Life as a recovering Instagram addict

My one year anniversary - how life has changed

Hello, I’m Molly and I write about my slow and simple life in the Scottish Highlands. Please subscribe to support my work and to read more of my stories. You can also find me on YouTube and shop my Etsy Store and sustainable Teemill Clothing.

Its been over a year since I quit Instagram for good. It feels like a lifetime.

Instagram was my last social media app to go. I’d already let go of Facebook and Twitter and never gone near TikTok. But I always knew that Insta would be my biggest battle. I was completely addicted.

Although I still have a YouTube, my life has changed radically since I gave up these ‘short-form’ social media apps. I know many of us have wondered what a life without social media would be like. So today, I thought I’d share my story.

Why I quit Instagram

I’ve spoken about why I decided to give up Instagram before on here, so I won’t labour the point. In summary, I had reached a crisis point.

My screen time was through the roof. I was trapped in a constant loop of dopamine hits and anxious lows. Never feeling like I could keep up. Never feeling good enough. No matter how many followers I accrued.

I’d lost sight on why I’d started sharing on Insta in the first place. Despite my apparent ‘success’ on this app, I knew that in order to protect my mental health, it had to go for good.

What I don’t miss

I reflected on what I learnt after 6 months off social media here. These lessons remain true, but I thought I’d list some other things that I don’t miss about this app -

• Always having something to distract me in moments of boredom, rather than just embracing it

• Needing to be ‘on’ all the time to stay relevant

• The distraction from notifications multiple times a day

• Feelings of not being pretty/talented/transparent/energetic/interesting/anything and everything else enough

• Losing hours from my week getting stuck down a reel/story rabbit hole

• Only seeing people’s highlight reel

• The inability to focus

• The compulsion to check my phone within the first 10 minutes of waking

• Distressing content

• The overly complex and frankly ridiculous strategies I’d put in place to try and stay off my phone

• Annoying reel music

• The instinct to photograph everything

• Constant shopping triggers

• Ranty people

• Unnecessary emojis

• The denial and guilt that comes hand in hand with addiction

Why is Instagram so addictive?

If you can relate to this addiction, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Shockingly, recent stats suggest that 210 million people worldwide suffer from addiction to social media and the internet.

As I’m sure you are aware, these addictions come with a wealth of harmful effects on mental health, especially for young people.

Instagram in particular has been ranked as having the worst impact on young people’s mental health. This is thought to be linked to the unrealistic standards this app promotes. One study reported that 32% of teenage girls said that, when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.

This breaks my heart.

A life without social media

If I could sum up my life now, I’d say that, for the first time in many years, I feel like myself again.

Without really realizing it, time on social media had started to erode the very foundation of who I am.

In many ways, I feel like I have rekindled my inner child. I have time for hobbies again. I read endlessly. Have re-found my love of watercolours through nature journaling. Write stories for the fun of it. Bake often, with mixed success. And embraced the simple joy of daydreaming.

In a strange twist of fate, by giving up Instagram, I finally succeed in making content creation my full time job. I was able to focus on content that really provided value and connect with a genuine audience. My business has never been stronger.

I cannot describe how empowering it feels to know that, never again, will I let apps dictate how I live. Its a mindset shift that will stay with me forever.

I have my life back.

Until next week,

Molly xx