5 Ways Your Devices Might Be Harming Your Mental Health
Nothing can dampen a good time like a friend pulling out their phone in the middle of your conversation.
You know how it goes. You’re sitting across the table having a great chat. You’re loving every minute of the deep, rich conversation.
Then, without saying anything, they interrupt the time together by taking their phone from their pocket. At once, they start tapping away, suddenly oblivious to you. You act like it’s no big deal, but if you’re like me, you’re secretly wondering if they were even enjoying our time together at all.
Sure, the phone goes away quickly, and the conversation resumes. After a couple minutes, the technological intrusion is forgotten.
But, still, for a minute or two, what they did burns a bit.
Our devices are stealing from us
You may not respond internally like I do when someone pulls out their phone, but it’s a common thing that happens these days. It’s a small example of how digital technology can steal our attention, and in the process, negatively impact our lives and relationships.
Small examples of stolen attention like this one add up over time, though:
By being connected with anyone anywhere, we are losing the ability to be present.
By worrying we might miss out on something, we let pings constantly interrupt us.
By rushing to post something we enjoy, we are losing the ability to savor a moment.
By always being available, we slowly lose touch with our boundaries and priorities.
By giving away our attention for free, technology companies are making billions.
Now, don’t hear me wrongly. It’s true that technology has some great benefits. I don’t think many of us want to go back.
Still, in little and big ways, we are letting our devices steal from us.
Specific ways technology impacts our mental health
If we want to thrive, especially when it comes to our mental health, we need to become aware of how technology can work against us.
That way, we can be more careful to use tech in ways that won’t detract from our lives.
At Light The Way, we repeatedly see five ways phones and other screens impact people. See if any of these ring true for you:
Sleep
Our screens don’t help us sleep. It’s easy to go to bed late because we’re scrolling or get engrossed in a game or a show. The blue light from our screens also throws off our circadian rhythms and makes it harder to get good sleep. With sleep being a big contributor to our happiness and mental health, this lost sleep affects us more like to think. To read further about the benefits of regular sleep habits, click here.Focus
Many people think quickly checking their Facebook or email is no big deal. But studies show it takes us almost 25 minutes to get fully focused on a task again after being interrupted. With pings and notifications consistently disturbing our focus, it’s a lot harder to accomplish meaningful goals. Instead, we feel frazzled, get things done slower, and don’t do our best work.Brain Chemistry
Most of the internet is designed to keep our attention by messing with our brain chemistry. Each new click gives us a little dopamine hit. By doing this repeatedly, a strong neural pathway gets developed in our brain, and we physiologically expect and seek out this constant stimulation.Information Overload
We consume exponentially more information in a day than the generations before us did. It’s become so normal that we don’t consider the link between the anxiety many of us feel and our massive content consumption.
Relationships
The Digital Revolution was sold to us by saying it would keep us more “connected.” In a way, this is true. But as we all know, connection behind a screen and a conversation with a loved one are very different things. Studies repeatedly show that depression rates and feelings of loneliness go up the more time people spend scrolling and interacting online—particularly on social media.
With less sleep, less focused work, altered brain chemistry, feeling overwhelm from information, and weaker relationships, our technology use can add up to take an especially significant toll.
Two questions to ask to start improving your relationship with technology
Now, I am not suggesting that we respond to these things by becoming digital Luddites.
But I am saying that to feel more present and less anxious, a good first step is to become more aware of what’s going on.
We aren’t passive victims of this digital tsunami. Where technology is impacting us negatively, we can make choices to change.
Next week, I’ll share with you a list of specific things you can choose to do to stop letting technology steal your time, attention, and peace of mind.
But for now, I will leave you with two big questions worth pondering over the next week:
Where in my life is technology stealing from me?
And what can I do to change that?
Take some deep breaths even now to start to slow down enough to consider these questions.
As you sit with them, you’ll become more aware of what’s going on in your mind and heart, and what to do to improve your relationship with technology will start to become clear.
Just remember to put your phone on silent.
That will help, too.
Written by: Cindy Picht
