Unless you wish to live under a cave, it is close to impossible to stay away from the influence of social media. It has become an inseparable part of our life. You never know when 'Oh let me see the twitter updates for 5 minutes' changes to 'how on earth did I waste 2 hours stalking people and scrolling their accounts?' Every hour spent on social media can break your confidence a little every time. 

No doubt, social media keeps you connected with the rest of the world and keeps you updated with the current trends happening around you. Still, it isn't very easy to differentiate between its positive and negative aspects. Social media can bring upon us anxiety, loneliness, and even depression when you see others doing way better in life as compared to you. To have a happy life while using social media, it is necessary to maintain a balance between its good and bad qualities. Here are some ways that will help you do so.

• Stay away from accounts that bring a complex

Every person has some aspirations or goals that they wish to achieve. Just because someone has accomplished them before you, it should not demotivate you. If looking at some people’s accounts brings insecurity and you begin comparing yourself with them, then unfollow those accounts immediately.

• Keep a track of time

Do not spend more than 2 hours per day on social media. A long time spent browsing accounts means that you are overindulging yourself. Phones now allow you to keep a tab on the time spent on each of the sites. Monitor your timings and set limits for yourself.  When you call it a night, keep your phone on sleep mode as well. 

• Do not use it as a substitute for real-time conversation

Online conversations can never take the place of offline conversations. Try to maintain a balance between both. 

• Prioritize the use of social media

When you are having dinner with your family or having a heartfelt conversation with your friend, keep your phones aside. At that moment it is not at all necessary to know what your friends or colleagues are posting!

• Engage in online conversations 

Rather than scrolling aimlessly and stalking celebrities, participate in discussions of your interest. When you participate and share meaningful content you actively connect with people.

• Make positive use of social media.

Apart from connecting with friends, there are other constructive uses of social media as well. Some accounts help you gain knowledge in particular fields like cooking or crafting. Following such accounts will motivate you to pursue your hobbies. Also, following some pages will bring a smile to your face like happy babies or dogs. They are also the most searched for videos on social media platforms.

• Take a break

Whenever you feel you are overdoing the use of social media, gather all your efforts and will power to keep the phone away. You could plan to have a dedicated day in a month when you keep yourself away from the pressure of social media. Every now and then you could also plan a retreat where no digital devices are allowed. 

H.L.Mencken has rightly defined love as war, ‘easy to begin but very hard to stop.’ The heart beats 10x faster as soon as we hear the words ‘We need to talk.’ The sudden rush of emotions when you find out that your partner either needs a divorce or is ditching you. Or even worse, the shocking news of a death can make you question your entire existence. It’s a terrible feeling to see a relationship die in front of you, and it is even more difficult to live life feeling the absence of that magical connection that was so close to your heart. But if you have the will power, getting over someone is possible.

It is challenging to get over a breakup, especially if you haven’t initiated it. But if Chandler Bing can do it, so can you, you just need to find the recovery stages that will help you walk past the difficult period. Who knows a Monica is waiting for you at the end of the relationship with Kathy. These are some steps that will help you bring back the happiness in your life. 

• Accept the end

The first step to get over someone is always accepting the end of the relationship. It may be difficult but that is the truth. The sooner one understands the better for him or her. All you can now do about the past is to analyze the relationship, if it ended due to the death of love, then see where things went wrong. And make sure you do not get into a similar troublesome relationship again.

• Endurance

The emptiness that follows after a relationship exits from your life is a difficult stage to handle. But don’t make the pain unbearable for you. Cry it out for once and finish it. Avoid blame games as they do not result in anything. Stay away from anything that reminds you of it for a while till you are strong enough to not get emotional about it. 

• Stop stalking them over social media.

Social media helps us keep a tab of what is happening in people’s lives that we know. But using this platform to stalk your ex can harm your mental health. Unfollow your ex’s accounts as that will help you detach emotionally from the past relationship.

• Do not isolate yourself from friends. 

However painful it may be, do not avoid your friends. They can always help you get out of adverse situations. Spending time with friends can distract you from other negative things. Talking to them can also help you clear your mind and gain confidence again in yourself.

• Do things that you love more than anything else in this world.

However life is, there are always somethings that are capable of bringing a smile on your face. Hobbies and activities like cooking, pottery, painting or traveling can help you regain the momentum of your life. Invest your energy into positive outputs. 

• Do not lose faith over the whole concept of love. 

However difficult getting over someone may be, keep the belief alive of finding someone who will fill your empty heart with happiness again. Take time, though, but don’t block the roads to your heart.

Staying alone comes with a lot of perks like the liberating feeling of waking up on your own terms, doing anything in the house according to your own timings, and asking no one before making a decision. Although complete privacy and the freedom to eat in your bed might sound fun, but living alone comes with a lot of other disadvantages. Studies have shown a relationship between living alone and some common mental disorders. 

According to Statista, in 2019, approximately 36.48 million people were living in single-person households in the United States. A few decades back, the concept of staying alone was restricted to being a forced situation. But the current trends suggest that it has become a choice. However, this preference for a way of living has many psychological effects on our minds. 

These are some of the immediate effects of such a lifestyle.

• No human contact and social isolation

When you are living on your own, you begin to like your own company, and that makes it easier for you to stay indoors rather than being with friends outside. You become anti-social and lose human connection.  

• More influence from social media

When you are alone and have no one to talk to, the only resort for entertainment becomes your mobile phone. Spending too much time on social media can influence your mind in a negative way as it keeps reminding you of all the things that you couldn’t achieve, giving you a lot of time and material to think about.

• Boredom

Having only your own company is good for a while, but after a certain point in time, you don’t want to come back to an empty home. You would want to have a conversation about how your day was, or you would want some company during your meals. Pets could help you for a while in tough times, but the human touch is irreplaceable.

• Poor health habits

With no necessity to follow a schedule, eating and sleeping habits take a back seat in your priority list. Most of the time, one might not feel like cooking a meal for one, so junk food becomes a convenient choice. Sleep also has no fixed schedule as you can keep the television and lights on till however long as you want as you won’t be disturbing anyone but yourself. Also, motivation for physical activity becomes very difficult. 

These habits have a burdensome impact on your mental health, and researchers have indicated that these could lead to the following mental health issues.

• Loneliness

When you do not have anybody to talk to or share your feelings, a sulking feeling overpowers you. An empty house makes you feel empty from inside as well. Social isolation may also lead to negative suicidal thoughts if not treated on time. 

• Depression

Accumulation of thoughts of loneliness may lead to a depressed state of mind where it becomes difficult to find happiness in your life. This feeling of sadness and grief aggravates if there are other added problems in life.

• Anxiety

The feeling of being nervous or worried about any situation may not be dependent on being alone. But social isolation does provoke anxiety. It worsens the situation making the person unhappy and anxious.

In all of the above situations, one must seek therapy or talk to friends or family for help. Mental health should be handled with seriousness right from identifying its primary stages. Especially if you are living alone, make efforts to keep the human connection alive in your life.

Anxiety is a state of mental distress that does not let you live a normal life. You keep struggling to calm yourself while you overthink situations and probable outputs. It is a difficult situation for people around you as well as they do not understand your condition and don't know how to react.

It is, therefore, best that you first understand what triggers anxiety for you and what works in calming it down. 

Sometimes unknowingly, we could be triggering anxiety with some of our practices. Make a note of the incidents, when you have a panic attack and try to figure out a pattern that could be the reason triggering your anxiety.

The probable anxiety-causing habits could be:

• Stress: When you overthink situations over and over again and anticipate results. 
• Eating disorders: Unhealthy eating habits like having meals late in the night or skipping meals could be affecting your overall health as well as your anxiety.
• Sleeping disorders: Staying awake late in the night or not completing the required adequate sleep could be disturbing you mentally.
• Inactive lifestyle: Exercises are essential for any person in general. A sedentary lifestyle could lead to many problems in the human body.
• Social media: Too much social media could be taking away your happiness, and it could be reminding you of all the things that you have not been able to achieve, leaving you unhappy.
• Allergic reactions: Your medications could be having side effects. It's best to consult a doctor in such a case.
• Caffeine overdose: Caffeine acts as a stimulant to add to the freighting reaction. It has proven to have a negative impact on mental health if taken in large quantities.
• Negativity: When you think of all the negative things that have happened to you in the past or may happen to you in the future, you are more at risk of triggering anxiety.

When a friend is getting anxious, it is often difficult to understand how to react and how to help. Some things could also instigate the anxiety attack further. These are some sentences that one must completely avoid in such a situation.

• You are overthinking about it.
• You need to relax.
• A drink could help!
• It's all in your head.
• Do not let it affect you.
• You are overreacting.
• It's a phase. It will get over soon.

Anxiety is not a controllable situation. It requires both time and patience to come out from that painful zone. These are some suggestions for how you can help your loved one's battle anxiety.

• Understand the person. You might not be able to help but be there to show that you are there as a support.
• Do not give unnecessary advice as it could aggravate the mental pain. 
• Just ask if they need anything. Avoid unnecessary talking as it increases the stress on the brain. 
• If the person concerned is close to you, maybe your family or friend, then help to identify the pattern to understand what is triggering the anxiety in him or her.
• Once they are calm, counsel them to seek professional help or therapy.

Anxiety could make the person anti-social. Continuos attacks of anxiety could also lead to depression and loneliness. If you are suffering, then do not hesitate to seek help, and if someone you know has this fear, help them conquer anxiety as soon as possible.

Two people meet and instantly fall in love. After a short struggle, they live happily ever after. A reel concept straight out of romantic movies is far away from the truth in real life. In reality, there is much more that goes into making a perfect relationship like battling misunderstandings, disagreements, and failed expectations. The complexity of a relationship demands love with a mix of values like understanding, forgiveness, and tolerance. These values come complimentary with effective communication in relationships.

We all have been in situations where we sometimes say things that we don't intend and other times find ourselves at a lack of words when we wish to express. 'Maybe I could have avoided the last breakup or could have expressed my love better, 'is a common regret in most of our relationships. All of us have been in several instances where we felt we could have said things differently or handled a situation in a better way. These incidents leave us wondering, 'what could I have done differently to make things better?' Probably communication is the answer that you have been searching for all this while. Effective communication in a relationship could be the solution to most of your problems.

Communication does not mean talking to someone or making small talk. Instead, it is a strong feeling fueled by the desire to understand the other person's needs and opinions. It means to have a conversation where you listen more and try to read all those emotions hidden behind spoken words. Whether it is a romantic relationship or a friendship, longer-lasting relationships are based on stronger bonds of connection.

But does that mean effective communication in relationships guarantees a paradise where both keep agreeing with each other? No, communication does not result in the elimination of conflicts. As an individual, we have certain opinions and priorities. Disputes and disagreements for them are also bound to be in a relationship. But a practice of efficient communication can help you resolve the conflict in a better way where you keep the love and affection for the person above the dissent.

But how can you practice for an unpredictable situation? One can practice an art or a sport, but how does one practice effective communication in relationships? When you start understanding the needs and have compassion for the person, it becomes easier to deal with situations involving them. You know how a person will react to a particular thing, and thus it becomes easier for you to handle the issue. Conversation helps you open your hearts to each other; therefore, the chances of disagreements decrease.

The entire purpose of effective communication in relationships is to create a conversational intimacy. The current society trends depict confusion regarding how one should behave with people. Your conversations are often influenced by thoughts like 'Am I being vulnerable by expressing my emotions, or am I sounding very dominating?' These questions suggest discomfort in relationships and do not allow open-hearted discussions. A relationship achieves the highest level of intimacy when you openly put forward your emotions, concerns, and vulnerability out in front of the other without being scared of your partner's reaction. The significant other also receives your feelings with an understanding and compassion. Conversational intimacy makes it very comfortable for both the people to be with each other. A study of college-aged couples suggests that communication helped the couple increase their overall pleasure as well in relationships.

The benefits of effective communication in relationships are not limited to romantic relationships; it also helps in making your professional associations more fruitful. Workplace interactions become more comfortable and more productive. Active listening and open communication helps generate innovative ideas and makes it easier to understand each other and work as a team. Effective communication in relationships also helps strengthen your connections with your family and friends. You understand each other better and begin to develop an inward feeling of care for them. Your overall ability to deal with clashing situation enhances, making you and your relationships happier.