Taking a break from daily Facebook use leads to increased happiness and concentration, according to Danish researchers.

Are you feeling lonely or dissatisfied with life? Facebook may be to blame.

Danish researchers found that those who stepped away from the barrage of good news in their Facebook news feed for as little as a week reported that they were happier and described themselves as more content with their lives.

Almost all of the 1,095 participants in the study by the Happiness Research Institute, an independent think tank in Denmark, said they used Facebook daily before joining the study, and 69 percent said they preferred to post only about the great things that happened to them.

Half were assigned to give up Facebook for a week, while the rest were told to continue using Facebook as usual. Before the study began, all participants were asked about their life satisfaction, mood and social life and were given the same question upon the study’s conclusion. 

Those who took a break reported feeling happier, less lonely and more satisfied with their lives than their counterparts. Giving up Facebook also enriched their offline social lives, and they found themselves feeling more present in the moment without the constant lure of social media to distract them.

The dissatisfaction the participants reported feeling most likely stems from what the researchers termed ‘Facebook envy.’

“Social media is a nonstop great news channel,” the study concluded. “[It is] a constant flow of edited lives, which distorts our perception of reality.” Other people’s lives seem better because many only post the good news. In fact, one in three people in the study reported being jealous of how happy others appear on Facebook.

When not constantly reminded of what others had, the participants were more likely to be happy with their lives. They also spent more time being social, which was undoubtedly also a factor in feeling more content.

The study is by no means conclusive, since it only involved a weeklong break and didn’t have a study group reduce Facebook use to see if that would have a similar effect to stopping entirely. However, taking a break from social media looks like a good idea.