Balancing Staying Informed and Protecting Your Mental Health

For people affected by cancer, social media can be both a resource for information and a source of stress. Finding a balance between staying informed and protecting your mental health may not always be easy.

Social media connects you quickly to others who understand what you are experiencing.  

Social media can help you:

• Learn about new treatment options or clinical trials 
• Hear how others manage side effects and daily life 
• Find support groups or patient communities
• Feel less alone as you navigate diagnosis and care

But it can also open the door to overwhelming stories, misinformation, and constant news about illnesses. It is possible to use social media in a way that supports you while also protecting your mental health.  

Constant social media access can have a significant impact on mental well-being

Once you or someone you know has been diagnosed, information about cancer can feel more personal and even triggering. Often on social media, you may see posts about:

• Other people’s diagnoses or outcomes
• New treatments or clinical trials 
• Conflicting opinions or unverified claims 
• Announcements about loss or difficult stories

Some content that is designed to be helpful can feel overwhelming when you see it all throughout the day. The constant flow of information can make it difficult to process what is relevant and helpful for your situation. 

Signs social media may be impacting your mental health

Constant exposure to upsetting news, conflicting information, or other people’s experiences can increase stress and make it harder to focus on your own needs and care. Signs that social media may be impacting your mental health include: 

• Having trouble sleeping 
• Feeling emotionally exhausted after being online, 
• Comparing your experience to others
• Finding it difficult to step away from cancer-related content

How to spot misinformation online

Not everything you read on social media about cancer is going to be accurate. It is also not always easy to tell when information is true or false. 

Sometimes posts are presented as general advice when they are only based on personal experience. In other situations, people posting may not be interpreting research correctly. They might have left out important details or exaggerated results.  

Common red flags to be aware of:

• Guaranteed results 
• Miracle language
• Advice to stop or replace your prescribed treatment
• Posts that create urgency or pressure to act quickly
• Accounts that sell products while giving medical advice 

Limit social media use without missing important information

Limiting social media use does not mean you have to cut off information completely. You can develop a structure that helps you stay informed without constant exposure. 

Practical ways to set limits include: 

Set specific times to read medical information online. 

If you want to stay up to date or explore treatment options, designate a couple of times a day for intentional time online for these topics. Before you start scrolling, set a time limit for how long you will look at cancer-related content. You can always save a post you see and come back to it at another planned time. 

Follow reliable sources. 

When reading something online about cancer, think about where the information is coming from. Is it from a credible organization or a medical group? Take some time to look into who posted and determine whether it is a source of information that you can trust. Do not follow pages that don’t provide medical information that you can rely on. That way, you limit how often content from these accounts shows up on your feeds. 

For reliable information, follow well-known, trusted resources like HealthTree Foundation. Other  cancer organizations with reliable information include: 

• Cancer Research Institute (CRI)
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF)
• American Cancer Society (ACS)
• Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)
• National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF)
• National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF)
• Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA)
• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA)
• National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR)

Balance your feed. 

Social media platforms are designed to show you more of what you engage with. Posts are sorted and shown to you based on your previous activity online. This method of presenting information to users is known as an algorithm. 

There are many ways to teach the algorithm what you want it to do. 

Follow accounts that share things that are not related to cancer. By doing this, if you decide to spend time scrolling on your phone, there will be a mix of topics to choose from. 

• Be intentional about engagement. Keep in mind that liking or commenting on a post tells your algorithm to show you more of that content. You can scroll past content you don’t want to see more of. On some platforms, you can mark “not interested” and reduce how often similar posts will come up in the future.
  
  
• It can also help to review your follow list. Accounts can change over time. Periodically review the accounts you follow and remove accounts that are not helpful. 

Speak with your care team before making any changes based on something you see online.  They understand your diagnosis, treatment plan, and medical history.  Even accurate information online may not apply to your specific situation. Your care team can help you determine if something you have seen is relevant to you.  

These simple changes can make social media feel less overwhelming and lead to improved overall mental health. 

Sources:

• Algorithms in Social Media 
• Top 10  Cancer Nonprofits