FACEBOOK ANXIETY highlighted by study Psychologists have identified a new reason to lose sleep - Facebook anxiety. Research by psychologists at Edinburgh Napier University found interacting with people on the social network site is a major source of stress. Despite being intended as a tool to help people stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues, the psychologists concluded that, for a significant number of the sites more than 500 million users worldwide, the negative effects of Facebook outweighed the benefits. It found those who used the site the most were most likely to suffer from Facebook anxiety. Dr. Kathy Charles, who led the study into peoples experiences of the website, said that, despite its popularity, there was considerable ambivalence among interviewees about its benefits. Our data also suggests that there is a significant minority of users who experience considerable Facebook related anxiety, with only very modest or tenuous rewards, she said, And we found it was actually those with the most contacts, who had invested the most time in the site, who were most likely to be stressed. A small percentage admitted disliking receiving friend requests, while 63 per cent said they delayed replying to friend requests, and 32 per cent said rejecting such requests led to feelings of guilt and discomfort. But the sense of anxiety is not restricted to those in their teens and 20s - the study questioned 200 people aged between 18 and 62. Dr. Charles added that, while the majority said the best thing about Facebook was keeping in touch, many admitted they felt anxious about leaving the site, fearing they were missing some important social information and were left in a neurotic limbo, similar to that of gambling, hanging on in case they miss out on something good. ~ The Scotsman The above article was published on page 5 of the March 2011 issue of Therapy Today; the magazine issued by The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I would be interested to hear your comments.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 10:21:09 +0000
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