Experts have advised young people to revise their Social Media routines and beware of addiction to the same for the sake of their mental health. The professionals, who were appearing on the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Uganda and South Sudan sixth (6th) edition of the Uganda Social Media Conference attributed so many factors to the deteriorating state of mental health of Ugandans with social media addition taking a spot.
Wellness and Nutrition doctor, Paul Kasenene, who was a panelist observed that spending more time on social media makes one restless and more addicted in the long run.
“You cannot even conceive getting off your phone unless you’re aware that being on phone all the time can cause mental breakdown. As long as you start to notice change in your behavior or mood then you should be aware of what’s likely to happen. The choices that you make are really because of your brain health. Try digitally detoxicating yourself. Do physical exercises which create the same craving you’re looking for on social media. Eat well to make your brain better. Learn new things which will take attention away from social media,” he said.
“Mental health is an aspect of our health that deals with, for a larger part, our brain. It’s important to keep yourself in check with your behaviours, habits and emotions to ensure that your physical health and mental health are fine,” Dr Kasenene further said.
Dr Benedict Akimana, a psychiatrist at Butabika Hospital, who was a panelist as well at the conference believes that the state of mental health in Uganda has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic lockdowns that followed.
“Quite a number of people have been affected by the COVID-19 situation. Many people have suffered depression due to loss of jobs, loss of relatives, adjustment orders at work places have also set in, among others,” Dr Akimana said Wednesday, on Day 1 of the conference.
He observed that many internet users (especially young girls and boys) have developed a tendency of judging their bodily looks by what they see on social media yet, according to him, social media is not only about having an amazing life.
“What happens when someone posts something on social media and they don’t get the number of likes they hoped for? It gets to them. They start feeling less worthy, others develop suicidal thoughts or isolate themselves because they think people are having more amazing lives than theirs,” Dr. Akimana observed.
