When I recently stopped using Facebook a lot of my friends wondered why and thought I was over reacting when I said that I did not enjoy it and I was finding it was making me mad and sad. Well I found this study that proves that I was justified in how I was feeling. Apparently Facebook usage has been proven to cause stress and actually increases Cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a Catabolic hormone and is the main "stress" hormone within the body. I will not delve into what Cortisol is and how it can negatively impact the body when present for long periods or chronically.
Below is brief summary of the study, please leave a comment on what you think. I would love to get peoples perspective on this as I know there are many different opinions about facebook.
The day-to-day usage of Facebook brings with it an indisputable quantity of tension, Australian psychologists found. When Facebook users stopped using the social medium, their cortisol levels drop, and their quantity of tension was reduced.
Research study Setup:
The scientists divided 138 Facebook users aged 18-40 into two groups. One group continued to utilize Facebook, the other stopped utilizing it for five days. Prior to starting the research, and on the last day, the scientists identified the concentration of cortisol in the saliva of the research participants. The researchers also made participants take surveys to gauge perceive stress levels.
Outcomes from the Study:
In the saliva of the research participants who needed to do without Facebook, the concentration of cortisol dropped. The quantity of tension/stress reported by this group of participants was reduced. Nevertheless, this was balanced out by the reality that due to the fact that of the absence of Facebook the participants perceived or thought of their lives as less enjoyable.
Source Article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224545.2018.1453467