Remember the old television commercial that said, “This is your brain on drugs” and showed an egg frying in a pan?

We might need a new one that says, “This is your brain on Facebook.”

According to a study by California State University at Fullerton, when you use Facebook or other social media, your brain reacts as it would to addictive drugs. Researchers asking questions that measured withdrawal, conflict and anxiety found that social media use had the same effect on impulsive and inhibitory brain systems as, for example, cocaine.   

So that explains a lot — because a few recent conversations about Facebook have left me wondering.   I don’t have a personal Facebook page, so I have to admit that I’m perplexed by a lot of things having to do with the whole social media phenomenon.

For example, I don’t understand why smart adults are speaking like 8-year-olds, using terms like “friending someone” or “unfriending someone.” Or why people are ending relationships of long standing because of a Facebook posting.

And just as cocaine removes inhibitions, using Facebook makes some users lose the important social filters that keep discourse civil. What’s up with the use of Facebook as a delivery system for hateful rhetoric? Do people really believe this is an effective way to change someone’s mind?

Facebook makes it too easy — just get comfy in your favorite chair, log in and start posting. You can sink to a level of insult on Facebook far beyond what you would say if you were addressing that person face-to-face. 

Of course, not everyone becomes addicted to social media. But if you suspect you are addicted, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:

-  Do you check Facebook first thing every morning?

- Have you gone for a 24-hour period without checking Facebook? If you did, were you feeling anxious?      

- Do you spend more than an hour every day checking Facebook?

Addictions are difficult to break, but if you think you are addicted, try giving it a rest. Turn off the computer or cell phone and get out in the real world. Don’t just “friend” someone in cyber space. Sit down with them and talk over a cup of coffee.

Because in the “This is your brain on Facebook” version of the old TV commercial, the frying pan might just be empty.