Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#321

Post by neltnerb » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 4:36 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #137

anderber wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely understand what you're saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?

> I absolutely understand what you're saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. So, how does that work out for you?

If you encourage your neighbors to vote, local politicians will pay more attention to your area. I doubt it goes much broader than that.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#322

Post by balladeer » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 4:41 AM UTC

INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

Just like I have had use of dating apps (they are simply indispensable in today's society, at least where I live, for someone who wants to date and is no longer in the "dozens of friends in the city" demographic), I sometimes feel a need for a social networking app/website that helps me keep in touch with updates from friends' lives especially now when we literally are countries and continents away. WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp statuses just doesn't cut it.

If only there was a feature rich app with a clean and pleasant interface (would prefer it to be paid). The defunct app Path comes to mind. It was quite good except that it was a privacy nightmare too.

But then their "life" updates would start to be overwhelmingly overrun by their fake, political, spam updates.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#323

Post by celticmusic » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 4:53 AM UTC

sykick wrote: post #311

celticmusic wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

That's a pretty damning conclusion given the paucity of evidence to support it. Are you so sure you have enough facts to determine that I'm morally corrupt? What evidence do you have that I think there is no act so atrocious that I wouldn't act without considering the nuance? All you know about me is that in the case of Syria I think it's nuanced. I haven't made any statements about other situations so how can such a…

[flagged]

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#324

Post by pmart123 » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 4:56 AM UTC

INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

Interesting. Recently, I saw a local news program for the first time in years, and I couldn't believe how many negative and depressing stories they ran.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#325

Post by psychanarch » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 4:56 AM UTC

anderber wrote: post #101

INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

I absolutely understand what you're saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?

Informed how? What actionable information is the news providing that impacts you as a voter?

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#326

Post by victoriasun » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 5:05 AM UTC

coderunner wrote: post #29

As an aside, if anyone has any unusual things that you have done that have helped with depression, please mention them. I've done the usual route of therapy and meds but that didn't help with my depression or suicidal thoughts. Thanks in advance.

Not sure if you're open to controlled substances, psychedelics in particular, but LSD has been the singular thing that has really made an impact on my depression (and I've gone thru the usual round of therapy/medication/etc). Ten years ago I had a serious suicide attempt. I'm happier and healthier than ever now, and I credit a lot of what helped me to LSD. Happy to chat about this more if any body has any questions, but otherwise I find Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind an excellent introduction to psychedelic therapy (although his experience focuses predominantly on psychedelic mushrooms, there's a lot in common as they do have similar but different effects on the brain).

It's important to note that LSD or any psychedelic therapy isn't a cure-all. It's more like an accelerated, intense meditative/therapeutic state that allows you to reflect upon your life in a way that doesn't involve the ego-center of your brain. I highly recommend everyone to try it as it offers a way to introspect on yourself that is pretty difficult to achieve in normal life.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#327

Post by cityzen » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 5:07 AM UTC

coderunner wrote: post #29

As an aside, if anyone has any unusual things that you have done that have helped with depression, please mention them. I've done the usual route of therapy and meds but that didn't help with my depression or suicidal thoughts. Thanks in advance.

One thing that has helped me tremendously is The Daily Stoic: https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Wisdom-Persev...

There is a passage for each day of the year (less than 2 pages of reading) and a theme for each month.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#328

Post by victoriasun » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 5:13 AM UTC

chrysoprace wrote: post #176

I'd really like to quit Facebook but I'm holding out for three reasons: a) Facebook Chat is a way to get a hold of friends or vice versa. SMS is often slow (less of a sense of urgency I guess), and not everyone has my number or even use SMS. b) The network effect. It's a great way for introverts such as myself to get in contact with someone without the "what's your number?" question. c) Events. If I didn't have Faceb…

I quit. I'm an introvert :)

a) You can quit Facebook without quitting Messenger. I did this for a while before pulling the plug immediately.

b) Honestly, quitting Facebook made it pretty clear to me what social circle I (and those within it) seriously wanted to maintain, and who didn't exist in that. This is not to shade on the people outside of this circle, by the way! We only have a limited number of seats at our proverbial table. My closest friends quickly switched to SMS for me. I have more time for them now that my Messenger list isn't filled with people for whom I only have a vague relationship with (this is also more of an indicator of the type of friends I had on Facebook, which may not apply to you).

c) Depends on what kind of events you like, but I've found text/mailing lists/curated apps to be more helpful than Facebook's deluge of events. I do get invited to less birthday parties, but I've never enjoyed those anyways. I much prefer an intimate dinner over a large group gathering.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#329

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 5:17 AM UTC

anderber wrote: post #101

INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

I absolutely understand what you're saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?

[deleted]

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#330

Post by nojvek » Fri, Feb 14, 2020, 5:29 AM UTC

I quit Facebook (+ hipstagram + Snapchat) 2 years ago and deffo report better life satisfaction.

Well Snapchat was accidental quit. They made an app update and the app never launched again. I tried opening it several times and it crashed every time. Snapchat really needs to work on quality control and user experience.

I use WhatsApp to stay in touch with my family groups which are located all over the world. I really wished WhatsApp didn’t sell to Facebook and remained independent.