21/11/2025
Seeing other people’s fancy lifestyles, travel, and achievements on social media often harms mental health because it triggers "UPWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON" comparing your real life to someone else’s highlight reel. This leads to:
Lower self-esteem
Anxiety and depressive symptoms
FOMO (fear of missing out)
Feeling “behind in life” or inadequate
Loneliness and social anxiety
Materialistic pressure (feeling you must buy or achieve more)
Luxury, travel and “PERFECT LIFE” posts are especially harmful, while authentic, real-life content tends to reduce these negative feelings.
What do you think?
Hiba R. Khan