F*** Facebook, Again and Forever

Wow, am I late to this party! This morning, for no reason I will identify, I concluded that my Facebook account -- actually I have two -- was adding to my unhappiness rather than expanding my life in any positive way. Once I was sure about this I deactivated both accounts. I have taken that bold step before but always returned, feeling sure I was missing out on something. But today I  researched the subject and found, to my amazement, literally dozens of articles about how spending time on  Facebook exacerbates, and in some instances even causes, unhappiness, depression and even suicide. And not just in impressionable teens and young adults but older people as well. Who knew?

I certainly don't need to go into the reasons here; just Google it and find out for yourself in articles written by psychologists, psychiatrists and other experts in the mental health field. They're out there for the picking. As for my decision, I simply got tired of reading about how much fun everyone else is having, making my own limited existence seem bleak by comparison. Even though I know that people often fake it to make their lives enviable, still there were enough nuggets of truth infiltrating my "newsfeed" to increase my feelings of inadequacy.

Last week I visited a friend confined to a mental facility who is currently enduring a really bad phase in her life. No details, but let's just say things suck for her right now and will likely continue to suck for a very long time, barring a miracle. She no longer posts anything on Facebook.  I left feeling deeply sorry for her plight and much better about my own. I'm not proud, but it's a fact: We compare and contrast our lives with others automatically. So all you folks who are out there having a ball and living the good life, go right ahead. I just choose not to know about it anymore.