Why it's important to rein in your social media display of affection

A new research conducted by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA, suggests that increased use of social media among young adults increases their risk of depression. Social media has been proven to increase body issues, anxiety, skin problems and eye sight impairment. But would you ever think that a simple post about the happy state of your love life could crack your relationship?

Images courtesy/instagram.com/Kim Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen and Taylor Swift

"I have seen a startling increase in the number of couples, coming for therapy, due to their social media behaviour. People try to prove their love and validate their relationship through social media posts. It's a new form of public display of affection," says clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrany.

When your husband is the very emotional musician Kanye West, extravagant gifts are bound to come by. And Kim Kardashian is quick to post the spoils, such as a gigantic ring or a wall of roses

She explains that if both partners are okay with posts about their love, it is legitimate behaviour. It's when one of the partners is an introvert or doesn't believe in letting the world know about an intimate gesture, problems could emerge. These hurdles don't just surface due to non-alignment of their views but also because of posts put up to keep up with the society. The hashtag #relationshipgoals is often used by couples and Internet articles to describe happy celebrity relationships. "Couples are becoming more materialistic. This competition to brag about your relationship on the Internet results from jealousy or unhealthy competition.

Model Chrissy Teigen, who is married to singer John Legend is known for her in bed photo posts with Legend, who proudly shares semi-naked pics of his wife too

Sometimes, it's done to just get back at a cousin or a classmate whom you have always been jealous of and mostly it's not love but one's need to show off," reasons Hingorrany. She has seen a higher number of women being prone to social media display than men.

Known to write songs about her ex boyfriends, Taylor Swift recently went on a posting spree related to her first anniversary with DJ Calvin Harris

"One has to understand that the issue is in you and not social media," Hingorrany signs off.