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  • šŸ˜” Doomscroll Necking: How depression isn't all social media's fault

šŸ˜” Doomscroll Necking: How depression isn't all social media's fault

You have more control over your emotions than you thought

This last week I got stung by a jellyfish, almost passed out from laughing so hard, and ate chicken nuggets while watching Chicken Run with my kiddos.

Now they know where those delicious nuggs really come from šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø 

On another noteā€¦

Email marketing shouldnā€™t feel icky.

Jeffā€™s weekly newsletter teaches you how to make more with email marketingā€¦and feel good about how you did it :)


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10 days ago I was sitting under my giant maple tree, head cranked down looking at Twitter.

My neck hurt from how long Iā€™d been sitting like that, which didnā€™t make me feel good.

I realized this position was the exact posture of a certain type of personā€¦

And thatā€™s when it hit me that even though itā€™s news to nobody that social media is linked to depression, it might not be 100% social mediaā€™s fault.

Lemme explainā€¦

Charles Darwin realized in 1872 that we donā€™t just smile when weā€™re happyā€¦ weā€™re also happy because we smile.

A bunch of studies have found that people who held a pencil in their teeth (which causes your face muscles to form a smile) felt happier.

Tara Kraft & Sarah Pressman, University of Kansas

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Similar studies have found that simply making faces that look likeā€¦

  • surprise

  • disgust

  • fear

  • sadness

  • excitement

  • etc

ā€¦all make you feel more of that same emotion.

This idea is now known as the Facial Feedback Hypothesis.

So I was today years old when I coined my own idea: The Doomscroll-Necking Hypothesis

Since most of us primarily scroll social media on our phones, weā€™re usually sitting in a hunched over position to see the small screen.

This posture is identical to someone whoā€™s really sad or discouragedā€¦ maybe even depressed.

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And if you sit like a depressed person often enough, you just might start to feel like a depressed person.

If true, this means that the depressing effects of the social media itself are compounding with your posture.

So what?

Itā€™s easy to point fingers at big corporations for being evil, but isnā€™t it more useful to look in the mirror and find what we can actually do to improve?

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If you donā€™t want to be depressed, stop doomscrolling.

But if you canā€™t stop doomscrolling, at least stand up tall with your chin up and head high while you do it!

At very least, take frequent breaks to roll your head back, lifting your chin as high as you can to stretch your neck. I do this all the time and it immediately helps me feel better.

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Important note: Iā€™m no doctor, psychiatrist, therapist, or anything of the sort. Iā€™ve never been diagnosed with depression either. So take all of this with a grain of salt, intended only as an entertaining idea. Definitely talk to a licensed professional if youā€™re experiencing signs or symptoms of depression.

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Me: Whereā€™d you get a stuffed baby Yoda?

Her: Grandpa wanted to make my spirit happy.

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Thanks for reading!

- Kody

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P.S. I always read and respond to your messages. Feel free to hit reply and say hi!