During the lockdown, the screen has become inadvertently our best friend—while some are binge watching TV shows, others are hooked onto social media apps to get updates on their friends and acquaintances. But too much of social media news and updates is creating more stress for people than giving them benefits.

 "There was a message on Whatsapp that talked about how drinking 'Goumutra' the ‘holy pee of cows’ is a cure for COVID. My mother, who is a religiously blind believer, wanted us to try the remedy. We tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. This created quite a ruckus in our house," says Divya, an engineering student from Bihar. Finally it was after intervention of the doctor that Divya’s mom calmed down, although she still believes that her children didn’t try hard enough.

The inescapable cycle of news updates and an avalanche of deaths can leave you feeling utterly overwhelmed and exhausted. Most women have an innate ability to worry about situations, and this gets heightened with excess use of social media, especially WhatsApp and Facebook, that unfortunately have become platforms that spread rumours more quickly that spreading valuable NEWS.

Many women have been reported by their families for taking random decisions following  unverified social media posts. Their acts in sheer worry about the pandemic, based on the fake posts circulating on the social media platforms are creating stress in the family and have increased the familial discord due to the fights.

The amount of information on the internet and social media about the coronavirus is overwhelming and focuses more on the negative/distressing perspective.  As a result, excessive use and passive engagement with social media are fueling feelings of anxiety, grief, anger/frustration, depression and isolation. 

 And as if that was not enough, the new trend of posting culinary feats on social media accounts has started to make a whole lot of women feel insecure and not worthy enough. With lockdown, people are experimenting more with cooking and baking—making breads, desserts, cakes, brownies—the list is endless. And then they post the pictures of that perfectly divine dish. For someone who has is an ardent fan of social media, gradually these pictures start to affect them wherein either they clamour to try and replicate the same thing or worse feel inadequate, a loser, and someone who is not doing enough for the family. Same goes for people sharing pictures of their creative feats—painting, redesigning furniture and more.

 Therefore it is essential to limit our consumption of social media posts and NEWS

• Check your posts and  updates once in a while but not all the time.
• Do not get emotionally or intellectually involved with the  Treat them as if you were watching a movie for entertainment.
• It is best to uninstall some apps from your phone so  that you can limit the temptation to check them time and again.
• Keep out of groups that engage too much into either showing off their skills, discussing distressing NEWS, or spreading and sharing false rumours.