How to quit instagram addiction
How to Stop Instagram Addiction
Table of Contents
- Who uses Instagram?
- What makes Instagram so addictive?
- How Instagram impacts mental health
- Signs of Instagram addiction
- How to stop Instagram addiction
- Get expert help
For most people, Instagram is a fun way to share and comment on photos and videos. However, some users – particularly teenage girls – are spending too much time compulsively scrolling while neglecting other interests, schoolwork, relationships, and their mental health and well-being.
In this article, we take a closer look at the social media app to help you understand more about the risks involved and why Instagram is so addictive.
Get immediate help for you or a loved one’s social media addiction. Book a free Gameplan call now to learn if our program is the right fit for you.
Who uses Instagram?Instagram is a free photo and video-sharing platform. Since its launch by Apple in 2010, and subsequent sale to Facebook in 2012, it has become the world’s fourth most-used social media network after Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.
There are currently over 1.1 billion monthly users worldwide and this figure is projected to increase to nearly 1.2 billion monthly users in 2023.
According to a Global State of Digital 2022 report, the majority of Instagram users are Millennials and Gen Z:
- 13-17 years old – 8.5%
- 18-24 years old – 30.1%
- 25-34 years old – 31.5%
- 35-44 years old – 16.1%
- 45-54 years old – 8%
- 55-64 years old – 3.6%
- Over 65 years old – 2.1%.
Across all age groups, the gender split is fairly even: male users – 50.7% versus female users – 49.3%. However, this is not the case in every age category, for Instagram users aged 35+, women outnumber men.
The average user scrolls through the platform for 53 minutes every day which equates to eight months of their life spent on Instagram. 63% of Instagram users check the app at least once a day and 42% open the app multiple times.
Although there are no specific Instagram addiction statistics available, it is estimated that 330 million people worldwide will potentially suffer from problematic internet use in 2022 and up to 10% of people in the US could have social media addiction.
Several ex-employees of Apple, Facebook and Google have revealed that Instagram is designed to be addictive. It uses sophisticated and data-driven methods to entice users to spend as much time as possible on the platform because this generates more advertising revenue. One former Instagram addict explains how “fighting a habit can be very hard, especially if there is an army of programmers, behavior scientists as well as data analysts working against you.”
App developer Peter Mezyk explains that “the success of an app is often measured by the extent to which it introduces a new habit.” He reveals that developers use a three-pronged approach when designing an app: sufficient motivation, an action and a trigger. Instagram ticks all three boxes. The motivation comes from the reward system triggered by scrolling through photos and videos – it releases the feel-good neurochemical dopamine that can leave us craving more,.
The action comes from being able to open the app and interact with it straight away. And the trigger comes in the form of smartphone notifications and the fear of missing out (FOMO).
Dive Deeper: The Dopamine Theory of Addiction
For some people, like bestselling author Laura McKowen, Instagram can become as addictive as drugs or alcohol. McKowen published an article in The New York Times about how she was addicted to Instagram. Her life became increasingly consumed by the app to the point that it started to harm the relationship with her daughter and boyfriend, so she decided to quit the platform. She describes “the buzz of fear in my stomach, the clutch of anxiety around my throat, the endless procession of negative thoughts, the fractured texture of my attention.”
How Instagram impacts mental healthResearch has shown that Instagram is associated with positive and negative effects, depending on how it’s used.
According to the Pew Research Center, most teenagers report that social media helps them feel more connected to friends and provides emotional support.
However, Facebook’s internal studies, published by The Wall Street Journal, reveal that Instagram has made body image issues worse for one in three 3 teenage girls.
The American Psychological Association says that “studies have linked Instagram to depression, body image concerns, self-esteem issues, social anxiety, and other problems. By design, the app capitalizes on users’ biological drive for social belonging—and nudges them to keep on scrolling.”
Signs of Instagram addictionWhat are the signs that you are addicted to Instagram, or your son or daughter is addicted to Instagram? Here are a few red flags to watch out for:
- Feeling an uncontrollable urge to check and scroll through Instagram.
- Needing to spend more and more time on Instagram to find the same level of pleasure.
- Attempting to control, cut down or stop using the app without success.
- Feeling irritable, restless or anxious when not using Instagram.
- Turning to Instagram to escape from personal problems.
- Devoting so much time to Instagram that it has a negative impact on other important life areas.
- Unable to stop scrolling through Instagram during other activities.
- Losing interest in all other hobbies and pastimes.
- Quickly reverting to excessive Instagram use after a period of abstinence.
The way social media apps, such as Instagram, affect your brain even has a term now called TikTok brain.
Get immediate help for you or a loved one’s social media addiction. Book a free Gameplan call now to learn if our program is the right fit for you.
How to stop Instagram addictionIf you, or someone you care about, is showing signs of Instagram addiction here are some tips to help break the scrolling cycle:
Stop sharing photos and videosAlthough Instagram is not just about sharing content (it’s also about seeing what other people have posted), cutting out one of these reasons for scrolling will reduce your time spent on the platform.
That’s because if you haven’t shared any photos or videos, you won’t be tempted to keep checking for likes and comments.
You may start the day with good intentions not to check Instagram but it’s very tempting to reach for your phone when you receive notifications. However, if you switch off your phone for the day, it’s much easier to ignore it. Choose a non-workday and let close friends and family know an alternative way to contact you in an emergency. You will be surprised how liberating it is to be able to focus on other activities without any distraction.
Delete the Instagram appIf it’s not possible to switch off your phone for a whole day, try deleting the Instagram app on your smartphone. Restricting access to your desktop or laptop will help you be more intentional in your usage and reduce the amount of time you spend mindlessly scrolling and commenting.
Use the ‘Take A Break’ featureInstagram has recently launched a new ‘Take a Break’ feature to help users spend less time on the app.
It gives you the option of receiving notifications to take a break from Instagram after a certain amount of time. Here are instructions for setting it up.
Check out our recommended screen time guidelines to help you decide on a reasonable amount of time to spend on Instagram each day. Then, set a daily limit so you stop using the app when you reach that threshold. Find out how to set a daily Instagram limit.
If you are also addicted to other social media apps such as TikTok you will need to set limits for them as well.
Find new hobbiesFind other hobbies or activities to fill your time so that Instagram isn’t the default whenever you are bored. Our hobby tool has over 70 ideas to inspire you.
Get expert helpIf you, or a loved one, are suffering from Instagram addiction, help is available. Our coaching program is designed to help individuals and families regain balance with technology.
Get in touch today to book your gameplan strategy call.
How to beat your social media addiction, according to a therapist
Love it or hate it, social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram have profoundly changed the way we think, communicate and socialize as a society. Instagram is even beginning to change features (by hiding likes, for example) in response to studies linking social media usage to increased rates of mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Given that mental health experts, researchers and other pros are voicing concerns on how our social-media obsessed society can more cause harm than we may have guessed, you may be wondering if it's affecting your own mental health.
Now that more people are talking about the negative effects of using social media too much, it's common to see friends on Instagram announce they're doing a "detox" or taking a break from the apps for a period of time. But is quitting social media (even for a few days) a good idea and can it really help you in the long term?
According to Dr.
Logan Jones, psychologist and founder of NYC Therapy + Wellness, it depends. While taking a break from social media can be helpful in some cases, according to Jones, there's a lot more to be said surrounding why you're taking a break in the first place.
Read more: How to find a therapist online
Keep reading to find out why taking a break from social media is not enough to change your health, and how to make your social media use better for your mental health.
In our age of social media, it's easy to get sucked into checking every app.
Chesnot / Getty ImagesWhy simply quitting social media isn't enough
First, it's important to keep in mind that social media is literally addictive. Just like a drug, it's designed to trigger reward centers in your brain every time you see a notification on your phone or a like on your latest Instagram post.
And this is why the cold-turkey approach sometimes won't cut it (or will be so tough you'll give up).
"On a deeper level, these social media companies know exactly what they are doing [from] a neurological perspective. What they're doing is called intermittent reinforcement -- it's what casinos do too with slot machines. And it's the same with swiping on Tinder or checking your Instagram. The addiction is the reward pathway, it's a dopamine hit," Jones said.
Instead of totally quitting your social media, Jones recommends taking smaller steps to mitigate your habits. "I think it's a problem when people start too big. Start somewhere, where there's the least resistance," Jones said. Examples of small steps to help break your addiction include turning off notifications, turning off vibrate, and using a feature on your phone that monitors how much time you spend on social apps.
How to have a stress-free holiday season
+16 more See all photosSomething I've personally found helpful with creating better boundaries around my own social media use is implementing "cut-off" times for my phone.
Starting around 9 p.m., I won't check social media and I won't look at it again until after 7:30 or 8 a.m. the next day. While I'm not totally avoiding using it, I feel like this time frame helps me feel much more centered and positive, not reactive and distracted.
Read more: 11 meditation apps to reduce stress and help you sleep
Consider why you check social media
While checking your phone and social media throughout the day seems normal, it's a habit that we sometimes don't realize may be compensating for something else. According to Jones, people often use social media as a form of escape from an uncomfortable feeling like boredom, loneliness or another negative emotion.
"Addiction is anything you do to escape a feeling that has a life-damaging consequence. So a lot of people will turn to social media to escape a feeling of boredom, loneliness, wasting time -- whatever feeling they want to escape. The life-damaging consequences of social media addiction are that you are not present and as engaged with life," Jones said.
To see this IRL, just look around next time you're out at dinner and chances are you'll see a table of people staring at their phones and not talking to each other.
It's tempting to open Instagram when you feel lonely, but it can ultimately make you feel worse.
Getty ImagesBesides lack of engagement and presence around family, friends and coworkers, Jones says social media creates feelings of envy, which is also negative for mental health. "People are displaying filtered versions of life, which is not healthy, it's very unrealistic," Jones said.
Since social media can be a quick or easy fix to avoid negative feelings, you can ask yourself the following questions to evaluate what you could be avoiding and may need to address in another way in your life.
- What are you potentially avoiding or using social media to escape from?
- How is being on social media making you feel? Are you comparing yourself to others or using it to judge others? Does it make you feel inadequate?
- Do you rely on social media for your self-esteem? If you only feel good about yourself when your posts gets a lot of likes, this could be you.
Use positive reinforcement to build better social media habits
Like Jones suggested, using an app or Apple's Screen Time feature on your phone is a good first step for being more mindful of your social media usage. You may be surprised how much time scrolling Instagram can add up. According to Jones, it can be helpful to evaluate this time and choose something more positive and intentional you'd rather fill your time with (like reading, workout out, or spending time with friends IRL).
If you decide to fill your former social media time with a new activity, like say reading, it will take a few weeks for the new habit to set in. It's totally normal to sit down to read and feel the urge to check social media for a while. But, it's best to commit to your routine and try not to break it (even if it's just "no social media after 9 p.m.") for at least three to four weeks, according to Jones.
"From a behavioral point of view, doing something for three weeks or at least 21 days will allow you to form a new habit.
You really are rewiring a certain part of your brain when you try it," Jones said. And Jones said it's helpful to add in a positive activity, instead of just telling yourself or others that you're cutting down on social media.
"The best way to reinforce behavior is to do more of it. So instead of saying, 'I'm not going to do social media', you can say 'I'm working on being more present.' So you want to be affirming healthy, positive things that you're doing," Jones said.
Now playing: Watch this: Extended social media linked to teenage depression, Apple...
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Read more: 7 important signs you have burnout
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
+1 hour per day. Or how I got rid of Instagram addiction in a week - Personal experience on vc.ru
How to change your habits, just knowing a little more how the brain works. Personal experience of getting rid of stupidly scrolling the feed, stories and recommended on Instagram for 1.5-2 hours a day.
7202 views
About me
My name is Ruslan. I work as a junior UI/UX designer at a cool software development company in Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk. nine0003
For those who do not know what this area is about, then roughly speaking:
- UI (User Interface) - how to make an interface for a mobile application / service / site, etc. pleasing to the eyes of users
- UX (User experience) is to make it convenient for the user to use the application. Work with experience, behavior patterns and habits of the user.
My task, in addition to understanding the business interests of the client, is to know how to make the product better and more comfortable for the user.
Therefore, lately, I have been enthusiastically studying the topic of human habits. How to implement them correctly; how to get rid of unnecessary ones, the work of willpower and the brain, and so on ..
At the same time studying habits, I spent an average of about 2 hours a day on Instagram, considering it to be my bad habit that I need to get rid of. Some will say a lot, some will say a little. But I feel sorry for wasting the most valuable resource in this way.
What helped
After reading another article on the Internet on the topic of keeping the user's attention, a link to it will be at the end. Retention - as one of the main metrics for the success of any product. I learned tricks like Instagram, TikTok, FB, VK, etc. apps make us go into them and spend time there. nine0003
One of them is being in the most accessible area of the phone and constantly (as a rule) before the eyes of users of the application icon. How often have you fallen into the story feed when you wanted to.
for example. see the weather or just take the phone in the search to take your free time.
So, having removed Instagram from the bottom tabbar to another empty screen, I decided to try this experiment myself and the effect was already visible a day later, when the statistics showed half the time per day. To be honest, the day after the start, I was less eager to go to Instagram once again, and then being online for 10-15 minutes in a row gave discomfort due to the time spent on absolutely unimportant information. nine0003
A true designer (which is who I try to be) is not allowed to rely solely on his or her opinion and experience in order to improve the quality of a product or research. For my research, a respondent was required. On the third day, I told my brother about this experiment, knowing that he has 1 hour 56 minutes a day, on average for the last week he spends on Instagram. My brother said he had exactly the same effect a day after starting. Bingo, 100% hit. It is clear that the sample is small, but the study is field, high-quality.
nine0003
So here is a visual proof of my results. Unfortunately, I blunted and did not take a screen on the first day, 1 22 is already the third day. On Saturday in the first chart you see, "Saturday = 4 hours per day, I spent on Instagram, this was the critical point when I realized that I was overkill, it's time to start"):
Summary of experiment
Before - 1 hour 22 minutes per day.
After - 23 minutes a day.
I don't pretend that this will help you. But, if you, like me, think about the time spent consuming / imposing / attention with a lot of garbage information, then I just share this with you. nine0003
Sometimes it's interesting to get to know your internal processes and begin to control them, and not be "hooked" by people who know us better than ourselves. A simple knowledge of psychology and your attention as a valuable resource, because advertisers are hunting for it and are ready to pay huge sums of money for it, flies to the one who managed to attract it.
On the 3-4th day there was a rollback both in my case and in the case of my brother. I managed to cope with it and continue to spend less time. But he doesn't. For a simple reason, I found an alternative in the form of other ways to waste time, like a pool or something, but he did not. And hands again reached out to Instagram. And the experiment did not give great results, the effect was not all the same. nine0003
It is clear that for many Instagram is a business platform, work, communication, etc., but the key point is the quality and volume of information that we receive.
As for me, I follow friends, designers and jitters. This is the content that I do not want and am not ready to give up, I'm talking about wasted time.
Thank you for reading. My first article.
Books on this subject:
- Hooked. How to create habit-forming products | Eyal Nir, Hoover Ryan
- The power of habit. Why do we live and work this way and not otherwise.
Charles Duhigg
If you decide to check for yourself, send the result.
My instagram: ruslan_yulaev
And invest your time wisely.
https://gopractice.ru/retention/ - the same, very useful article if you are connected with the IT industry.
psychologist - about modern addictions - Moscow 24, 03.12.2019
03 December 2019, 01:23
Society
"A person without this object suffers so much that he starts a pathological search for it," psychologist and addictologist Mikhail Khors describes the most difficult stage of addiction. And he does not rule out that Russians who try to abandon Instagram will also experience such "breakdowns" in the future. The expert claims that all its users are already addicted to the social network, the only thing is that its intensity is small, so far ... About this and other modern addictions, as well as how to make sure that our children are not "sucked" into their maelstrom, read in Hors's interview to Moscow 24.
Photo: Moscow 24/Nikita Simonov
– Mikhail, how do you know if you are addicted to Instagram, Tik Tok or Facebook?
How to diagnose any addiction? It doesn't matter - from Instagram, from cigarettes, from alcohol, from "tanks". An alarming sign is when we begin to suffer without any object. Here suffering itself without it is a sign of addiction. And already what it is - a chemical substance, a person or information - this is the second question.
To test yourself, try not going to Instagram for a week. And look - is there a feeling that something is missing, is there an anxious state, some kind of inconvenience, there is nothing to occupy oneself with - although life is full of opportunities to occupy oneself. These experiences of yours, in fact, will be what drug addicts call the word "breaking". nine0003
Photo: Moscow 24/Nikita Simonov
– And what can all this lead to?
The main threat of any object that can become a drug for us is addiction itself.
That is, the inability to live without it, in fact, is slavery. Instagram addiction, of course, does not kill. You will not wallow in the entrance, like an alcoholic at the last stage. But you are wasting time, opportunities for communication, for work, for obtaining some life benefits. Here everyone decides for himself. How valuable is freedom to you? nine0003
But there is a nuance - a person's age.
Social networks are not capable of completely destroying the socialization of adults. But to destroy the socialization of a child, a teenager - yes, Instagram can do it.
And now there are already children who are afraid to make phone calls. And soon they will be afraid to go outside.
I would say that today all Instagram users have an addiction, but its intensity is stage 1-2 (out of 4 possible). If we draw an analogy with alcohol, then it is like if a person drinks a glass of wine on holidays. This is alcoholism, it's just the first stage. nine0003
As for unpleasant sensations, if you give up the social network, then for some they may already be the same in intensity as if you quit smoking.
That is, like nicotine withdrawal. They can last from one day to three weeks.
– Will the withdrawal symptoms of Instagram addicts be similar in strength to heroin?
Not yet, but in the future, yes, it is possible.
The more social networks create a new reality, invented - for life, for spending time - the deeper people will sink into it and the worse it will be for their real opportunities. And the more painful it will be in case of excommunication from this illusory world. Separate elements are already added - this is when you "appear" ears and so on. That is, a non-existent world is created. nine0003
Now there is already the abundance of information that is there. The speed with which this information changes. Likes - all this overexcites our psyche. The psyche becomes dependent on these influences. And then the breakdowns begin without them.
Photo: Moscow 24/Nikita Simonov
First of all, children and teenagers are at risk. That is, people with an unformed psyche.
But it must be taken into account that today's youth is more infantile than it was 20-30 years ago. Now there are more and more 25-year-old infantiles with a level of personal development - such, social - of 16-year-olds. Therefore, this upper limit of the risk zone also rises - up to about 25 years. nine0003
Well, the social network of the future, I think, will be as virtual as possible. Put a suction cup on your brain or implant some kind of chip in you - and you immediately begin to feel like in another world, all the senses will be involved.
And this will already be a complete, deep hallucination that will take people completely out of contact with reality and transfer this contact to this virtual unreality.
And such hallucinogens are essentially psychoactive substances, that is, almost like real drugs. And here withdrawal, yes, will be comparable to heroin. nine0003
– And what about today's popular personal growth trainings and online marathons. Can you get on them too?
In trainings and marathons - there is dependence either on the personality of the leader - and here you can draw a parallel with sectarians.
Either there a person is "on the needle" with motivational things. This is "You can do anything". Dependence on the place where you are surrounded by the same charged people.
Photo: depositphotos/kasto
The danger is that personal growth trainings are often charged with the idea that you should always be in a resource, in such an energetic active state. And a person is really "pumped up", and he turns mountains. This is called the manic stage. But after it, not ordinary sadness awaits him, but a real hole. This is how our psyche works. The higher you climb in this drive, the deeper you fall into the depressive stage. nine0003
A person begins to suffer, hates himself for being powerless - and again goes to "recharge" for training.
The psyche cannot always be positive. "You can do anything" is a lie, you are not God. It's okay not to believe in yourself.
There should be a healthy amount of doubt. Why believe? Go and check. It's okay to be off peak sometimes, you need to allow yourself that.
I had to carry out rehabilitation of people after such programs.
– What other dependences of modern society can be called? nine0003
Dependence on virtual games and on likes, or rather on various kinds of quick social approval.
- Well, let's say I tried to live without Instagram or my favorite coach - and in my heart there is a universal longing. What to do?
The first step is always to recognize that there is an addiction and to differentiate oneself from this addiction. That is, to understand that it’s not what you want on Instagram, but you need to prepare a presentation or go to the gym. But it's the other way around. You yourself want this development, sports, relationships, walks. And you are forced to scroll aimlessly for hours. This addiction makes you, craving from the inside, in fact a disease. You have to admit that you've lost control of it. Then a request for help will appear. nine0003
And then - find a specialist or a support group - and in the future there will be more and more anonymous groups of such addicts.
Or just refrain yourself. And to build your life without your "drug", despite the discomfort, apathy and loss of strength, on the pathological craving to return there again, which may accompany the recovery process.
Photo: depositphotos/AndreyPopov
- And most importantly - how to get the baby out?
You must allow yourself to quarrel with this child. It is important for parents to take a correct, effective adult position in life and say: "I will limit up to conflicts, scandals, and up to the opinion of my child that I am the filthiest person on earth. I will do this out of love for my child." It's called tough love. nine0003
And then, when a person already thinks like that, he comes, takes the smartphone and says: "That's it, bullshit. You can bang your head against the wall, scream, say that I'm bad. Please, you have the right to all this. Moreover I understand that you are a sick person."
And then get ready for years of such a struggle for your child.
