In the year since I quit social media, my screen time has fallen, my mood is up – even my resting heart rate is lower

‘I had more energy. I was sleeping better. I felt more creative and confident. My fear of missing out had vanished’: Philippa Moore on quitting social media. Photograph: kieferpix/Getty Images/iStockphoto

On 10 January 2022 I thought I was going a bit mad.

Or maybe, after everything that had happened over the past two years and with the country in the grip of yet another Covid surge, I’d just had enough. If my social media feeds were anything to go by, so had everyone else. Every time I opened Instagram or Twitter I felt caught up in a maelstrom of anger and hopelessness.