How do I stop arguing with strangers online?

[chickenhouse]

This is really bizarre and a new problem for me because as lockdown started I've spent so much more time online and I often feel lonely so these end up being my only source of interaction.
I've joined a lot of communities related to my hobbies and often end up in arguments or someone trolls me and I end up wasting hours trying to defend myself and I walk away feeling 100x worse.

I know this is pathetic but I just can't walk away! It's like as soon as someone offends me or hits my ego I have to argue back and it's so pointless and draining! Does anyone have any advice or strategies to overcome this? I know I need to leave these communities, turn off the computer and do something else but there is such a weird part of me that can't do it!

I think you have to remember that its giving you a hit but the feeling after is worse. It (excessive internet use) is like low dopamine food. I think the loneliness part is the hardest bit, what else can you think of or is available to you to help feel less lonely?

Btw I totally sympathise, my lockdown addiction was shopping and it took a few weeks to send all the clothes back, delete the newsletter subscriptions etc. but I felt so much better after I had done it.

It's an addiction. You're getting some kind of chemical rewardv each time you do it. I feel the only way to deal with something like that is a combination of total abstinence and having a think about how to fill the emptiness with more positive things, or resigning yourself to sitting with the discomfort. Ask yourself what you're afraid of feeling if you go ahead and walk away. Draw on whatever support is open to you in these difficult times. Difficult to do but freeing on the long run.

Next time you feel the need to write a big rant in social media, close the page down and go and make a cup if tea, or hover the floor, or eat an orange. Anything. I recently wasted a morning getting angry on social media and it resolved nothing. The rants will continue without you and you'd be much better off doing something positive. Good luck!!!