Ditching Facebook may lower your stress levels, a new study suggests.
The 138 participants had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol when they took a 5-day-break from Facebook, even if it was for less than a week, Newsweek reported.
However, the participants -- described as active Facebook users -- also experienced lower levels of well-being while staying away from Facebook, according to the University of Queensland, Australia study in The Journal of Social Psychology.
The findings likely apply to other types of social media, the researchers said.
"I believe that our findings are probably not unique to Facebook," study lead author Eric Vanman told Newsweek.
"Some of my own students constantly check Instagram and Snapchat during my lectures, so I'm guessing that extending our research to other platforms would [show] similar effects," he said.