Have you ever wondered about what life would be like without the internet? As the world wide web celebrates its 40th birthday, we’re trying to think back to the days when social media didn’t exist, and neither did smartphones and their respective applications.
Before, communication was related to one on one conversations. Today, it’s a whole new league of interactions where you can be miles away from loved ones but still connected through technology.
The number of internet users around the globe has exceeded the 5,500,000,000 figure and it's still rising as we speak. Moreover, on average, each American is known to dedicate at least 24 hours of their time to social media as well, on average.
See, the human mind is a beautiful creation that really has the tendency to rewire depending on what your current environment or circumstances may be. And the after-effects can be pretty serious in some scenarios.
The advent of modern technology has really impacted our lives in so many ways. But did you ever care to think about how it could possibly affect your mental health too?
A new study is shedding light on how technology may be just as harmful as its useful. And that includes saying hello to a wide array of mental health concerns, not to mention common cognitive disorders as well.
But what exactly are these health issues and how can the internet really affect us mentally? Well, let’s see what the study has to say as we share some of the major findings involved.
The web can be a dangerous destination, considering the amount of information that’s easily accessible at your fingertips. You can easily get carried away in the huge amounts of data, videos, and posts at a glance.
While some may be better at coping with the situation than others, you cannot deny the mental health risks involved.
The study outlines five negative effects related to technology affecting our lives. The top spot went to psychological issues and sleep disorders. Next in line came social matters, difficulty in establishing human relationships, and also having a hard time focusing on what’s right and what’s not.
Cognitive disorders were commonly noticed in those who enrolled in the study as people were able to report some interesting changes in their behavior patterns.
If they were bored, they would use social media to curb that boredom and the routine was awfully repetitive and programmed to follow a fixed schedule. Some of them were able to take in tragic information and process it without feeling any form of emotion. Lastly, it wasn’t uncommon to find them being so engulfed in their devices that they ended up giving less attention to those seated in front of them.
The study highlighted how such changes were commonly observed in the younger generations than the older ones. Also, the younger generations were less likely to speak about technology affecting their lives positively.
Common mental health concerns that led the pack and are now serving as alarms for internet users were plenty. They included the likes of digital dementia where people have a hard time remembering a certain thing that they’ve witnessed on the web.
Another disorder called cyberchondria is linked to being paranoid regarding a person’s health and using the web to search for health-related queries. And there were those who spoke of a disorder affiliated with addiction to the internet. They spend so much time online that it greatly affects their professional and personal lives.
The study also laid great emphasis on how being depressed, having low self-esteem, and getting OCD and ADHA were also linked to excessive internet usage.
So what’s the solution? Well, experts claim anything excessive is never good so tracking time spent online is necessary. But realizing you’ve got a problem is the first step to combating the issue and then obviously finding a solution that works can help like engaging in other healthy activities like cooking, sports, exercise, and more.
H/T: Tidio
Read next: Here Are the Five Biggest Trends Driving Data Storytelling
Before, communication was related to one on one conversations. Today, it’s a whole new league of interactions where you can be miles away from loved ones but still connected through technology.
The number of internet users around the globe has exceeded the 5,500,000,000 figure and it's still rising as we speak. Moreover, on average, each American is known to dedicate at least 24 hours of their time to social media as well, on average.
See, the human mind is a beautiful creation that really has the tendency to rewire depending on what your current environment or circumstances may be. And the after-effects can be pretty serious in some scenarios.
The advent of modern technology has really impacted our lives in so many ways. But did you ever care to think about how it could possibly affect your mental health too?
A new study is shedding light on how technology may be just as harmful as its useful. And that includes saying hello to a wide array of mental health concerns, not to mention common cognitive disorders as well.
But what exactly are these health issues and how can the internet really affect us mentally? Well, let’s see what the study has to say as we share some of the major findings involved.
The web can be a dangerous destination, considering the amount of information that’s easily accessible at your fingertips. You can easily get carried away in the huge amounts of data, videos, and posts at a glance.
While some may be better at coping with the situation than others, you cannot deny the mental health risks involved.
The study outlines five negative effects related to technology affecting our lives. The top spot went to psychological issues and sleep disorders. Next in line came social matters, difficulty in establishing human relationships, and also having a hard time focusing on what’s right and what’s not.
Cognitive disorders were commonly noticed in those who enrolled in the study as people were able to report some interesting changes in their behavior patterns.
If they were bored, they would use social media to curb that boredom and the routine was awfully repetitive and programmed to follow a fixed schedule. Some of them were able to take in tragic information and process it without feeling any form of emotion. Lastly, it wasn’t uncommon to find them being so engulfed in their devices that they ended up giving less attention to those seated in front of them.
The study highlighted how such changes were commonly observed in the younger generations than the older ones. Also, the younger generations were less likely to speak about technology affecting their lives positively.
Common mental health concerns that led the pack and are now serving as alarms for internet users were plenty. They included the likes of digital dementia where people have a hard time remembering a certain thing that they’ve witnessed on the web.
Another disorder called cyberchondria is linked to being paranoid regarding a person’s health and using the web to search for health-related queries. And there were those who spoke of a disorder affiliated with addiction to the internet. They spend so much time online that it greatly affects their professional and personal lives.
The study also laid great emphasis on how being depressed, having low self-esteem, and getting OCD and ADHA were also linked to excessive internet usage.
So what’s the solution? Well, experts claim anything excessive is never good so tracking time spent online is necessary. But realizing you’ve got a problem is the first step to combating the issue and then obviously finding a solution that works can help like engaging in other healthy activities like cooking, sports, exercise, and more.
Read next: Here Are the Five Biggest Trends Driving Data Storytelling
