Within our practice, we have seen firsthand just how common (and destructive) anger issues can be within a person’s life. There is no denying that the day-to-day grind is chock full of stressors, but interestingly enough, there may be another big contributor to the rise of rage. According to new research from The Independent, social media may play a significant role for people facing this very real problem.
The UK news site shared insights from Mike Fisher, who happens to be the head of the British Association of Anger Management. He has written several books on the topic and worked in the field for over two decades. One thing he highlighted in his interview was the increase of cases that he’s been seeing through his organization. And one of the prime contributors, he claims, is the rise of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“I can speak for myself, I am a complete Facebook addict,” Fisher openly admitted. “I notice I read less, spend less time just getting to chill out, and I can see it becoming a real problem. When someone who is very disconnected and emotionally inept and who is depressed and angry and feels lost, social media gives your life meaning and helps to connect in a very disconnected kind of way. My concern is that as a culture we are finding things to distract us from what’s important. For the average person the big problem is constantly distracting ourselves from our feelings.”
And that, Fisher claims, is the biggest concern for people pouring their free time into social apps. Finding new ways to distract yourself (and we all know what a distraction something like Facebook can be), pushes you away from facing your real problems. It also can create isolation, which is actually ironic since you may have tons of social “friends” who you actually don’t physically interact with.
So while this certainly isn’t a “high alert” concern, we believe it is worth noting. Social media can certainly be its own form of addiction and, truth be told, lead to some negative consequences down the line. Our advice is to simply do self evaluations from time to time and take a moment to see how much of your day you’re actually committing to these sites. And remember. if you are experiencing anger issues, the last thing you want to do is ignore them.
“Stop and take a look at the big picture,” White concluded in his Independent interview. “Anger isn’t going to go away. You have to face it head on and come to terms with the fact you’re angry, and you’ll have to do something about it sooner or later.”