As Instagram has started to dominate social media and become the most used social network, it has become one of the biggest platforms where teens and celebrities from around the world upload their stories and share their lives.

There are tons and tons of people uploading posts and spamming information on Instagram each day. Precisely because of the huge amount of information that humans are being brainwashed with every day on the platform, Instagram chronically damages peoples’ mental health. Instagram is a problem.

Messes with people’s focus

Instagram has the magic that makes it so people can’t pay attention to doing one thing. When you’re doing your assignments, you find it hard to finish so you give yourself a break to scroll through Instagram. Your attention span decreases and you get poop grades because instead of going back to your work, you just keep scrolling. The more people use Insta the more it keeps them on it. This causes people to fail to accomplish things that need attention and messes with people’s focus.

Instagram is addictive

Lots of people are addicted but they just don’t know or don’t want to admit it. I found myself addicted to Instagram by going on it way too much. When I had any free time the only thing I wanted to do was get on Instagram and eventually I came to be addicted to it. Teens are especially vulnerable to addiction on Instagram because they have less self-control than adults.

Insta harms people’s mental health

The worst thing about overusing Instagram is that it is associated with high levels of anxiety, depression, and fear of missing out (FOMO). You’ll find that as you start to spend more time on Instagram your mental health deteriorates.

People will worry about missing out on their friends’ new posts and stories. Teens love to compare what they have and flex on social media, and when Stephanie sees her friend bought a new Balenciaga bag, she gets uncomfortable because she doesn’t own one and this in turn makes her anxious and depressed.

I was a huge Instagram addict; I realized how dangerous my illness was because whenever I was about to get on Instagram and check my friends’ stories, my heart started pounding terrifically. That was clearly a sign of me overusing Instagram and it scared the crap out of me so I decided to stop and take a break from Instagram. Eventually, I escaped from Instagram’s manipulation and now I’m on social media for less than 30 minutes each day.

Instagram spreads and feeds off of comparison culture

People compare their seemingly mundane lives to the socially-network curated lives of influencers causing them to feel like their life is dissatisfactory. Look at all those clothes brands that sponsored Annie; look, Theresa has 1200 followers on Instagram but I only have 500. People like to compare themselves to others, as well as make unintentional comparisons which in turn depresses them and makes them think their lives are not as good as everyone else they see on Instagram.

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Stuff on the internet is mostly fake because people put the best side of their lives on social media; who would want to share the negative things in life on social media and let everyone else think their life is only meh?

So, to have stronger mental health, consider deleting The Gram. If that is too much, set a plan for how much time you will spend on Instagram each day. Consider setting a 30 minute time limit each day and remember to stay positive on Instagram when you’re on it.