The Quiet Battle: Mental Health in the era of ‘Always-On’
October 1, 2024
Writer: Lila Raff
Editors: Caiden Lujin, Chloe Robinson
Every morning, I reach for my phone before I even get out of bed. It’s automatic at this point—check notifications, scroll through Instagram, maybe answer a few texts. Before I’ve even had time to wake up fully, my brain is already buzzing with everything that happened while I was sleeping. I know I’m not alone in this. As college students in the world of always-on technology and social media, it often feels like there’s no break or pause to breathe.
Balancing academics with personal well-being in this hyper-connected world is one of the biggest challenges we face as college students. We’re expected to excel in our classes, stay active in our social lives, take on extracurriculars, and appear to be perfectly put together, while quietly battling stress, anxiety, and burnout. When we feel overwhelmed, there’s often a stigma attached to admitting that we’re struggling. Asking for help feels like admitting defeat. Even though everyone preaches self-care and mental health awareness, the unspoken expectation is still that we keep up appearances and maintain control over every aspect of our lives.
For me, this balancing act has been one of the hardest lessons of college. On the surface, everything looks fine. My social media posts are curated to show the best moments—hanging out with friends, attending game days in my pre-planned outfits, and going on vacation. But behind the screen, there are days when it all feels too much. Anxiety creeps in when I least expect it, and I find myself panicking about things that wouldn’t usually have bothered me. It’s this constant pressure to perform both academically and socially that keeps building up, even though it’s invisible to the outside world.
I’ve learned that anxiety and stress don’t always show up in obvious ways. They can be quiet, hidden beneath the surface while we appear composed and together. This disconnect between how we feel and how we present ourselves online is something I think many of us experience, but rarely talk about. I can be in the middle of a full-on stress spiral while cheerfully answering a text or posting pictures with friends on social media. We’ve all become so good at maintaining that image because that’s what we’ve been trained to do—keep up with the world, stay connected, and never show cracks in the façade.
It’s hard to disconnect and recharge when it feels like life moves at the speed of light, but I’ve realized that it’s necessary. In moments when everything feels like too much, I’ve started making a conscious effort to log off, even if it’s just for an hour. Taking a break from social media and technology doesn’t solve everything, but it gives me room to breathe, to think about what I need, without the distraction of what everyone else is doing. It’s in those moments of quiet that I can focus on what really matters—my mental health, my well-being, and learning to balance it all in this nonstop, always-on world.
There’s no easy answer to navigating mental health in the era of constant connectivity. But for me, it starts with admitting that it’s okay to not be okay all the time. It’s okay to step away, to ask for help, and to prioritize well-being over appearances. The more we talk about this quiet battle, the more we can break down the stigma around seeking help and making space for self-care in the digital age. After all, constantly being “on” isn’t what defines us—it’s how we take care of ourselves in the moments we choose to turn off.
