Modern life is incredibly hard to imagine without gadgets – mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, pocket notebooks, e-readers, portable gaming consoles… The list goes on. They undoubtedly improve the quality of life, making it more convenient. However, there is also a flip side to this coin. Numerous scientific studies and statistical data show that gadgets are not as safe as they might seem at first glance.
How do gadgets affect the human psyche and the state of the body? GoBeauty explores this.
Back Problems
Smartphone owners spend a lot of time communicating in messengers and social networks, browsing news, or playing games. According to the British Chiropractic Association (a form of manual therapy), this has led to a sharp increase in the number of young people with back problems. About half of teenagers complain of back and neck pain due to constantly leaning over their gadgets. When you sit bent over, the pressure on the intervertebral discs is twice as high as in a normal position. In the past year alone, the number of young people aged 16 to 24 with back pathologies has increased by 60%.
Increased Anxiety
Strangely enough, new communication devices foster feelings of loneliness and isolation. The Washington Henry Kaiser Foundation found that young people spend 10-11 hours daily looking at their phones, waiting for messages from friends, and their absence causes anxiety and a feeling of being ignored.
Obesity
Dr. Jonathan During, spokesperson for the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, believes that reduced physical activity leads to an increase in obesity cases and is the fourth most significant cause of mortality worldwide. Lack of movement leads to obesity, which means an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, they are not only easier to contract but also harder to fight later.
Depression
Child psychotherapist Julie Lynn Evans says that 20 years ago, she encountered one or two attempts of child suicide a year, and now she sees four cases a month. She believes that the increase in the number of depressed teenagers, those suffering from anorexia, and young people with suicidal thoughts is directly related to gadgets, where “they freely travel in a dark world that is often not meant for children.”
Insomnia
More than 60% of young people aged 18 to 21 read or play in bed before going to sleep. However, Kevin Morgan, director of the sleep research clinic at Loughborough University, notes that two hours of reading text on a smartphone stops melatonin production and leads to serious sleep problems.
Decreased Attention Span
Research by scientists from the American Psychological Association indicates that smartphones significantly weaken a person’s attention. Simply having a smartphone nearby can greatly reduce concentration on a task. Specifically, tasks requiring attention are harder to complete with a phone lying nearby. People are constantly distracted, checking if they have received any messages.
Of course, GoBeauty does not advocate for completely giving up the use of smartphones and similar devices. It’s impossible to manage without them today. The key is to use them in moderation and adopt appropriate countermeasures.
