“The idea of a potential future reward keeps the machines in use. Think of a slot machine: if game players knew they never were going to get money by playing the game, then they never would play,” Sperling says. “When the outcome is unpredictable, the behavior is more likely to repeat. This puts a large amount of the population at an increased risk of feeling anxious, depressed, or ill over their social media use.īut what makes users come back for more even when it can literally make them feel sick? The platforms are designed to be addictive and are associated with anxiety, depression, and even physical ailments.Īccording to the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults and 81% of teens in the U.S. Using it activates the brain’s reward center by releasing dopamine, a “feel-good chemical” linked to pleasurable activities such as sex, food, and social interaction.

Tips for healthy social media use in adults and teens.The impact of social media on our mental health.I’ve been really wondering why this is this case, I don’t know how I could’ve built up a tolerance as I’ve never been a regular consumer of caffeine. Is this down to my genetics? I don’t recall my mum or dad having this issue and they are both regular coffee drinkers. It’s hard for me to know what a ‘kick’ or ‘buzz’ is because I just don’t feel the effects that caffeine gives.

I’ve tried having two energy drinks back to back before and still don’t feel anything.

I only drink energy drinks because I actually like the flavour. I’m not a coffee drinker either, but whenever I want something to wake me up I’ll resort to a long black, not for the taste but to try and wake me up, but it never works. I can drink coffee, energy drinks, anything with high amounts of caffeine in it, I even bought one of the strongest pre-workouts the other day (DVST8) as I wasn’t getting a buzz from a regular brand I was using.

Effect on me