Alli Spotts-De Lazzer, M.A. - Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor - Certified Eating Disorders Specialist
Posted by in Blog While perusing my morning Google Alerts, “Selfitis and Body Image Satisfaction Among Undergraduates in a Nigerian Private University” (Olabisi et al., 2024) stood out. I started to feel nervous because I’m presenting on the intersection of social media and mental health soon. Yet I had never heard of the condition “selfitis.” I began reading the study published in the International…Read more »
Posted by in Blog Social media provides many benefits to teens, such as offering and receiving social support, experiencing a sense of community, and expanding one’s worldview. On the other hand, if you’re noticing troubling changes in your teen‘s mood or behavior, consider whether their social media could be the culprit or a contributor. Information about attitudes and behaviors related to…Read more »
Posted by in Blog We know that social media use can negatively impact its users—for example, tanking their body image and fueling appearance comparisons. Nonetheless, these platforms are here to stay. So, we need doable antidotes to common problems that social media causes or magnifies. Luckily, a recent study provides simple, legitimate help. “Can following body-positive or appearance-neutral Facebook pages improve young women’s…Read more »
Posted by in Blog When a person shares their mental struggles on social media–and I notice their followers grow in exponential jumps–my belly tightens. And before anyone reading this gets offended, yes, I agree: There are many positives to publicly sharing first-person mental health stories. For instance, let’s revisit the pandemic. During Covid, issues like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders skyrocketed. Content…Read more »
Posted by in Blog Your social media may be baiting you to watch content that can exacerbate body dissatisfaction. That’s according to a new review by Harriger and colleagues in the Body Image journal (published early online, 2022, April 1). Body dissatisfaction contributes to various problems, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, eating and body image struggles, eating disorders, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. (Click for full article)
Posted by in Blog Finding people on social media who also struggle with or know about a particular mental health symptom or diagnosis (e.g., ADHD, eating disorder, OCD, etc.) has loads of upsides. Connecting with these accounts can deliver: effective self-help an increased support system reduced isolation while expanding a sense of community helpful advice for improving symptoms decreased stigma Since those are all desirable, positive…Read more »
Posted by in Blog During a time when nearly everything private goes public on social media, acts of “quiet kindness” can feel rare. According to kindness researchers, Binfet and Enns, quiet kindness refers to a form of kindness where the recipient may not know who initiated the kind act and there is little to no external reinforcement. In other…Read more »