Mindfulness cognitive-based therapy combined with metaphor therapy can improve problematic social media use.
Frontiers in psychiatry – January 01, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
Excessive social media use can harm mental and physical health. A recent intervention combining mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and metaphor therapy effectively transformed participants' thoughts and behaviors around problematic social media use. This innovative approach highlights the power of meditation and metaphors in fostering healthier online habits.
Abstract
Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) refers to an individual's long-term, high-intensity use of social media. Although this behavior is not pathological, it has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of individuals. In the past, intervention methods used for PSMU often controlled behavior to reduce the usage time of individual social media platforms. However, because psychological needs satisfaction and unreasonable cognition that lead to the problematic use of social media by individuals are not considered, behavior-based treatment models often do not address this problem. 30 participants with PSMU (with another 30 participants as a control group) participated in an intervention program of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combined with metaphor therapy (MT). The results showed that these therapies changed the participants' cognition and behavior and achieved a good intervention effect. The MBCT combined with MT can be used as an intervention for patients with PSMU.