Has anyone experienced better mental health after deleting Facebook?

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I was recently browsing through my feed and saw a girl who used to be awful to me. She was incredibly insecure and used to put me down all the time and was one of those girls who only got a laugh out of the expense of others. I thought; why am I even still Facebook "friends" with her? I came to the conclusion that it's actually due to the guilt I would have with deleting her- we were technically "friends" for a few years at Uni, she invited me to stay at hers for a week a few years ago, etc. The thing is, I wouldn't let her treat me this way now. Why should I see her showing off about her life on a frequent basis, and why should I feel guilty about getting rid of a toxic friend?
Turns out there's many people on there who I don't even like. It would feel so good so just delete my profile, not having to see people's narcissistic comments and non
-geniune status updates. I ended up deleting this girl, after thinking of how she's treated me and everything she said to me in the past. I'm tempted to just delete the entire thing and just keep in contact with people via other forms.
I think the thing that's stopping me is fear of missing out. What if I miss an invite to a social event, or a reunion?
I do spend far too much time on there. My mental health isn't good right now and I've been having greater anxiety during the pandemic. I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced better mental health after deleting Facebook?

Honestly yes. I used to ruminate about things after using it and so got rid a year ago and haven't looked back.

If you feel worse after using it, what's the point? Is it adding anything to your life? Is it a creative outlet?

If no, deactivate

Yes yes and yes!!! My mental health dramatically improved after I deleted mine. It is so freeing

I did used to worry about missing out on stuff, but real friends send a text message to invite to things anyway

My only annoyance is that groups and events tend to update Facebook before anything else. I often don’t know if a playgroup session is cancelled, or If something is happening at a local business. But I find the inconvenience of that worth it for the vast improvement in my well being.

I rely on facebook for a number of groups so I took a halfway house -

I unfollowed/muted/whatever its called most people so I dont see their poets but they dont kno.

I couldn’t quite go as far as deleting - I use messenger over WhatsApp to talk to friends, and a lot of social/home ed stuff is arranged on there. I tried using it on the browser but it was awful so I put the apps back on, but only on the iPad (right at the back page of apps). I no longer scroll much at all, as I noticed the first time I went back on that my mood plummeted within minutes. It’s lost its hold on me now - I was mindlessly on there all the time before and I’m definitely better off for it.

Before that BTW, I did unfollow someone (due to the way we know each other it would cause a massive issue if I defriended or blocked) and can easily stop her from seeing my status too. That really helped a lot too before lockdown so it’s worth considering if particular people are causing an issue but you don’t want the confrontation.

I dont add a status anymore either - so people dont expect me to interact. And unfolllowed most people which was liberating. I said do I really want to see X holiday photos/updates - would they come over and show me irl? And kept 4 or 5 people!

But yes I use fb msrketplace, and messenger and follow some organisations and its been useful to hear of events this way.

Yes. I do feel a bit out of the loop sometimes but it's worth it. Looking at other peoples (posed) perfect lives when you're depressed and think your life is empty and worthless is not helpful

It frees up a lot of time too. Well, if you're anything like I was and you start scrolling through friends of friends wedding pics who you don't even know.

I left and whilst I wouldn’t say it revolutionised my MH per se I am glad I did so. I found workarounds for deleting messenger; sometimes I miss marketplace but not enough to make me go back on the platform.

Yes, less screen time in general helps my mental health, but especially Facebook.
Give it a go for a week or two.

Yes 100%! I deleted it after I had my second baby as most my friends are still childless and found it hard seeing all the fun they were having while I wasn’t!! 🤣!!

Oh yes. I deactivated my account over a year ago and have never missed it once. I still have messenger to chat to three people I like to keep in contact with.

This discussion is the one that is on in every household. I didn't quite only Facebook, I stayed away from my smart phone for 2 months. Initially it felt so much uncomfortable as I had a habit of continuously checking on my phone. After 5-7 days, I was able to do so many things as I got so much of extra time. I could complete all my tasks along with exploring new things. So, after those 2 months I tried using smart phone to the least. But slowly again the same habit took over.

I suspended my Facebook and Instagram accounts a week ago.

I feel so much better, even with family and the slight political element of who responds and likes comments was getting me down. I was glued to my phone and not enjoying the moment. I kept it because it was the only contact and opportunity for certain people of family to see my DD.
But I haven't missed it and those people could contact me other ways if they truly wanted to see me and her.

It's not fully closed so I may reopen soon just to get my pictures from it. But very seriously tempted to completely delete them both

Yes, deactivated about five years ago. Best thing for me. My mental health was suffering. I was reading stuff that was upsetting me. None of my closest friends are on it so we text. Other friends know I'm not in it so message me with invites either text or WhatsApp. I now do a lot on Pinterest so I can control what I see and it's all nice stuff. Has made a difference to me.

Yep, came off it 4 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. People say "oh what about events that you get invited to" - well if someone wants me somewhere bad enough they'll have my number to text me and ask me!

For those who say they need Messenger so couldn’t possibly delete it then you may be glad to know that you can install messenger without actually having a FB account. My dp did this. I do have a FB account and hardly use it anymore, sick of all the bragging and fakeness.

Yes of course! What’s that saying - “Comparison is the thief of joy”? Social media is all about comparing your own real life to others’ carefully edited view of theirs. You don’t need that. Delete delete delete.

Following tbis thresd I've unfollowed everyone! So I can stIll keep the groups Im in whcih I've found helpful, and slme mental health pages... but don't see people's updates!

Although, I think mumsnet is worse for me realising I dont have the career I thought Id have/an above average ssalary/savings/etx...

Your fb page is for your friends and interests not to people please.

You open it with curiosity not omg not them boasting again is a sign to delete or unfollow.
I use it mostly for the joke memes and everything else is of no importance.
You can log in and off as you like or try deleted the app off your phone so your not as likely to use it.
I use it for joking memes not who's doing who or what or what meal they had that day.
Put the word out you need a email or text to stay in the loop.
Real friends do that for you.

FB doesn't affect my MH but I very carefully curate my friend sa and hide anyone who posts nastiness or offensive stuff. My feed is full of political views I agree with and people wing all nice and encouraging to each other. If I come off Facebook I miss out on a lot of RL social stuff I wouldn't know was going on, I genuinely think my RL has improved since FB has made it so much easier to organise group events (in normal times).

MN is a different story. Horribly addictive, very helpful at times, which is why I keep coming back but I know I'm happier when I stay away.

I got rid of my Facebook a few years ago and I’ve never regretted it. My friends message me if they want to invite me to something, I’ve never been left out. They also will message me pictures of their holidays or their children if they want me to see or when I ask how they’re getting on. I think it’s so much more personal that way, and I don’t spend time comparing my life to those of people I used to know.

I don't follow friends but I have a large positive running community, a fab gardening page and lots of recipes. Facebook is great for that stuff.

I deleted FB about 7 years ago when my eldest was a baby. It did improve my mental health quite a bit. It didn’t suddenly solve all my problems though I must say. But I had grown so tired of it all and it made me feel so inadequate looking at everyone else’s lives and how much they were doing and how great they looked etc. I knew deep down that they were only putting the best bits of their lives on there, sort of an edited version, yet I still let it get to me. So got rid of it. And as others have said, real friends will still keep in contact without FB. I had one ‘friend’ completely ignore my birthday and then when I bumped into her a few weeks later I mentioned something I’d done for my birthday and she said ‘oh I forgot it was your birthday, it’s because you don’t have Facebook anymore’. We had been friends for years before FB was even invented! Says it all really.

I did get Instagram about 2 years ago (mainly because our wedding photographer was holding a competition to win your wedding photos! But had to be on FB/insta) and I do prefer it as I only follow people I actually like, there’s no stupid status updates, I only view their stories if I want to etc. I have got one awkward situation now though where I’m following someone who I feel I can’t unfollow (could be awkward in rl) but she’s driving me mad trying to flog Herbalife and also she just put up a post that was pretty much shaming anyone who didn’t breastfeed. Going to find out how to stop her posts showing in my feed I think!

Simple answer - yes! If something doesn’t make you feel good, don’t do it!

I've recently deleted and blocked all but about 5 people off my Facebook as it was getting me down. All the fakeness and feeling like I had to interact with people that in actual fact couldn't give two shits about me in real life. It's quite liberating! I feel so much better now and only have people who I see and spend time with in real life on there. I've even changed my name on there too so that no one can look me up and I can decide who I want to add.