It’s hard to take care of your mental health when every scroll drags you into outrage and arguments. That’s why I’ve come to rely on the Facebook Snooze for 30 Days button.

Not That Snooze Button…

From the title of this article, you most likely assumed the focus was going to be on discussing the benefits of sleep and hitting the good old snooze button on your wakeup alarm. You would be wrong in your assumption. The purpose of this writing is to examine the Facebook Snooze for 30 days button, one of the platform’s more beneficial features, and how utilising it can positively impact our mental health.

However, so that you don’t feel let down by your false assumption and accuse me of creating a clickbaity title, I will devote some of our time together to the importance of sleep.

Although I do wonder to myself, who doesn’t know how important sleep is?

We all have experienced some of the symptoms of sleep deprivation, which increase in severity the longer this period extends. It is an effective form of torture if you want your captive to totally lose their grip on reality.

Hopefully, you never find yourself in such a situation, but you’ve probably experienced disorientation and irritability when you’ve not had a decent kip.

So far, I’m not saying anything fucking new, you’re probably thinking.

This is true, and my main point will be further down this page; scroll ahead if you need to.

Before we stray too far into one of my tangents, let’s zoom out a second. Because it’s not just about snoozing people online — our whole mental health circus is worth a look.

Phone Zombies, Clicks, and the Madness We Call Normal

We now live in a time where discussions around mental health are more open than ever before. There are some who feel that certain of these conditions make them special and something to be celebrated, while others are desperately trying to rid themselves of them. There are also those who will exploit such conditions and the mental health of others for their own egotistical means; although this has been the case since the dawn of mankind, no doubt.

In our modern technological world, which has given rise to the “phone zombie,” the “like” is the currency that fuels this narcissism. The irony of writing and sharing an article online, with the hope that it will reach as many people as possible, is not lost on me.

However, I would just say that it is the words I am writing that I want to take centre stage and not me personally. Sadly, the only way to reach people is to become one of “Satan’s little helpers”, as Bill Hicks would say, and involve yourself in marketing. Therefore, I, too, must chase these fucking clicks, likes, and subscribes when I would rather be sitting down to write.

Yeah, so my mental state fluctuates, too.

Forget the Clickbait — Here’s the Only Sleep Advice You Need

There has been a lot of research conducted on sleep and dreams, but from what I’ve read on the subject in these studies, it’s still mostly guesswork.

This does not prevent people from posting bollocks like: “Why you should only sleep 2 minutes a day” type articles.

Note: I’m pleased that after conducting a search, no such article exists, but you get the point I was making, right?

There are various sleep patterns that people recommend, depending on their lifestyle, culture, and many other factors. Whereas the click chaser will come up with their own variant and recommend the fuck out of it to the mass of sheeple who will bow down and do it without a second thought.

Here’s the only advice you need on sleep patterns: find what works for you.

That was fucking simple, wasn’t it?

So are many of the solutions to mental health problems, but as I often say, not necessarily easy.

The amount of sleep you need will probably vary throughout the cycles of the seasons, and will definitely change throughout your life. The important thing is to get enough most of the time. The problems which can arise due to interruptions to your healthy pattern can soon be overcome following a return to it.

There are many people who have risen in the ranks of spirituality, both past and present, who recommend rising with the sun. If this works for you, great, but for most of my adult life, I would be more likely to be going to bed at this time, not rising. This was at times due to being employed as a night worker, sometimes it was from coming back spangled from a rave, but mostly it was down to the fact that I am what is commonly known as a night owl.

Even as a child, I often snuck out of my bedroom when my parents presumed I was asleep, and lay at the top of the stairs so I could just see the TV. My love of Hammer Horror and Amicus films began in this position.

Night Owls, Sentries, and Sabre-Toothed Tigers

The notion of a natural night walker is debated by so-called experts, but from an evolutionary perspective, the idea that some people can stay awake through the night makes total sense.

We’ve all seen enough TV shows and movies where the consequences of falling asleep on watch could lead to catastrophe.

This is especially true in military-related situations where the penalties can be personal. A favourite example of mine is when Horatio Hornblower is caught dozing during his 36 hours of continuous watch by the mentally declining Captain Sawyer in the episode of the series titled Mutiny. In this instance, under the Articles of War, he could be hanged for this offence.

But most often, the consequences of sleeping on duty are much more far-reaching. The character of Michael Garibaldi in Babylon 5 causes the death of a buddy and others, and is kind of responsible for the start of an all-out war through his dereliction of duty; although, he was incredibly drunk at the time!

So, if we travel way back in time to when the consequences could mean your entire clan being snaffled by some prehistoric predator, you would want someone like me to be on guard.

Bottom line on sleep: Find the pattern that works for you and try to stick to it. You know when you’re not getting it right, so fuck what anyone tells you you need to have.

It’s Not Just Insomnia — It’s That Bloody Song Lyric Again

As already mentioned, not getting enough sleep can affect you both mentally and physically. Many things can disrupt our sleep patterns, such as a partner who randomly thrashes out like they’ve been momentarily possessed, age-related and medical conditions, or a cat doing the zoomies at 4 a.m. However, we can often get back to sleep after one of these interruptions.

The other issue many face is getting to sleep in the first place. Some of us can be just about to doze off when the most ridiculous of questions come to mind, inspirations for a creative outlet, or contemplating an alternative ending to the film you’ve just watched. Or even worse than that, a single fucking song lyric or a weird celebrity name appears to want to repeat itself on loop, and for no apparent reason. Or is that just me?

However, for many people, the inability to fall asleep in the first place is often due to worry.

No matter how often you tell a person that worry is just envisaging a dark and gloomy future, which will most likely never occur, it doesn’t stop them from doing it. This kind of anxiety is very common, and most of us do it from time to time. Chronic worriers, on the other hand, will usually have other symptoms than just an inability to drift off at night. If you are one of these people, you already know this, so I do not need to list them.

Turns Out Even Emperors Hated Mornings

Before I finally get around to talking about the social media snooze button, I’ll wrap up this longer-than-anticipated section on sleep by addressing the namesake function of your morning alarm.

I have to admit, this used to be my favourite feature on an alarm clock, and I could hit it several times if I could get away with it. This probably harks back to my time aboard a warship, where some of us would roll out of our bunk and get straight into a set of overalls at “call the hands” to maximise head-down time. Quite often, this too was due to having been incredibly drunk at the time!

It is only within the last few years that I have minimised my dependence on the snooze feature. Thinking it was a modern phenomenon, I was surprised to find that the “just five more minutes” routine has plagued humanity for quite a while. It was this quote from Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations that made me realise this fact and changed my long-standing habit:

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or was I created for this—to huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”

Hard to imagine Roman Legionaries experiencing the same shit many of us go through in the morning, isn’t it?

Well, I rambled on about sleep more than I had planned, but if that’s why you clicked to read my article, you shouldn’t feel cheated now.

How I Stopped Doomscrolling Without Unfriending Everyone

Finally, let’s look at how you can use the Facebook snooze for 30 days feature to improve your mental health.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to use the platform for a few reasons; however, none of those reasons are to read other people’s opinions on whatever is dominating the news.

In other words, these “experts on every subject” will be parroting what they’ve read or heard elsewhere in their left or right-leaning source, which aligns with their already ingrained biases.

I pretty much know, and have known for a long time, how my friends, family, and acquaintances are wired when it comes to all things political. Therefore, I do not need an ongoing reminder.

Personally, what I hope to see in my feed is things which educate me, inspire me, or, most importantly, make me laugh.

How about you?

We all feel strongly about certain things, but we don’t need to be consumed by them 24/7.

I have tried several tactics to keep my feed aligned with these wants, but to no avail.

Even if you just stop following someone, another propaganda clone will soon appear, saying the exact same thing.

Also, although some people go on and on bunny style, like they’re full of Duracell batteries about Trump, Starmer, Boats, and other shit, sometimes they meet my criteria with what they post, so I don’t tend to want to unfollow them.

If we all unfriended people because they don’t agree with us on everything, we would soon become completely isolated.

Differences in opinion can be solved through dialogue, but never by ignoring them.

This is where I found the Facebook snooze for 30 days button, a happy compromise.  

I kind of have a three-strikes policy before hitting the button. If I see three consecutive posts from a person that start to affect my mood, boom, it’s time to hit the button. I then immediately feel my spirits rise as I know that’s one less annoyance for the coming month. I must admit that, lately, there have been a few from both sides of the fence who have passed 120 days and may even set new records for the longest periods of ongoing snoozing.

Protect Your Sanity, Not the Algorithm

There will be people who will object to what I’m saying here and think that I’m talking about burying your head in the sand. To them, I say not at all; no individual is aware of everything that is happening on a daily basis throughout the world, unless you want to get all religious about it.

Besides, there is no way to do this in this day and age, unless you completely remove yourself from society and find a remote location inhabited by only wildlife.

If a person is passionate about a subject, there are effective ways to get involved.

I have done all but the last on this list (and never would):

• Join a group that takes action
• Go to protest marches
• Go to counter-protests
• Sign petitions
• Email a politician/CEO
• Become a politician

What doesn’t do much?

Sharing a fucking opinion on social media! You could argue with me on that, as this is how some influencers attract their flock, but statistically, the vast majority of opinion posts achieve the square root of fuck all, whether they are beneficial to humanity or not.

This being the case, the only option is to minimise exposure to the bullshit for the sake of your own sanity.

There was a time before social media, a time before TV, and a time before the tabloids, and yet, people still knew what was going on. Or another way of putting it, people were still susceptible to being manipulated into believing one thing or another, and were prepared to fight and die for these things.

Even if you don’t want to go full tin-foil hat conspiratorial about the information we are given, unplugging from all these forms of media will not cause you any harm. If something major happens, you will hear about it, even if it’s a day after everyone else. 

Taking some time away from the internet was one of the ideas I discussed in my recent book, It’s Not Ok To Be Not OK, as a way to improve your mental health.

Remember, all these platforms are just tools which, from a user’s perspective, are meant to make life easier, not enslave you and cause you to be in a state of permanent agitation.

There are some things we can control completely and other things we can’t. 

It’s your mental health, so what you allow to affect it is up to you.

One of my main philosophies is to ditch the blame game and victim mindset if you want to improve your mental health. So, if some of your friends keep posting absolute bollocks and it starts getting on your tits, try hitting the Facebook snooze for 30 days button and see if that helps.

If you find it helpful, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

If this rattled your brain in a good way, follow me on Facebook — it’s not enlightenment, but it’s a step up from doomscrolling.