Taking a break
WHY UNPLUGGING FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AT TIMES MAY IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
Selena Gomez is one of the top five most followed celebrities on Instagram, but that hasn’t stopped the 29-year-old actor and singer from stepping away from social media. In 2021, the Lose You To Love Me songstress told Vogue that she “maintains steadiness” in part by avoiding it. “I woke up one morning and looked at Instagram like every other person, and I was done,” she said. “After that decision, it was instant freedom.”
Australia has one of the highest social media penetration rates in the world, with around 82 per cent of us using some form of it at least once a day for nearly two hours. For some, however, it has become an emotional rollercoaster of comparison, perfection, and opinions. So how do you stop the ride if you’re no longer having fun?
New research has examined the casual effect of taking a social media break on mental wellbeing. Researchers from the University of Bath randomly divided 150 daily social media users of all ages between two groups; one was asked to stop using social media for a week, while the other could continue scrolling. A week later the group that took a break showed significant improvements in wellbeing, depression, and anxiety compared with the other.
“I suspect social media use isn’t necessarily bad for everyone, it’s all about how we engage with it,” says the study’s lead researcher, Dr Jeff Lambert. “However, based on the results, I think it’s reasonable to suggest that if you’re feeling anxious or low, taking a short break might be one way to provide at least some short-term improvements.”
Psychologist Jocelyn Brewer agrees. “I think we have to recognise that, for many people, social media is the way we connect with one another,” she says. “But when you’re on social media you’re also consuming a lot of information. Some might be really useful, a lot of it can be really informative, but a lot of it is digital junk food.”
Brewer says our brains need downtime.
“We’re jumping from topic to topic, from work to personal, to all of these different contexts,” she explains. “So do I think we need to take a break from over-consuming information? Yes.”
Ben Maddern is a holistic wellness coach from Sydney who regularly disconnects from social media and coaches his clients to do the same.
“I do not believe ongoing exposure to social media is healthy, and I have taken a number of steps to limit my exposure,” he says. “I approach my social media usage mindfully so I remain in control, and the compulsion to scroll mindlessly does not control me.”
As a business owner, Maddern has a presence on most social media platforms, but he only checks them once in the morning.
“I have asked my clients to preference calling or emailing, and directed my reliance away from social media,” he says.
Mary Lisa Khraiche is a marketing manager from Sydney. In May, she took a one-week break from all forms of social media.
“As a TikTok creator (@mlkknows) I was finding it so difficult to unplug as I felt as though I needed to be on top of content and trends, with a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) on channelling my creative,” she says. “So I scheduled the break out of the blue.”
Khraiche, 25, says she used the time to read two books, journal, pray, meditate, and spend uninterrupted time with loved ones. She’s planning future week-long breaks.
“I am so glad that I took a break,” she says. “I was able to prove to myself, and the people around me, that I … wasn’t dependent on it.” But is a week long enough? “The benefit of a week is that it is short enough for people to give it a
try, but long enough to yield some benefit,” Lambert says. “Over the long-term, I suspect the main benefit of taking a short break is to help us reevaluate how we use social media in our day-to-day lives, and develop more healthy relationships with it.”