Dossier Mental Health 2 - How to Protect Our Psyche

Even a one-week break from Facebook, Twitter and the like will measurably improve well-being – these are the findings of a recent study conducted at the University of Bath. For the purpose of their study, published in the journal “Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking”, the researchers divided 154 participants between 18 and 72 years of age, who spent an average of eight hours per week on social media, into two groups: one group put the smartphone away for a week whereas the control group continued social media use as before. Prior to this, the researchers had determined the psychological states of the participants with respect to anxiety, depression and well-being. The result: after one week, those who had refrained from using social media felt significantly better in all three areas of mental health than those who had continued to use social media. “Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that many of us do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night”, said principal investigator Jeff Lambert. Once use becomes associated with stress, it’s time to slow down. “Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact“, says Lambert.