By now you have probably heard about Instagram’s newest app feature. But if not, you should know on December 7, Instagram launched its newest “Take A Break” tool. The Take A Break feature was first announced in September 2021 and is now available to some users in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The tool is designed to encourage users to disengage with the platform after scrolling for a certain time.
So, how does it work? A user can turn on the feature under “Settings” and select if they want to be notified by the app after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes of use. An alert will pop up on the screen suggesting the user close out of the app, take a deep breath, write down what they are thinking, listen to their favorite song, or do something on their to-do list.
What Instagram's "Take A Break" Actually Means
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Instagram’s Take A Break feature was essentially developed as part of a response to the Facebook Papers. The government and other child advocacy organizations want big tech companies to be held accountable for their role in how social media impacts mental health. Earlier this year, hundreds of internal documents were leaked to the Wall Street Journal and the Securities and Exchange Commission demonstrating Facebook’s knowledge of how Instagram can damage mental health and body image, especially among young women and teenage girls. In turn, Facebook decided not to launch an Instagram app for children under the age of 13 and consider input from parents, policymakers, and advocacy groups.
Aside from the legal implications for Facebook, the implementation of the Take A Break tool encourages users to stay grounded or come back to reality through the use of mindful suggestions like writing down their thoughts or practicing breathwork. Oftentimes, many of us (especially women) are scrolling mindlessly through Instagram with uncontrollable thoughts that lead to high anxiety, low self-esteem, negative self-talk, and high levels of self-consciousness from curated content.
Rising Mental Health Issues & Social Media
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In an article published by Time, a survey revealed Instagram is the worst social media network for mental health, according to a survey of 1500 teens and young adults. The platform is associated with high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying, and FOMO (fear of missing out). The article further states that social media posts set unrealistic expectations, create feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. With that said, Instagram received the worst scores for body image and anxiety. Research has also found that the more social networks a young adult uses, he or she is more likely to report depression and anxiety.
It is suggested that navigating between different norms and friend networks on various platforms could account for reports of mental health issues.
The Washington Post reports Instagram has steadily increased the amount of recommended content it shows people. In July, a user’s main feed included content from people you don’t know alongside a friend’s posts promoting idealized images and self-help recommendations. It is Instagram’s algorithm that becomes a mental burden because there is no control over what pops up on your feed. The way Instagram is used between genders varies, but research has uncovered eating disorders in men. Instagram doesn’t only exacerbate body image issues, some content promotes violence, and biased ideologies, making young boys and men susceptible.
Forbes reports that with women, there is an increased risk of developing eating disorders because of social media. Another study found depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and body dissatisfaction are associated with Instagram use. The article also states suicidal thoughts are linked to social media use as well as an increase in loneliness. Even the New York Times recently wrote that social media turned prioritizing mental health into a trap by their critique of the Hulu reality series The D’Amelio Show based on the famous TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio.
And from my observation, with the infinite amount of social media influencers, there is a scary level of self-importance and narcissism due to online presence that didn’t exist before Instagram. You have to step back and ask if Instagram didn’t exist or ceased today, would we have an excessive amount of influencers or life coaches? And what would happen to their self-esteem or sense of self-worth without social media? The answer is no and self-worth would be diminished.
When Facebook recently shut down for one day, high levels of anxiety and stress were exhibited. It’s one thing to have your voice heard, but at what point does it become toxic and overbearing causing someone to possibly not enjoy their own life?
Prioritizing Mental Health In A Social Media-Driven World
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While the Take A Break tool is geared towards teenagers and young adults, women and men need this tool. It’s been said parents should have a conversation with their kids about how to use Instagram, recognize photoshopped pictures, and the associated risks. I think grown men and women need to have the same conversations with each other if we haven’t started to already. With the countless mental health issues that have risen from Instagram, it’s important to know when you should separate yourself from the 'gram. I know, because I had to do it.
At that moment, I had to decide if I wanted to continue scrolling through feeds or put myself first. And I chose the latter. Therefore, you should too. What I have come to realize is that Instagram is nowhere for your mind to live.
Once I got off social media, I realized I wasn’t missing out on anything. I was less anxious and less self-conscious about myself and my body. It forced me to be present whether I was at the gym, work, or visiting family or friends. Overall, I have become less interested in Instagram and more interested in my to-do list and doing things that feed my soul.
With any choice, there will be repercussions. I lost friends or people seemed to stop talking to me because I no longer had a strong online presence. I wasn’t doing the “hype” thing anymore. And all I can say is I just didn’t want to live my life online or spend most of my time curating perfect pictures or captions. At one point I felt like I was forced to be online just to feel connected. It’s like you're damned if you do or damned if you don’t. So, with this example, do you see how social media affects mental health?
I would also say the decision to prioritize your mental health in a social media-driven world is a conscious choice. You have to be aware of how Instagram or any other social media platform makes you feel. We’re not meant to live in our thoughts or live our lives in constant comparison to someone else.
We’re meant to live and experience this world given to us.
And it’s perfectly OK to want to share your experiences and successes through Instagram and social media. It’s OK to follow other users that positively impact your life. But don’t get too caught up to the point where your mental health is affected. Don’t be consumed by what others are doing either. Don’t feel like you're missing out or your life is less exciting based on other people’s Instagram Story or posts. It’s not real. What is real is you living and breathing this very second.
The minute you feel social media is making you feel a certain way or is disrupting your life - take a break.
I always knew about the time limit feature on Instagram and have previously used it too. Though, it seems as though the “Take A Break” tool, coupled with Instagram’s “Daily Time Reminder” is a step in the right direction for tech companies such as Facebook to be proactive in putting our mental health first. The features aren’t perfect and there are definitely glitches to work out. But if it’ll help people be mindful and present, I’m here for it.
Everything in moderation.
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Fortunately, five simple words have simplified my dating process and ushered in clarity faster: “Would my husband do this?”
A couple of years ago, I met an entertainment lawyer who was tonguing down a twenty-something-year-old woman for breakfast while I slurped my green smoothie and chomped on a flatbread sandwich. Okay, Black love, I grinned and thought as I sauntered out of the Joe & The Juice. As soon as I stepped down from the front door, a torrential downpour of Miami summer rain cascaded and throttled me back inside to wait out the storm.
I grabbed a hot green tea and vacillated between peering out the wet door and anxiously checking my watch. My lengthy agenda started with attending the Tabitha Brown and Chance Brown’s “Black Love” panel, and I was already late. That’s when the lawyer introduced himself to me, after he made a joke about neither one of us wanting to get soaked by the rain. His female companion had braved the storm, leaving us to find our commonalities.
We both lived in L.A. and had traveled to the American Black Film Festival to expand our network. He represented various artists, including entertainment writers, while I was working as a writer/creative producer in Hollywood.
While there is no shortage of internet advice on how to strategically meet a prominent man at conferences, if I spend my hard-earned funds on career growth, I have tunnel vision, and that doesn’t include finding Mr. Right. So, I stowed his contact details away as strictly professional.
Keep It Cute Love And Hip Hop GIFGiphyAs the humidity and mosquitoes were rising around L.A., two months later, another suitor-turned-terrible match cooled off after three unimpressive dates and a bevy of red flags. I posted what some of my friends called a thirst trap, but it was really me wearing a black freakum jumpsuit with a plunging neckline to my friend’s 35th birthday soiree despite feeling oh, so unsexy and bloated on my cycle.
I’d been waiting to post a sassy caption and finally had the perfect picture to match: “You not asking for too much, you just asking the wrong MF.”
That’s when the entertainment lawyer swooped into my DMs and asked me to dinner. I was quite confused. Is he asking me on a date? Or is this professional? Common sense would’ve picked the former. Once it clicked that this would in fact be a date, I told my mentor, who’s been happily married for over twenty years and has often been a guiding light and has steered me away from the wrong men.
Upon telling him about how we met, he emphatically stated, “He ain’t it.” He followed up with a simple question, "You have to ask yourself: Would my husband do this? Would you tell others that you met your husband, tonguing down another woman, and later married him?"
Aint It No Way GIF by UFCGiphyOuch. The thought-provoking question cleared any haze. Prior to going out with the lawyer, the first thing I inquired about was the woman.
“You saw that?” He said, taken aback that I’d witnessed his steamy PDA. Surely, anyone with two open eyes peeped him caressing her backside as he kissed her in the middle of the coffee shop.
He brushed her off as a casual someone he’d gone on a couple of dates with but had since stopped talking to. He said he hadn’t been in a serious relationship in over three years. Though I was still doubtful, dating in L.A. is treacherous and ephemeral. Making it past three months is considered a rarity.
With my antennae alert, I dined with him at a cozy beachside steakhouse restaurant where we were serenaded by a live jazz band. I’d emphasized forming a platonic friendship first.
Break Up Friendship GIF by TLCGiphy“I’ll come to you,” he obliged. I liked that he had made me a priority by driving over 50 miles to see me. I also liked the effort he made to check in with me daily. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he initiated on a professional pretense and then alley hooped through the back door on a romantic venture, which bombarded me with confusion.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my dating life, God is not the author of confusion; any man who brings confusion, rather than clarity, is simply not The One. It doesn’t matter how many boxes he checks–eventually, that confusion will manifest itself into bigger problems, in time.
After diving into deeper conversations on the phone, post our first dinner date, I quickly realized this man was indeed not The One for me. But I’m grateful for the valuable lesson I learned.
I don’t expect some unattainable fairytale of a husband; we all have our own flaws and conflict is inevitable, but after dating for two decades, through failure and success, I’ve realized that the person I ultimately marry must mirror the values I exert into the world. He must reciprocate kindness, patience, and respect. He must be quick to listen and slow to respond. He needs to be forgiving and trustworthy, practice healthy communication, and be a man of his word at the bare minimum.
If I’d had “Would my husband do this?” in my toolbox when I was dating and floundering in stagnant relationships, in my twenties, it would’ve saved me a lot of precious time. But now that I’m equipped with the reminder, it’s allowed me to ground myself in my non-negotiables and set/maintain the standard for the special person, I’ll one day say, “I do,” to.
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