Instagram vs Reality: The Mental Health Cost of Living a Filtered Life
- Neha Kumari
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
We swipe, we scroll, we tap-tap twice over, and somehow in the middle of it all we begin to view the world with an impression that all the other people are living a much better life than we do.
Instagram, which was a fun app to share something goes around, now transformed itself into a highlight reel where it does not only show happiness but has to be perfect.
However, there is something that people do not share when it comes to those filtered smiles and aesthetic brunch shots; anxiety, comparison, burnout, and self-doubt.
Picture Perfect or Pressured?
Come on.
We do not share our breakdowns, bad skin days or cluttered apartments with (the majority of) others. The things that finally make it on our feed are a highly curated collection of the finest sunset, individualistic angles, and favorable lighting.
And when we only get to see the best part of everyone, we begin to think that we are lagging behind in life.
Comparison Trap
She is travelling alone to Greece.
He is a third time startup founder.
They are smiling in any fitness photo.
When your feed every day is full of success, beauty and seemingly unlimited confidence, it is easy to ask yourself:
Why is life so… normal?
Such a phenomenon of incessant comparison may result in low self-esteem, FOMO, and inverted view of self-worth.
Virtual Challenge: The Mental Health Aftermath
Studies reveal that there is a direct relationship between excessive Instagram use and an upsurge in levels of depression, anxiety and body image impairments especially among young adults and teens.
It is a vicious circle:
You are down ➝ You engage in scrolling ➝ You encounter well-canned perfectionism ➝ You end up feeling worse.
Even the most influential personalities have confessed that they edit their bodies, rent the props or fake their happiness to produce content but we forget that when we scroll through their pages.
Filters & Face Distortion
Filters, editable software and smoothing apps have led to a lack of distinction between the real and fake.
What before used to be a simple fun results in a potentially harmful standard of beauty - one that the poster people themselves cannot possibly fulfill naturally.
It is termed as Snapchat Dysmorphia: a developing mental health issue, in which individuals desire to have an appearance that is similar to their filtered version also in actual life.
The Performance Pressure
Even the ordinary users are asking themselves to manage their lives -what we wear, the mode of travel we maintain, and the frequency of our posting.
It is no longer sharing but it is performing.
When you are not “aesthetic” or “productive” you get a feeling that you are not enough.
Online Burnout
We always stay online yet we are emotionally drained.
Share becomes a business. Participation is turned into a figure. Happiness turns into content.
It is tiring to maintain a version of yourself which you made in order to get likes.
Take back Your Reality.
You do not have to stop using Instagram; you only need to modify the Instagram usage.
Here’s how:
Feed your mind and not your screen
Follow realistic individuals as opposed to influencers
Have periods of non posting and consumption
Publish actual moments - not the good ones only
It is important to note: You are not lagging behind. You're human.
You are Bigger than your feed -
Instagram rewards those who are beautiful and perfect- but life is where the posts are.
The value of your story or how you have saved a post is not determined by the number of views, how aesthetic your dish is, or how the world values your content.
It is in your tangled development, your silent convalescence, and your minor victories which no one knows.
The next time you are scrolling, tell yourself:
Instagram is pre-planned.
Life is reality.
And nothing more is needed than reality : )
📅 By News Anek Digital Desk | July 14, 2025
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