Yes I have heard people here say that they had to give up Facebook for various reasons but the bottom line was that it was making their depression worse. Yes it's hard to watch our lives shrink as depression takes hold. I really do understand how you feel. I used to go out with friends every weekend before my illness took hold. That was 22 years ago and it is still haunting me to this day. But some days are better than others and in time you learn to value who you are and not just how many parties you went to that weekend (at least that is how it has been for me).

As I started reading I took this at a different angle - coming to DS triggers my Depression. So why do I do it? I'm not sure yet.

As far as your post and FB and people ..... please try to Only make comparisons to YOU yesterday .... that is the only person you need to become better than. If you see something on FB that you Like (seeing other people doing things, living life whatever) - just gradually work toward that for You.

(I'm not sure if that even made sense, sorry).

ps - I've dumped "friends" at FB ... that's just a weird place (to me).

Yes --

1) It seems like everyone else's life is one social event. Me? I barely leave the house.

2) I'm in my mid-40s and living paycheck to paycheck. Meanwhile, people I went to high school with are "complaining" they can't decide on new appliances for the next remodeling project and posting pics of their $250,000+ homes.

3) If I'm bored enough, I start looking at profiles of people from school I didn't actually know. They have stunningly beautiful families (I'm single with no children) and post tons of vacation photos from exotic places (I haven't been on a vacation in 10+ years) and seem exceedingly happy. All of my Facebook pics are selfies or pics of animals or nature.

4) Holidays are the worst. Two years in a row I've had to stay away from Facebook Thanksgiving thru Christmas. I just couldn't take all the celebrating, bragging about gifts and family get-together photos. I actually felt MUCH better staying away from it during those times. I'll most likely do the same this year.

It's not just you. Facebook can depress the heck out of a person.

FB is not a place for people who have issues of comparing themselves to others. It can be extremely depressing to feel you are not doing as well as others and personally I'd say to stay away if it makes you feel that way.

For me it is uplifting and I look for fun things and people who make me laugh and to look at family pictures. If I feel a spiral coming on and it wouldn't help I avoid going on there until I'm better.

I have a friend who is like that. She went on facebook the other day only to realize that her classmates had graduated without her. The most painful thing is that she was apart of the year group that graduated. So at the moment she feels immensely left out. As if she is not making much progress in her life.

Facebook is very depressing and I'm trying to stay away from it. If you can stop using it because it can make you feel very lonely.

Yup I gave up on face book because it was too depressing.

I'm on fb and have been for some time now. I've gotten and get good things from it, yet I also get bad things from it. It's actually something I'm trying to figure out for myself right now. Before learning of DS and coming on here I was always on fb. Once coming on here I felt more drawn here and I wasn't going on fb for days at a time. Some people noticed my absence, so I got some private messages asking what was going on with me. On here I can fully be myself and not worry about being judged. On fb I didn't feel that way and I only shared my situation with very few people, not including my close friends who obviously know. I have no regrets about joining fb as my reason for joining was to reconnect with good friends that I had lost touch with over the yrs. Now they're back in my life again and it's as if nothing has changed, with our connection that is. Now, there are of course the immense amount of "friends" who aren't really your friends. They're just people you knew from school. I have cleaned up my friends list and it felt good. I do enjoy seeing how peoples lives have turned out..single, married, profession, kids, etc. However I also struggle at times with comparing myself to them which in turn makes me not feel so great about where I am in life. What's hitting me pretty hard right now is that they have planned our 20 yr. high school reunion. I will not be attending for various reasons, but in a way I wish I was. I've only discussed it with my close friends who seem to be on the fence about going themselves, but I think they'll end up going. I just won't be surprised if people ask why I'm not there and then since I'm on fb ask me why I wasn't there. So I'm not crazy about all of that, but I'll deal with that when and if it comes. I've been invited to many events that I didn't attend, due to my anxiety mostly. I have gotten together with some fb friends in a less crowded setting, at each others houses. I think now it's been another 2 or 3 days since I've been on with the exception of going on quickly today to see a pic of my girlfriends new baby since I won't be visiting her right away and I just needed to see the precious bundle of joy :-) So basically what I do is I go by my mood and how I feel once I scroll through for a bit whenever I go on. It can take as little as 5 min. for me to realize this isn't a good day for me to be on here, so I'll get off. Only you know what's best for you and how you feel while on it. If you start having negative thoughts about yourself while scrolling through, log off and be done with it for the day. My profile pic is my favorite quote as it so resonates with me cuz I tend to compare myself to everyone. I don't do it constantly, but enough to piss me the fuck off. I'm older than you, but I do understand everything you're saying in this post as I've been there. I know it's hard to lose friends due to our illness and their lack of wanting to try to understand us and just accept us as we are, but I promise you that the ones who leave weren't your real friends and you're better off knowing this now and having them out of your life. I have always said and always will that it isn't the quantity of friends you have, it's the quality. Your true friends will stick with you through all of this. You're not alone. I'm here if you ever want to talk or just want someone to vent to. Hang in there. Things will get better. One day at a time.

Thank you for everyone's responses. I honestly do feel more comfortable to be honest here because most of you understand where I am coming from or can understand. On this site we are able to speak our minds and be ourselves without the fear of being judged. That makes me really happy. :) I hope everyone had a great weekend.

I maybe be coming a little late to the party....

But yes. That's the sole reason why I had to deactivate mine. I hated seeing what my "friends" were doing, what they were exceeding at, what I wasn't getting invited too. These days, I'm so much better without it.

It even helps with my love life too. I don't have to feel stalkerish or be jealous of what other people say to my crushes. It sounds childish as hell but at least I'm honest.

In fact, not having it helps me work on my self-esteem in general.

I think it is human nature to compare ourselves to what we don't have or what we can't have, especially us who are naturally prone to depression. One thing that we have to remember is the same peoples profile that we are looking at with envious eyes, those people have also looked at others profiles maybe even ours with the same envious eyes. Would they ever own up to it? No...

I know what you mean. Most people like to put on their best face when they are online. I have one f/b friend who,if you read her postings,you would think that she is the most lucky and blessed person on the planet.. Nobody has it that good.

I think FB its just for fun,sharing pics.saying hello to friends,...I don't think any one is sharing their more intimate feelings ,like we do on DS.

I cannot say for certain ... because I created a FB account years ago, and deactivated it within an hour ... never to return .... but for some reason, I think FB is the abomination of the Internet. BAD, BAD idea.

That is 2 cents worth.

I find that it has been triggering mine really bad lately. Either seeing friends post about their families, reminding me that I live alone.

Also, I recently broke up with someone. She begged me to remain Facebook friends; she was disappointed that I wanted to delete her. But, it saddens me when she posts.