My Personal Detox from Social Media’s Grip
Reclaiming Inner Peace: My Journey Away from the Social Media Frenzy
Have you ever had that feeling where you look at your phone for two seconds and when you look back up, it’s been two hours? Yeah, me too. I was stuck in that loop until I decided to take a break from social media. This is how my mental health improved unexpectedly during my social media detox and why you should consider doing one too.
The digital clarity of disconnecting
When was the last time you felt peaceful? For me, it was during my social media detox. The University of Pennsylvania suggested that decreasing social media usage can decrease loneliness and depression (Hunt et al., 2018). So instead of scrolling through Instagram in the morning or Snapchatting throughout the day, I read books, meditated on the beach, wrote about my thoughts — things that actually brought me peace.
But let’s be real — it wasn’t easy. The study on FOMO (Meshi et al., 2015) hit hard because it’s true: Fear of missing out is real when all your friends are together posting about their fun night while you’re sitting at home trying not to double-tap a picture from 53 weeks ago. It’s tough. But as days turned into weeks, I realized something: What I was “missing” on my phone wasn’t nearly as important as what I was gaining in real life.
How to successfully disconnect
Successfully disconnecting from social media takes strategy. Here are some steps:
1.Set clear objectives: Define what exactly you want to get out of your detox. Is it less anxiety? Better sleep? More time for personal projects? Knowing this will help guide your experience.
2.Start gradually: If going cold turkey sounds terrifying (it did to me), start small by limiting usage first. Designate times during the day when you’ll allow yourself to check apps or set app usage limits through your settings.
3.Notify your circle: Let friends and family know you’re on a detox so they aren’t wondering why you’re not liking their pictures or responding to their messages. This also helps set the expectation that you won’t be available 24/7.
4.Find alternatives: You need to fill the time somehow! Plan activities for when you’d normally be scrolling Twitter so you don’t find yourself mindlessly opening the app and scrolling without even realizing it.
5.Reflect on your experience: Use this period of disconnect to really reflect on how social media affects your mental health. Journaling about your thoughts and feelings during this time can be especially enlightening to look back on later.
6.Create a long-term plan: Decide how you’re going to use social media once your detox is over. This could mean unfollowing certain accounts, only allowing yourself to check apps at certain times during the day or deleting certain apps altogether.
40-Day Social Media Fast
In Wendy Speake’s book “The 40-Day Social Media Fast,” I found so much wisdom that resonated with me throughout my own journey. She takes you through a transformative process, encouraging readers to take a break from all digital noise in order to reconnect with what’s real and important — relationships, passions and spirituality. Her approach is not one of renunciation but rediscovery. The book really opened my eyes and I would recommend it to anyone looking for practical steps they can take during their own fast. It’s available for purchase on Amazon if interested!
Embracing the challenge of disconnecting
Rewriting the text to make it more dynamic, perplexing, and full of synonyms:
The thought of missing out on something important online is very frightening. According to a study done by Primack et al. (2020) in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, FOMO can greatly impact our mood and satisfaction with life. But what if we are actually missing out on our own lives because we’re too immersed in this virtual one?
After my cleanse I realized that being present has so much more happiness than getting high off social media. Also, when I caught up with friends they had real stories instead of ones they found online.
Your Turn
So what about you? Can you take some time away from the vastness of technology? Try for a day or an hour — or even just five minutes. Replace it with something that makes you truly feel alive. Who knows, you might pick up a new hobby or rekindle an old passion.
And if cutting off makes you nervous — it’s not forever! You’re still in control.
Poll: A Social Media Cleanse that Reflects Real Life
Given what I’ve learned from this research as well as my own experience, I’m interested to know whether other people have had similar findings. Please participate in this brief survey:
Do these replies tell us whether anticipated good effects are usual or my social media use differs from that of others? We are not just counting votes; we are seeking to understand our common engagement with social media and its impacts on our day-to-day lives.
Conclusion
In line with a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied (Tromholt, 2016), my social media detox was an eye-opener as it discovered higher levels of well-being after taking a break from Facebook. So, do you want to try something new together and explore what life has got beyond this tiny screen? Let’s find out if your mind also needs such kind of fresh air like having a break from all forms of online communication.
Author’s Note:
This post contains affiliate links through Amazon; should you purchase anything via these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to yourself — thank you for supporting my work! For any questions or comments please email me at [email protected]
References:
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751–768.
Meshi, D., Morawetz, C., & Heekeren, H. R. (2015). Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 582.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., yi Lin, L., Rosen, D., Colditz, J. B., Radovic, A., & Miller, E. (2020). Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1–8.
Tromholt, M. (2016). The Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 22(4), 454–462.