Looksmaxxing, AI, and Your Feed: 5 Ways Technology Can Affect Your Mental Health

Your phone can help you find friends, discover music, learn something useful, or feel understood. It can also leave you comparing your appearance, replaying a message, or wondering why everyone else seems to have life figured out.

Technology affects people differently, and what you’re doing online matters. I’m Dr. Matthew Siegel, a psychologist who works with teens and adults in Philadelphia. Here are 5 ways technology can affect how you feel:

1. Looksmaxxing Can Turn Your Appearance Into a Never-Ending Project

Looksmaxxing content involves ordinary grooming or style advice, while others post facial feature rankings, promote extreme changes, or suggest that your appearance determines your future.

You might start by looking for a new haircut to try, but end up worried about something you’ve never worried about before.

Caring about your appearance is great. But repeatedly comparing yourself to others, editing yourself in photos, or looking for reassurance can damage your self-esteem and how you see your own body.

Try this: Notice how you feel after watching looksmaxxing content. If you consistently leave feeling worse, unfollow those accounts and step away. If you’re tempted to try a body-changing product or procedure promoted online, discuss it with a parent, therapist, or qualified healthcare professional first.

2. Carefully Edited Lives Are Not The Norm

We all likely have influencers we enjoy watching. You may enjoy their humor, advice, or openness. Over time, their life might even feel familiar because we hear from them every day.

However, you’re rarely seeing their entire life. And even if you are, that doesn’t mean you need to lead a life that looks the same.

Lighting, editing, and sponsorships can all shape what appears effortless on your screen. A TikTok describing someone’s typical day is often carefully curated and an aesthetic example of what really happens. A lot of information is usually left out.

Some creators also earn money by making people feel like they need to buy into a certain lifestyle or solution to a problem. It might not be a product or technique they really use.

Try this: Before following advice, ask: Is this person qualified to give me advice? Are they selling something? Does their advice leave room for people whose lives or bodies are different?

Keep the accounts that actually help you learn or feel connected. You can unfollow someone you like if their content keeps making you feel inadequate.

3. AI Doesn’t Replace Human Connection, Even If It’s Easier To Talk To

AI is a great tool, but that’s all it is: a tool. It can help explain a school topic or brainstorm ideas, but it doesn’t replace what real people in your life can do.

Many times AI can feel easier to talk to than a person, especially when you’re embarrassed or worried about being judged. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe to confide in AI or that its advice will be good for you.

Oftentimes, AI misses important context and offers advice that doesn’t fit you as a person. It might even convince you that a dangerous or harmful idea is the best option.

Try this: Avoid sharing identifying details or private information about yourself and others. For emotional or mental health concerns, involve a trusted person like a caregiver, school counselor, therapist, or another supportive adult.

4. Your Feed Can Make One Thought Feel Like the Whole Truth

Watch one or two videos about an upsetting topic, and your feed may start to change. Soon, it can seem as if everyone is discussing the same fear, problem, or diagnosis.

Remember that you are not your thoughts. Your feed changes based on how you interact with previous videos. If you keep getting the same type of information in your feed, that doesn’t mean that topic is trending or true. It might even be a sign to cleanse your feed.  

That repetition can make a thought feel more convincing. It doesn’t make it more accurate.

Mental health content can be helpful in increasing awareness and encouraging people to seek support. However, recognizing yourself in a short video or checklist doesn’t necessarily mean you have a particular health condition.

Try this: Ask yourself how this information is affecting you. If the repetition has made you feel anxious or depressed, it’s time to change the topic. If you’re concerned about your mental health, your feed cannot solve the problem. A counselor or therapist can help with that.

5. Notifications Can Push Sleep and Downtime Aside

You mean to watch one video. Then there’s another, and another. Or, a group chat lights up, and the notifications keep coming in. Suddenly, you have much less time to sleep.

Late-night technology use is associated with disrupted sleep. Even outside bedtime, constant checking can interrupt a break that was supposed to help you recharge. You need that rest without screen lights on at all times.

Try this: Choose one manageable change. Silence nonessential notifications, use a scheduled “do not disturb” setting, or agree with friends that nighttime replies can wait. It may also help to charge your phone away from your bed.

Is The Way You Use Technology Helping You Live The Life You Want?

If appearance worries, checking, online conflict, or constant scrolling are affecting your sleep, schoolwork, relationships, or mood, you deserve support.

At my Philadelphia practice, I work with teens and adults experiencing anxiety, OCD, depression, ADHD, and related concerns. Therapy can help you respond to difficult thoughts and feelings while making more room for the people and activities that matter to you.