The research on Facebook:

Ahh okay, when you choose to deactivate your account, Facebook gives you quite a few choices as a reason why you're doing it. The one I'd pick is "This is temporary, I'll be back". That's true. I just want a break. And apparently I only have 86 friends. Awesome. I held a pillow over the screen except the top row to get to my account so I wouldn't see anything on the home screen with all the news I'm trying to avoid right now.
Trying soo hard to avoid. That's why I want to deactivate it. Sure, I could just "hide" a few people, but that's not enough. I can't unfriend them because I want them in my life as much as possible, but sometimes there's something that stings and burns and just puts an ache inside your heart.
That's an acceptable way to shield myself from hurt and pain, right?

I hope so.