Quitting Instagram and TikTok

Yesterday I decided I was going to quit Instagram to more focus on life goals. In this post I will go over my own lived experience and why I made this decision.

My Brain

I have a diagnosis of ADHD. What ADHD is fundamentally as a disorder is that the brain lacks dopamine and seeks out dopamine through other ways to fix this imbalance. This can manifest as pen clicking, pacing around, talking excessively about a favorite topic (infodumping), and excessive use of social media.

The Problem

I have a severe addiction to watching short form video content. I spend most of my day watching short form video content and I neglect my responsibilities in the process. This has become extremely detrimental to my life.

Why I’m addicted

These platforms are specifically designed to keep you on them as long as possible. And they heavily succeed at that with me because of my ADHD. The algorithms and machine learning are designed to constantly manipulate you and reward you dopamine for using the platform.

My solution.

I am going to focus on my life goals for now. And I am going to limit or cease my activity on these platforms. For now I am ceasing activity but in the future I may limit it once I form better impulse control and can better navigate my ADHD.