Instagram reels kill you.

Pfft alright that was a really bad intro, but it sure does speak volumes. Now- instagram reels really don't kill you (source: trust me), but they sure do make things way worse for you. The great social media tragedy that remains to this day is how the creators have cleverly devised a tool for common people to keep them hinged to the point of doom. The flashy lights, the uplifting tunes and the catchy headlines make us hungry for more. And that's the exact reason why doom scrolling has come up as a huge issue. The hunger for new content to view, the fear of missing out on things others don't, the dopamine rush of laughter- all of this makes it difficult to get off our phones.

The worst part remains that these things actually affect our daily life much more strongly than we think. The content we consume becomes our very thought process, it settles in our subconscious. In layman's terms: if you watch too many couple goal reels, you'll start to wish you had a romantic partner (literally me). Same goes with low moods. If you've ever experienced the feeling of heartbreak without even having fallen love once, only because your favorite influencer is crying over it, then you've felt the very trap of social media. And it's not just Instagram, but even sites like YouTube, Snapchat, Discord etc. makes things worse for us.

Now you must be counter-arguing "what if I don't watch such reels LMAO" good reply.

however- you missed the point. FOMO, also known as Fear Of Missing Out is very much present even in our conversations. Watching people live a life you are trying to manifest (or not) brings out your inner depresso. It's human desire. We don't like what we have and we want what the other has because they seem to be enjoying it better than us (psst, filters make things appealing to such an extent, that you'll be craving for even stuff like McDonald's Fanta)

So how does this all connect to our literal deaths?

Doom scrolling eventually brings out a guilt in our hearts. Ever missed spending time with your mother because Lana Del Ray's fans were arguing over her new song? Yeah, that's exactly how the guilt feels like. We dream too much and miss out on working towards making it reality. But because social media does give us some amount of dopamine in a loop, we tend to always treat it as our guilty pleasure. Aka, you'll blame the entire world for your anger issues, while the source lies in your hand.

The frustration and other negative emotions that it carries sets a heavy weight. And if you're someone who's struggling with something, this might make it even worse. Infact, the reduced amount of attention we all have left in us affects our daily life. Our office/school performance drops down, leading to depressive moods.

Man, it can even reach to an extent where out of frustration, even self-harm can become a comfort.

So, step out of your home, touch some grass, and throw that phone (murder weapon) away :D