Online Safety

“Spending time online chatting to friends or getting inspiration for your next festival outfit can provide hours of fun and entertainment. It can feel really good to be able to connect with the outside world when stuck at home, but we do need to be aware that this kind of connection is different to seeing people and doing things in real life. You may have found yourself feeling anxious, depressed, stressed, upset or even lonely without being able to understand why. It is important to check-in with how spending time online is making you feel so you can figure out what your personal limits are and when taking a short or longer break is for the best. We can take in so much information in such a short space of time when scrolling on social media, for example, without being able to fully process our responses to it. There are various focus, filtering and time management tools available to help you make spending time online work for you. Looking at things together with someone else so you can talk about what you are seeing can be a good way to lessen the sense of disconnection some people feel too.

Try to help balance out time spent online with doing other things that lift your mood and sense of connection to others.”

Lucy Clarke, WYC Senior Counsellor BACP (Accred)

Find out top tips to staying safe online by clicking on the links below: