Impact of excess digital device usage habits
Using digital devices a lot can affect your health and daily activities. It's important to understand how too much screen time can impact you and find a good balance.
- Impacts mental and cognitive health
• Reduced focus, attention and concentration to complete a given task, due to constant multitasking and consumption of excess digital content.
• Overexposure to fast-paced digital media can contribute to restlessness and hyperactive behavior, particularly in children.
• Reliance on digital devices for storing information can weaken memory retention, as individuals may become less inclined to remember details, relying instead on devices.
- Impacts physical health
• Posture Problems due to bad posture and sitting hunched over device for long causing back and neck pain.
• Exposure to the blue light emitted by screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep, leading to poor sleep quality and insomnia.
• Weight gain and weaker muscles due to excess sitting and less or no physical activity.
- Imbalanced/unhealthy life style
• Excess screen time effects routines and affects wake-up time, sleep time, food time, personal hygiene etc., creating unhealthy/imbalanced life style practices
- Social isolation and impaired social wellbeing
• While digital devices enable connectivity, they can also lead to social isolation when virtual interactions replace face-to-face communication.
• They can also impact interpersonal skills, reducing the quality of face-to-face interactions and potentially affecting relationships.
- Digital addiction and emotional issues
• Excess social media exposure causes anxiety and depression among teens and young adults, due to the pressures of social comparison and the pursuit of online validation.
• The pressure to be constantly connected and responsive, especially in work contexts, can lead to digital burnout, characterized by mental fatigue, decreased productivity, and emotional exhaustion.