and draw comparisons between what they view in these highlight reels versus what they are experiencing. It’s important to remember that what is being shared is highly curated and may be inaccurate. Drawing comparisons and aspiring to lifestyles depicted on social media can intensify feelings of inadequacy and lead to being disappointed in life. Instead of looking for solutions there, engage with people outside of social media. These may be professionals such as your doctor, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, coaches, family members and friends. It’s worth your time and investment to connect through conversations and interactions to listen to the natural cadence and pauses of conversations and to observe expressions and body language in a way that technology simply cannot duplicate.

What are some easy ways you can support physical and mental wellness?

Everything is connected. Building healthy habits that support your entire body is key. Movement completed during a walk or other type of exercise benefits not only your muscles, bones, lungs, and heart but also your brain. But the length of time, effort and duration of exercise needed is not as intense as you may think, and that could act as an incentive to invest more in developing a positive habit. While moderate exercise helps, “too much exercise, particularly over time, pushes metabolic demands to the point where your brain’s innate protective systems are overwhelmed…[leading] to cellular injury and accelerated ageing.”⁴ Exercise decreases negative emotions, thoughts, depression, feelings of anxiety, and helplessness. So, it’s essential to think of it as an addition and not a solution to wellness. Instead, it would be best if you continued with the exercise plus everything else your doctor has recommended, including taking medication and participating in any other forms of therapy suggested.

Eating nutritious food and drinking water regularly are other simple ways to support overall wellness. It starts by understanding how the nutrients you consume are absorbed and feed all your cells. People are often surprised to find out that being malnourished and dehydrated affects their mental health. By consuming the proper nutrient-dense foods that work with your body, and increasing your daily water intake, your diet can help you improve your overall wellness. Dr. Uma Naidoo, a Chef and Nutritional Psychiatrist, has researched how different foods can trigger psychological responses such as depression, anxiety and negative emotional responses that are “not great for our long-term brain health.”⁵ Cravings, comfort food, and the crash we feel after consuming the wrong foods, especially sugary ones “made to be hyper-palatable,” is something to avoid because it’s very hard on our bodies.⁶ Understanding that there is a connection between food, gut health and the brain can help you form new habits. Eating nutritious foods allows us to feed the gut with microbes that maintain balanced transmission between the brain and the gut through the Vagus nerve and reduce inflammation, a catalyst for poor mental health.⁷ Psychological stress and trauma are also heightened when people are anxious and worried about food allergies. Knowledge of dietary choices and alternatives can reduce this type of anxiety.

Boundaries = balance

When considering other aspects of your overall wellness, it’s important to evaluate whether you need to establish boundaries that offer support and eliminate stressors. Often, relationships fall into patterns that can cause some discomfort. There’s also sometimes a danger of someone losing their sense of individuality in a relationship. Work pressures and challenges, including the difficulties posed by working from home, can hover over relationships like a fog. Addressing these situations calmly will often bring about better awareness of the behaviours that are straining your relationships. From there, you can introduce boundaries and consequences to going beyond them to help you find a better balance to your overall wellness and sense of fulfillment. It’s essential to be clear, respectful and show that you care as you articulate them.

Tips to kick start your wellness

Get up and move

• Set realistic goals to boost your physical activity. They need to be achievable, not monumental.
• Be sure that you’re focused on becoming stronger, and not on losing weight.
• Avoid focusing on your appearance. Be kind to your body. It works hard for you every day.

Get creative

• Sing, dance, paint, play with clay, knit, crochet or something else.
• Neuroscience shows that these are “simple, playful ways to help adults unwind and relieve stress.”⁸

Get in touch with your senses

Immerse yourself in the sensory experiences within your environment. Explore tactile objects and think about the sensations you feel. Pay attention to the sounds, aromas, and visuals. Slow down when you eat so you can take time to taste the flavours of your food.

Get positive

• Try boosting your mental wellness with a moment of daily positivity to help bring about self-acceptance. It’s as easy as writing these three things in a small notebook or on a calendar:
• Something you’re grateful for
• Something you’ve been thinking about for a while
• Something you are choosing not to do today

Get comfortable with your finances

• Start with something short-range like making a simple budget to get you through a day, a week, or a month. Look at your spending and saving decisions. Ask yourself if you have room to choose a different path on any of them.
• Once you’re comfortable with the short-range items, move on to long-range considerations. It doesn’t have to be about lump sums or investing. Start with something basic such as saving $2 a day. Set up an automatic transfer to a savings account or go with coins in a jar. It doesn’t matter which method you choose, more that you’re training yourself to see the value in it. You can build onto more long-range goals once the habit is formed.

Get social

• Reach out to a friend once a week, by phone or video chat to have a short conversation. It doesn’t mean texting; it’s about talking.
• Join a group with like interests. Perhaps you want to learn an instrument or a language. Your brain will benefit from these new skills. You’ll also develop the habit of lifelong learning.
• Reduce screen time and take a social media break. You may be able to see just how many times a day you touch your device and begin to break that habit. Many mobile devices have tools and apps built-in to help regulate usage.
• Live your experiences. Being present and watching things happen live creates memories in our brains. When you are focused on recording something to watch later, you’ll find that the memory isn’t as easy to recall because you didn’t form it in the same way as being immersed at the moment.
• Ensure that your recreational use of alcohol and tobacco is both in control and in moderation. It’s easy to get caught up in social and cultural marketing that promotes these as acceptable ways to medicate and detach from the stress and pressure of daily life. There’s an inherent danger in this as it encourages people to rationalize and deflect from stressors, normalizing substance abuse.

References:

1. WHO, n.d., as cited in Rashakrishnan, R., (2021 January 27). What Is Health and Wellness? MedicineNet. https://www.medicinenet.com/what_is_health_and_wel…
2. Davis, T., MA, PhD. (n.d.). Definition of Wellness: Meaning, Dimensions, and Examples. Berkely Well-Being Institute. https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/wellness-definit…
3. Canadian Mental Health Association (2019 Oct 17). The importance of human connection. CMHA. https://cmha.ca/the-importance-of-human-connection…
4. Wenk, G. Ph.D. (2021 April 20). This Is Your Brain on Exercise. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/your-brain…
5. Brooker, H. (2021 May 12). This is Your Brain on Food. Fare [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/CfEim43NDas
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Dancing. Atlanta Jewish Times https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/finding-the-hea…

Believe it or not, modern social media is still relatively young. We can trace its ancestry to the early blogging and bulletin board systems in the late 90s. Recognizable forms similar to today’s platforms first emerged in the 2000s, with the now-defunct Six Degrees and Friendster. Undoubtedly, social media is a part of humankind, with billions of people using it daily. But as with any form of transformative technology, it has both positives and negatives. After a couple of decades of weaving social media into our social and cultural fabric, we’ve come to recognize the alarming effect it has on people’s mental health. We see harmful effects such as individuals developing negative body images because they compare themselves to what they are observing and experiencing through social media.

In this article, we’ll take some time to unpack some of the complicated issues around social media use and the connections to body image and mental health. We’ll discuss some of the unrealistic expectations social media serves and examine some of the most problematic behaviours observed. Then, we’ll look at how social media affects how kids, youth, and adults view themselves. Finally, we’ll focus on what you can do to help guide someone struggling with social media use. We’ll end with some tips and strategies you may adopt to turn social media activities into more positively focused experiences.

What do we mean by body image?

We all have a body image. It’s personal, but can be heavily influenced by other people, ideas, and surroundings. Essentially, it’s how someone views their body physically,
plus the positive or negative thoughts and feelings they experience as they look
at themselves. (1)

Body image has four aspects to consider:

1. Perceptual – The way you see yourself “is not always a correct representation of what you actually look like.” (2)
2. Affective – What you like or dislike about the way your body looks. It’s a focus on “appearance, weight, shape and body parts.” (3)
3. Cognitive – The way you think about yourself which ties to what you believe about yourself. (4)
4. Behavioural – Actions that you take or things you do that are directly related to your appearance. (5)

How are body image and mental health related?

A person’s body image can be positive or negative and can fluctuate based on environmental factors. Body image also influences self-esteem, self-acceptance, and someone’s general outlook on life: three important mental health indicators, which can also impact positive or negative viewpoints.

Positivity supports healthy self-esteem levels. It generally means that you feel good and enjoy being social. You may describe yourself as feeling happy and fulfilled with your life. With a positive body image, you are also more likely to be comfortable in your own skin.

You also aren’t as vulnerable to conforming to influences that suggest how you should look to feel accepted. For example,

you likely choose what to eat and when/how to move your body because these activities make you feel good. You’re not trying to fit into an unrealistic mould of someone else’s idealized body image.

When someone’s body image takes on more negative perceptions, they are more likely to be influenced by their environment. They may base their self-esteem on comments or judgements made by friends, family, and social media. It can also begin to affect their mental health. Diminished self-acceptance could find them conflicted, looking for constant validation to counteract how they are feeling about their:

• Age
• Body type or size
• Appearance
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation

What are some warning signs that someone may be relying too heavily on social media for emotional fulfillment?

When someone is using social media so frequently that they begin to experience negative outcomes that are affecting their mental health, they may: 

• Have trouble sleeping, which could be tied to screen exposure. In a 2018 survey, a group of people aged 15-64 were asked about their Internet usage. Nearly 1/5, or 19% of respondents said that they had lost sleep in the previous year due to social media use. This data was collected before a global pandemic and coincidently with the worldwide launch of the social media platform TikTok near the end of 2018. Today, TikTok has 1 million users. (6),(7) Consider that electronics emit blue light wavelengths that “are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times and mood.” (8) Using devices that expose our eyes to blue light in the dark can affect our body’s “biological clock – the circadian rhythm…[so that] sleep suffers.” (9) Researchers are also concerned that this disruption can lead to cancer and conditions like “diabetes and heart disease […].” (10)

• Have difficulty concentrating and focusing. That same survey showed 18% of respondents struggled with concentrating and focusing on tasks. (11)
• Reduce how physically active they are. Almost a quarter said that they had “done less physical activity than normal.” (12)
• Have developed feelings of anxiousness, depression, being envious of other’s lives, and or felt angry or frustrated. 12-14% of respondents reported negative emotional experiences. (13)
• Become more isolated from in-person socialization with friends and family and lose track of time. While experts haven’t yet agreed that social media addiction is an official diagnosis, “overuse is increasingly commonplace” and creates problems. (14) Social media affects the brain by releasing dopamine, a neurotransmission chemical that ties to our sense of motivation and rewards. We keep going back to our favourite social media platforms. We can get lost in the scrolling because when dopamine is released, it makes us feel great. Other forms of addiction leverage dopamine similarly, whether related to drugs, gambling, or even shopping. Interestingly, over time, people may need to consume more of what causes the dopamine release because the smaller amounts they once triggered are no longer enough to provide the reward.

What has social media done to affect body image and mental health?

Unfortunately, social media is yet another form of harmful messaging that continues patterns within our society that convey unrealistic expectations around body image standards. Tabloids, advertising campaigns, magazines, and other forms of media have always tried to influence what the ideal or preferred body looks like. It’s a deadly form of stereotyping that people aspire to that seriously affects someone’s mental health.

With repeated exposure, our thinking can perceive “exaggerated or imagined flaws” in how we look, resulting in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. (15) Social media often objectifies bodies and can shape people’s relationships with food, fashion, and fitness under the guise of inspiration. Hashtags such as #fitsperation are filled with images that people use to compare themselves, not even realizing the amount of retouching and photo-editing that happens before these pictures are ever posted to social media accounts. (16) Even seemingly well-intended “movements” that appear periodically, such as people posting images of their “healthy” meals, have an undercurrent of toxicity and diet culture as they lack context and people are too ready to copy this kind of consumption without considering whether or not these foods being presented are part of fad diets, or have a basis in proper nutrition and eating habits. (17)

These posts can be damaging to body image, self-esteem, and self-worth so severely that it could potentially increase their vulnerability for the development of eating disorders. Orthorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder often tied to social media’s ‘healthy eating’ movement based on extremism. With it, people become obsessed with eating what the images reveal as ‘healthy’ foods to the point of expelling any ‘bad’ foods. It’s a dangerous cycle that can see people develop malnutrition because there is not enough diversity within someone’s diet. (18)

Other troubling behaviours observed in people who use social media extensively

Neuroscientists continue to study social media’s influence on people’s behaviours. We’ve compiled a shortlist of things to examine, develop an awareness of, and potentially address.

• Being obsessed with the number of likes, views, and followers someone has on their social media accounts can be a warning sign. Suppose a person is constantly checking social media during the day and seems always to be scrolling. In that case, it may be an indication that they are having difficulty disconnecting. They can develop a Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) mindset that compels them to stay connected constantly.

• Consuming vast amounts of micro-content in the form of reels (short videos or posts) can overload our brains. It can even lead to something called phantom vibration syndrome “that can make you feel like your phone is buzzing even if it’s not.” (19) The constant barrage of content produces immediate rewards in the form of dopamine.
• Drawing comparisons to influencers and creating a highly curated account of your life is another red flag. One UK-based study revealed that close to 90% of women compare themselves to other social media content producers. More than ½ of the comparisons result in a negative self-image. The same study indicated that 65% of men draw comparisons with close to 40% of these being negative perceptions of themselves. (20) People develop insecurities with how they live their lives compared to influencers and content creators who boast about making vast incomes and receiving sponsorships and product endorsement opportunities regularly. Highly curated content intended to make someone seem exceptionally successful is another toxic behaviour. It glamorizes inauthentic lifestyles.
• Obsession or voyeuristic tendencies for looking at other people’s lives can influence behaviour. People can become fixated on finding out about private topics that would seldom be discussed in public. Paparazzi are culpable in this by producing images that contribute to malicious and harmful content about celebrities which leads to some people relishing in their apparent misfortune. A tableau that exposes people’s mental health struggles publicly questions our ability to operate with compassion and empathy and respect privacy. It’s vastly different than an awareness-based campaign to reduce stigma. These things can quickly lead down the path of cyberbullying and cyberstalking, where comments on posts are laden with cruel intentions and exhibit potential danger to someone’s safety. Laws are not yet well defined in this area, and people may be surprised to find out that limited action can be taken in these kinds of situations.
• Portraying oneself in social media using photo modifications and filters creates a distorted sense of self. This does more harm than good to a person’s body image. Again, people believe that they must maintain expectations of how they look, dress, and behave with their social media personas. There are inherent dangers to this beyond the psychological aspects. Hackers improve their deepfakes using content that social media users generate to overlay and create something completely artificial. Revealing too much personal information through social media channels is also dangerous. It can be collected and sold on the dark web to create false identities to impersonate someone, gain access to their finances, or steal their identity. Finally, many people don’t understand that releasing images via social media platforms means that the picture’s data is forever on the Internet. People can experience significant distress and trauma knowing that there may be private photos circulating that they cannot remove or control.

How does social media affect a person’s body image over time?

Information about children’s use of social media is hard to come by. There is a phenomenon where parents post content with their children, hoping it could go viral and make them famous. These children don’t choose whether they wish to have their images or likenesses shared online. It’s an early start down a path that normalizes social media usage and creates the associate that a person’s value can be defined by how much engagement a post generates.

By far, teens and young adults are the most avid users of social media. Between ages 15 and 34, an average of 93% regularly use social media platforms. From 35-49, that drops to 83% and from 50-64, to 68%. Only ½ of people over the age of 65 regularly engage on social media. (21)

While there is hope that someone’s use of social media might diminish over time, as new platforms and technologies are released, that remains to be seen. Whistleblowers from inside these organizations are starting to reveal alarming details that expose how these companies go to great lengths to increase engagement. Instead, they should evaluate their influence and strive to become part of the solution to reducing harm.

Is social media all bad?

We should note that social media platforms can deliver mixed results for LGBT2Q+, BIPOC and people with both visible and invisible disabilities. They are generally viewed as unsafe because of the prevalence of hateful messages and harassment. Still, youth express how social media can be liberating to find people who are positive influences.

Parents need to thoughtfully address this topic with their kids and teens to understand how to recognize and exit from the harmful and toxic situations that social media serves instead of escalating them. Having an appreciation that for some people, social media does provide opportunities to develop other aspects of self-worth and find affinity in people who they can relate to.

A checklist of tips that can help

If you are trying to guide someone towards responsible social media use to develop and maintain positive mental health, you may want to think about these tips:

• Establish boundaries that include conscious decisions about what to read and look at online.
• Investigate how to leverage built-in controls within technology such as phone settings, parental controls, and activating usage statistics that reveal how much time is spent online by application.
• Find inclusive and body-positive social media presences to follow and share this content with people you are trying to help. It will appear in their feeds and may help them think twice about engaging and recognize more valuable and realistic sources of productive and positive content.
• Be open to discussing different aspects of social media to share your thoughts and develop listening skills that help inspire positive critical thinking and challenge convention.
• Set goals to be more focused on overall physical and mental health rather than appearance.
• Model daily self-acceptance and positivity.
• Most importantly, institute social media breaks. Moderation is vital, and self-imposed retreats can help if there are particularly strong reactions to upsetting situations or content.
• Consider how much content is shared daily and whether you need to contribute. For example, there are 500 hours of YouTube content uploaded each minute worldwide. Instagram has 95 million photos and videos shared daily. Is it necessary? What could go wrong?

References:

1. Confident Body – National Eating Disorders Collaboration (n.d.) Fact Sheet: Body Image. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.confidentbody.net/uploads/1/7/0/2/1702…
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Schimmele, C., Fonberg, J., Schellenberg, G. (2021 March 24). Economic and Social Reports: Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives. Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2021 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/202…
7. Dean, Brian (2021 October 11). TikTok User Statistics 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021 from https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users
8. Harvard Medical School (2020 July 7). Staying Healthy: Blue light has a dark side. Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved on November 22, 2021 from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blu…
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Schimmele, C., Fonberg, J., Schellenberg, G. (2021 March 24). Economic and Social Reports: Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives. Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2021 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/202…
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Cherney, K. (2020 August 6). What Is Social Media Addiction? Healthline. Retrieved November 22, 2021 from https://www.healthline.com/health/social-media-add…
15. Emotion Matters. (n.d.). How Does Social Media Influence Body Image? emotionmatters. Retrieved on November 15, 2021 from https://emotionmatters.co.uk/2018/10/04/how-does-s…
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. McSweeney, K. (2019, March 17). This is Your Brain on Instagram: Effects of Social Media on the Brain. Now. Powered by Northrop Grumman. Retrieved on November 15, 2021 from https://now.northropgrumman.com/this-is-your-brain…
20. Emotion Matters. (n.d.). How Does Social Media Influence Body Image? emotionmatters. Retrieved on November 15, 2021 from https://emotionmatters.co.uk/2018/10/04/how-does-s…
21. Schimmele, C., Fonberg, J., Schellenberg, G. (2021 March 24). Economic and Social Reports: Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives. Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2021 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/202…