Recently, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” actor Tom Holland announced he is taking a break from social media, saying in a video posted to his 67.8 million followers on Instagram that Instagram and Twitter are both “overstimulating and overwhelming.”
“I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online and ultimately it’s very detrimental to my mental state, so I decided to take a step back and delete the app,” Holland said. “There is an awful stigma against mental health and I know that asking for help and seeking help isn’t something that we should be ashamed of, but it is something that is much easier said than done.”
Holland’s actions follow a long trend of celebrities such as Lizzo, Ed Sherran, Selina Gomez and more stepping back from social media, either temporarily or permanently, to focus on their mental health and/or to get away from the consistent attacks from the anonymous horde of internet trolls, gatekeepers and bullies.
Anyone who has any kind of presence on social media — whether it be a massive following on Instagram or Twitter or just a handful of family and friends on Facebook who you post birthday messages and vacation photos to — knows the impact it can have on your mental health.
Not too long ago, I wrote in this space how I was severing ties with social media, as much as I could given my job, to get away from the 24/7 constant stream of information and dinging notifications coming into my phone that helped to feed my anxiety in this world and spend more time doing things that I enjoy. While it has not completely removed my anxiety and panic attacks, it has helped.
Removing yourself from social media, whether temporarily or permanently, can have a world of difference on your mental health and improve your daily life, especially if you are young. A 2019 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media were more likely to report higher levels of social withdrawal, direct feelings inward, have difficulty coping with anxiety or depression, show more aggression and act out, and this study was before the world was introduced to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Holland’s video, he made reference to stem4, a U.K.-based charity that supports positive mental health in teenagers, and four resource apps — Calm Harm, Clear Fear, Move Mood and Combined Minds — available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store from the group to help in that fight. While the apps are geared toward teens in the U.K., they contain great information and ways to help you manage behaviors associated with anxiety, depression, low mood and more. And as I mentioned in my last Editor’s Desk, here in the U.S. the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline can be reached simply by dialing 988.
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We seem to be in a very tremulous time right now, especially in Florida, where it feels like many of our elected officials are more concerned with made-up fears about transgender kids attacking people in bathrooms and drag queens grooming our youth to focus on the actual health and safety of all kids. So, as this new school year starts, if you have any youth in your life — particularly LGBTQ youth — let them know that they are loved, that it is ok for them to not feel ok and it is healthy to express how they are feeling. Even Spider-Man needs a break sometimes.
Speaking of the new school year, in this issue we focus on another topic that causes stress and anxiety in students, paying for college. We look at a number of LGBTQ-focused scholarships available here in Central Florida and Tampa Bay to help with those escalating education costs.
In arts and entertainment, we chat with character actress Dale Dickey as she takes on her first lead role in the film “A Love Song” and talks about her role in the new Amazon Prime series “A League of Their Own.” We also hear from the puppet masters behind the Tony Award-winning musical “Avenue Q” as they prepare for a run at Tampa’s Straz Center.
In Central Florida news, Orlando performer Jeff Jones is taking his three-dimensional, pop culture-themed sculptures to the LGBT+ Center Orlando for a new exhibit that will be part art show, part fundraiser. We also head to the Space Coast to look into Florida Rep. Randy Fine’s accusation that a transgender girl assaulted another girl in a middle school bathroom even though there is no evidence that it ever happened.
Across the state in Tampa Bay news, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for not going after transgender folks and individuals seeking an abortion. We also take a look at the immediate and permanent closing of Punky’s Bar and Grill, one of St. Petersburg’s popular LGBTQ eateries.
