For those that deactivated their SM accounts, did it help your mental health?

[jamrolypolyandcustard]

Mumsnet can vouch that I'm not a news outlet looking for a Monday morning news story.

Lately I've been toying with the idea of deactivating social media (and just using Facebook for my DS school chat and school updates - due to my "profession" I have it my first and made up middle name so no one would guess it and I haven't friend requested anyone either or vice versa)

Particularly after having my DS, I had awful PND and found SM very triggering that others who just had a baby "seemed to have it all" whilst I was struggling so much. Now it's all ad this and aff that and I just find it draining I guess and a trigger if I have been having a bad day.

For anyone that has deactivated SM, what benefits did it bring? Did it help your mental health at all?

I use Instagram which I just wish would cut the bullshit and stop showing me accounts that have endless gifted this and that 😂

Just read all this and I'm sorry it just seems as though all I'm doing is rambling on 😅

Yes I did while struggling with infertility. I couldn’t cope with being bombarded with scan pics and baby and child related posts all day every day so deleted all profiles and left all WhatsApp groups apart from my family one. It was definitely the right thing for me. Now I’m in a small number of WhatsApp groups and have a Facebook profile for a group I’m in and to see news about local events and stuff, but I don’t really have “friends” on there. I don’t use any of the other social media apps.

I generally only look at things relating to travel and hobbies, plus my local village FB page. “Comparison is the theft of joy”.

I have Instagram but I am really particular about who and what I follow. If it makes me feel negative in any way, then I unfollow immediately.

So for example, I have a (good!) friend who had a baby at a similar time to me. Her Instagram is full of her looking amazing in a tiny bikini and it made me feel really shit. So I just unfollowed her. Doesn't mean I don't like her or enjoy spending time with her in real life :-)

Absolutely yes, never give it a minutes notice, never missed it and yes it improved my mental health.

I came off Facebook against my will - I forgot my login details for both the Facebook and also the email account it was linked to! It didn’t improve my MH because it never impacted my MH in the first place. I’m fairly secure in myself and very content with my life and my work/family/living situation so seeing other people’s lives didn’t make me feel bad. The people who suffer most from social media are those who are not completely happy with an aspect of their life and find seeing other people with the things that they want to be upsetting. If you find yourself comparing yourself to other on SM and feeling jealous or unhappy then it will probably help a lot.

Hi. Just to clear up something. Social media doesn't just adversely impact the mental health of people who are already suffering from mental health conditions or are not happy about their lives. That's not what the studies have shown at all. The studies have shown that those who use social media tend to have worse mental health than those who don't. Plain and simple. If you're honestly not one of those, then you're an outlier.

I sometimes think I live in a parallel universe.
I joined Facebook about 7 or 8 years ago and it totally changed my life for the better.
I find it an easy way to keep in touch with family and friends, and have links with people connect to my hobby and my daughter's school plus my community.
I am on various groups such as the local ones to where I live plus my childhood hometown (which I enjoy still having a link too). I enjoy the groups. In the last few weeks I have done things like shared a news story that's relevant to my area where I live, I posted some pictures of an old map because someone was asking about the history of a old building, I've helped people with advice on bus routes, complimented someone on the beautiful wildlife photos they regularly post, general chat about local cats.....
I feel I am much more part of a community than I was before.
On my personal page I never get any of these 'brag' posts or 'instagram' style lives....the people I am Facebook friends with just don't do posts like that. I actually don't know anyone who does those sort of posts. If you don't like those type of posts just unfollow them - or scroll by and ignore.
My mental health is actually better than before I had social media because now I can actually communicate with a much wider community where as before I was very isolated.

I find facebook very irritating. It's not a comparison thing - more that people just broadcast their thoughts on any given subject. I end up thinking i despise the whole of the human race. Mumsnet doesn't feel the same as there's more room for active discussion. I'm still careful about what I get drawn into on here though.
Try deactivating it @jamrolypolyandcustard You might well feel more relaxed about life.
I deactivated then totally deleted.
SM platforms just feel so noisy - the peace of not having FB/insta/tik tok is wonderful and allows room for more healthy habits in your life ♥

Yous have all given me the push just to delete Instagram and ask delete the app off my phone.

I find I'd just scroll mindlessly through for hours on an evening. Now I just have Facebook and only that I use for following my local village FB page as they have great advertising for stuff going on around for my DS, his school page and a few bloggers pages that genuinely make me feel happy and I enjoy reading.

I feel so much "lighter" not waking up and straight away scrolling through IG

Have to be honest and admit that I spend "longer than I would like" reading MN. I'm a little concerned about that as there are other things I should be doing.

I got an app where you can block certain sites on your phone so I've blocked fb for a while. It also tells you how may times you have tried to access it.
It was my first day yesterday and I tried to unlock it through habit 20+ times!!
The app also tells you how long u spend daily on your phone its quite an eye opener.
I'm not spending more time on MN though which is maybe defeating the object!

Which app is that?

It's called App Block

Thanks! Funnily enough I deactivated Facebook yesterday. I go through phases of thinking it’s nice to be in touch with whoever but I get so fed up of all the ads and feeling randomly rubbish about other people’s idyllic weekends!!

I deleted Instagram three years ago and didn’t miss it. I recently got it because DD is on it but I am so out of the habit that I barely go on. I am not touching TikTok because constant videos make me overwhelmed. I am occasionally sent funny ones on WhatsApp anyway.

I've been waiting to muse on this, thanks. I went off the big 3 for initially lent, had to stay on WhatsApp for work 🙄 but mute outside of work hours, I don't watch/listen to news unless accidentally, I didn't find i suddenly felt "better" like I had before when I stopped SM after a big RL upset (but then went back on silly me) but now I actually feel anxious at the idea going back on I was going to share holiday photos but I just can't. so I've stayed off but do still feel the need to scroll that's why I'm on here 🤷🏽‍♀️ sometimes I want to ask for advice either here or on a private FB group but then I remember how badly that's backfired before all that oversimplification and being sworn at so I just don't. I know I'm missing out from real life activities with my hobby groups but only 1 person has contacted me and the rest obviously want arrange on FB only so I'll just have to not do my hobbies in a group. this has also coincided with me having no car so my life is the opposite of how it was pre-Covid doing loads of activities driving here and there but that was too much but I haven't hit the balance yet. I do go out without my phone but I haven't got that "no one can contact me I'm so naughty" feeling yet. just nothing really

I made a choice over covid to keep my friends on Facebook but unfollow them all. I know it sounds like a shitty thing to do but it means I no longer have to see all the #makingmemories stuff that just leads to poor mental health (in my case) but I do get to see the stuff that comes through groups and clubs etc.

There’s no point in me pretending that this has had no impact on some friendships. I’m sure it has. There’s going to be things I don’t know about that was posted on Facebook and for those who care about Likes I’m obviously not liking posts I can’t see, so I might be looking pretty mean in that regard. I’m also very rarely posting, the occasionally updated profile photo, so again unless I see you regularly you’ll have no idea about anything to do with me either.

With all that said though my mental health is hugely better off the back of it. I’m less weighed down with guilt or other peoples troubles. I don’t have FOMO. It’s just easier all round.

I deactivate every time I'm going through something stressful and it clears my mind.