67% of couples on social media lie about their family life. But you know what's worse? They start believing these lies themselves.
The New York Times published an investigation: “perfect families” from the Internet hide depression, debts and infidelity.
Psychologist Laurie Gottlieb admits in her book Stop Waiting by the Sea: “Even my therapist clients are embarrassed to talk about problems, afraid to destroy the myth of the “perfect couple.”
Why is this dangerous? Dr. Carl Pildeman from Stanford has proven that comparing your family to “ideal” images reduces the level of oxytocin (the “attachment hormone”) by 30%.
Real stories are shocking: Olga, 32, says: "My husband and I were taking a selfie in the park, and an hour later he left for his mistress. But I still posted the photo with the hashtag #dreamfamily."
Psychoanalyst Mark Matthews said on The Daily podcast that lying about family is the new addiction. He compared social media to a casino: “You bet on an ideal, you lose, but you keep playing, hoping for ‘another reality’.”
A striking example is bloggers Jenna and Michael, who hid for years that they were living separately. Their divorce became a tragedy for 2 million subscribers. “We were afraid to disappoint people,” Jenna sobbed on air.
How to break the vicious circle? Forbes magazine recommends a “fake detox”: don’t post anything about family for a week and observe your emotions.
"If you feel empty, that's a sign," writes coach Tony Robbins . And bestselling author of The Unapologetically True Family, Mark Manson, suggests a radical step: "Tell your friends about your most embarrassing fight. You'll be surprised how many will say, 'We had that too!'"
Harvard scientists confirm that honest posts increase the level of trust in couples by 40%.
The most cruel paradox was revealed by the writer Brené Brown : “The more we pretend to be happy, the more we hate ourselves for being unhappy.”
Psychologists from MIT offer a simple test: delete all the “perfect” photos from the last year. What remains? If nothing, your marriage may also be a lie.
But there is good news: Generation Z is already abandoning fake family accounts en masse. Their new trend is the hashtag #RealFamilyChaos. Could this be the beginning of the end of the great lie?
