#109: How To Stop Over-Functioning with Jules Webber

Mental Health

Mark Groves and Jules Webber discuss how social media profoundly impacts our mental health and emotional well-being. Mark highlights that humans are not biologically equipped to handle the opinions of thousands of people, leading to increased stress and anxiety 1. Jules adds that social media creates a codependent dynamic, making us constantly seek validation and feel lonely and stressed 1.

We aren't supposed to feel like, at any moment, our sense of social belonging is completely at stake with every post where we're judging if we have enough likes.

--- Jules Webber

They both agree that this constant need for validation fractures our relationships and sense of self 1.

   

Validation

The conversation shifts to the dynamics of seeking validation through social media and its consequences. Jules shares her personal experience of feeling burdened by the need for validation and how it affected her relationships 2. Mark reflects on how society has moved away from genuine community and connection, instead seeking significance through material possessions and social media 2.

Everyone is sourcing validation and significance. We've been put into a commercial wheel of buying and seeking to avoid what we actually are looking for, which is presence and community.

--- Mark Groves

Jules emphasizes the importance of being gentle with oneself and recognizing the unhealthy patterns of seeking validation that many of us fall into 3.