By Matt Brown

It’s clear that the hyper-connectivity of our world today through the internet and social media present significant challenges to many people’s mental health. It’s important that we learn to handle it all properly, and guard our mind. 

This year, I’ve had the honor to write a column for LifeWay’s HomeLife Magazine, and in a recent column I shared a powerful story I read this summer:

“This summer I read several large biographies about President Teddy Roosevelt. One biography covered both Roosevelt and his successor William Taft, as well as what they called a “golden age of journalism” because no one quite new how to utilize the press to influence American’s opinions like Teddy. He was a writer himself, and had a great affinity for journalists. 

One of the fascinating statements in the biography was that many people around the turn of the 1900’s were struggling with nervous disorders, and clinicians gave three reasons for this during that time:

• The increased speed of communication facilitated by the telegraph and the railroad

• The clamor of city life replacing the sounds of nature

• The rise in tabloid press that exploded local horrors into the national news

My jaw about dropped when I read this because I’ve been sharing about my new book Truth Plus Love on dozens of radio, podcast and media interviews all year, and 120 years later I’ve been expressing the same sentiment that:

• We are the first generation with 24-news media sharing mostly negative news, or what they termed “local horrors” widely.

• The increase in what they call “speed of communication” or mass knowledge about all the sad tragedies in the world due to the internet. Now we know in minutes everything that is taking place.

• Additionally, I have added that we are also the first generation with a social media “megaphone” to say how we feel about all this, expanding the noise even further.

It’s no wonder recent studies have expressed the negative side effects of all of this. We see good people struggling with depression and mental health issues at an unprecedented pace, and the younger generation has been classified as the loneliest generation even though they are hyper-connected. They long for deeper, more real connection than the illusions of social media.

And it’s all happened so fast. There’s never been a greater need to slow down and rediscover patience, self control, peace, and faithfulness. These spiritual attributes can literally change the world right now.” (HomeLife Magazine, October 2019)

Here are some truths we should all consider in order to better guard our mind in today’s connected world:

1. Don’t Live for likes or followers

I think we need to guard ourselves from the motivation to obsessively pursue posting about what we “think” people will like from us, or to dream about having an enormous amount of followers, as if that will somehow fulfill our hearts.

It’s too easy to think that our heart would be satisfied by fame, but God built our hearts to be satisfied by faithfulness. Faithfulness to our family. Faithfulness to our purpose. Faithfulness in walking with God.

We need to shift our mindset, and remind ourselves to post instead to be helpful and serve others. To add value. 

2. Don’t share every part of your life

We are the first generation living under the microscope of social media. There is a lot of judgement that goes around. It can be easy to overshare our lives. I think we should consider pulling back, and being more thoughtful about what we want to share with others.

It can be very good to take social media breaks, and to think through how much we really want to share with people. It’s okay to not share everything.

3. Guard your heart against comparison, and process your negative emotions

It’s weird with social media – we scroll through our timelines and have a dozen different emotions pop up for a dozen different posts all in a few moments. It’s so easy not today to move on and not process our emotions, or why we are feeling the way we are. 

One of the best things we can do nowadays is when we feel poorly, to stop and consider where those thoughts are coming from, and then to process them in a healthy way. We need to learn to speak to our emotions, instead of just dwelling on our emotions. 

Of course, one of the big areas to guard against is comparison. The grass isn’t greener somewhere else; the grass is greener where you water it. Don’t let comparison steal your joy or your gratefulness for all the blessings in your life. Choose joy. Choose gratitude.

4. Guard your heart against too much negative news

We are the first generation with 24-hour negative news media. Not to mention constant negativity on social media. Turn down the negative voices. Take more time away from them all. 

Negative news and outrage culture on social media is a poor diet for our souls.

5. Make the effort to build community IRL

Our online connections shouldn’t take the place of our real world friendships. Take time away from the screen to connect with people the old fashioned way. It will refresh and reinvigorate your life.

Matt Brown is an evangelist, author of Truth Plus Love, and founder of Think Eternity - a ministry dedicated to amplifying the gospel every day through podcasts, devotionals, videos, live events and more. Matt and his wife Michelle and their three children live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can follow Matt on social media at @evangelistmatt and at thinke.org