Taking break from social media improves mental health: Study

At the beginning of the study, baseline scores for anxiety, depression and wellbeing were taken.Participants reported spending an average of 8 hours per week on social media at the start of the study.

Bath: According to a new research, social media break for just a week improves individual`s overall level of well-being, as well as reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety which helps people manage their mental health.The findings of the research were published in the journal `Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking`.

The study, carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Bath, studied the mental health effects of a week-long social media break. For some participants in the study, this meant freeing-up around nine hours of their week which would otherwise have been spent scrolling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

For the study, the researchers randomly allocated 154 individuals aged 18 to 72 who used social media every day into either an intervention group, where they were asked to stop using all social media for one-week or a control group, where they could continue scrolling as normal.

At the beginning of the study, baseline scores for anxiety, depression and wellbeing were taken.Participants reported spending an average of 8 hours per week on social media at the start of the study.

One week later, the participants who were asked to take the one-week break had significant improvements in wellbeing, depression, and anxiety than those who continued to use social media, suggesting a short-term benefit.