Everyone is subject to one kind of addiction or another. Most often we are addicted to public opinion, which influences the formation of our stereotypes and lifestyle. What is social addiction and is it worth fighting it?
To begin with, we should clarify that we should not confuse two terms: “social media addiction” and “social addiction”. Psychologists began to deal with addiction to social networks quite recently. The growth in demand for such a resource has led to the fact that a lot of teenagers and young people have become addicted to virtual communication. The reason for this can be called some hidden complexes and unrealized desires that everyone has. Social networks provide an opportunity to communicate, which, for certain reasons, is not enough in real life. You can freely communicate with strangers, live a different life, present yourself as a different person. Social networks and virtual communication give a certain sense of psychological protection from the opinions of others.
Addiction to social networks is characterized by the fact that a person begins to spend most of his time in front of a computer monitor, constantly being in a social network. The desire to be interesting for others and constant virtual communication are the main signs of addiction.
Social addiction is different from the one described above. Here people become totally dependent on public opinion. It is impossible to completely shield yourself from society, so many begin to listen to public opinion. In this way, people begin to change their lives and actions in order to receive approval from those around them. Since everyone is in the midst of other people, almost everyone has this kind of addiction.
Another negative manifestation of social addiction is the inability to make their own decisions. Thus a person simply follows the stereotypes that have already formed in his head: “my decision means nothing”, “it is necessary to listen to the opinion of others”. Social dependence forces people to submit to the system: it is not possible to work without instructions and examples from outside.
Social dependence greatly affects self-esteem. People become totally dependent on the evaluation of others. If a person is constantly praised, supported, called beautiful and clever, the result will be an inflated self-esteem. To lower one’s self-esteem, constant criticism is more than enough. No one is born with a formed personality. In the process of forming their own selves, people constantly listen to others, to their opinions, as if trying on themselves other people’s demands, opinions and feelings. This is how we create our own dependence on those around us.
Social dependence requires not only a struggle against it, but also an awareness of it. Since each of us depends on the opinions of those around us to one degree or another, we may be advised to simply understand that others have no concern for our lives. There is no need to make excuses for our actions and mistakes. Only parents and very close people can really care about us.
To free ourselves from social addiction, we must understand what it is about social addiction that can attract, and why it is so hard to give up a habitual life. Like any habit, social addiction can be replaced with something else that is harmless to the psyche. Often psychologists advise choosing several new hobbies that will help shift attention to other aspects of life. New interests emerge that embrace new areas of life, until that time unknown.
Relaxation also helps a lot to get rid of social addiction. For this you can go to nature, take a walk in the woods or go fishing. You can do crafts. You just have to try to be alone, and it’s not that scary. Over time, everyone will realize that social addiction and the opinions of others should not influence their lives.