#OVERCOMING PATHOLOGICAL FEAR WINDOWS#

Sooner or later, everyone experiences the fear of missing out when something exciting happens, and feelings of jealousy when looking at others’ social media feeds arises, and the anxiety of no longer being first choice for our friends might occur too. Real relationships very rarely develop in this way, though. This often leads to an urge to spend more time on social media in the hope of finally feeling more connected. Scrolling through countless photos and videos of people celebrating their apparently exciting lives will make anyone who isn’t satisfied with their own social life feel lonelier and more isolated. It could be argued that social media platforms have a positive effect because they provide opportunities to make new contacts, but studies show that their effect is detrimental rather than positive. People who feel socially isolated are particularly susceptible to developing FOMO when using social media. In these cases, we tend to forget or ignore the fact that both friends and strangers alike on these platforms principally or exclusively present the best side of their everyday lives. Jealousy arises and our self-esteem plummets.

#OVERCOMING PATHOLOGICAL FEAR WINDOWS#

These digital shop windows tempt us to constantly compare our own lives with those of others.īecause of this, our own lives seem might dull and flavorless, and we see ourselves as not having the brilliant life of others. We see our friends in their new domestic bliss, the acquaintance who’s quit their 9 to 5 and is now traveling the world, and the online entrepreneur who already has several million dollars in their bank account by their mid-20s.

However, social media has made this fear of missing out more intense and more frequent, since Facebook, Instagram and the rest let us continuously investigate other people’s lives. The fear of looking back with regret on the road not taken, of having let opportunities slip by, or having made the wrong decisions, has always affected people. The phenomenon is not new, though-it’s as old as humanity itself. FOMO as a concept only emerged in the new millennium in the wake of the spread of social media.

Overcoming pathological fear