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Technology has made life easier, but constant connection has brought a new challenge: understand how technostress arises and why small breaks can help regain balance.
Technology has transformed modern routines. However, the constant use of cell phones, computers, and digital platforms has created a new challenge: technostress, a type of stress related to the excess of stimuli, information, and the need to stay connected.
Furthermore, tools like search engines, artificial intelligence, social networks, and video platforms have facilitated access to knowledge, entertainment, and shopping. However, this convenience has also increased dependence on digital devices.
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As a result, the same resource created to facilitate tasks now demands continuous attention. Consequently, notifications, messages, and frequent updates can generate a permanent sense of alertness.
What is technostress and how technology can cause overload
Firstly, stress represents an imbalance between the demands of daily life and the ability to cope with them.
Despite this, stress is not always negative. Important life situations, such as marriage, birth, or starting a career, also cause tension and can help with adaptation.
However, when stress becomes frequent and intense, it ceases to contribute to performance. Thus, it can harm mental and physical health.
In this scenario, stress caused by technology appears when the use of devices exceeds the limits of rest and mental recovery.
How excess technology affects mental health
Moreover, the impacts of technological stress do not usually appear immediately. They accumulate through small daily situations.
Thus, checking emails, responding to messages, keeping up with social networks, and dealing with constant notifications keep the brain in continuous activity.
Consequently, the mind may show signs of wear, as human attention has limits.
Among the main effects are:
- Difficulty sleeping;
- Anxiety;
- Irritability;
- Mental fatigue;
- Muscle aches and headaches;
- Digestive and dietary changes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and cancer, are some of the leading causes of death worldwide.
The trap of constant connection and the search for digital balance
However, technology is not the sole cause of the problem. In reality, the impact depends on how it is used.
Therefore, developing a conscious use of technology is one of the main strategies to reduce technostress.
Often, access to the phone happens automatically. Thus, the brain seeks quick stimuli and creates a habit that is difficult to break.
To evaluate this relationship with screens, some questions can help:
- Can you go 48 hours without looking at your phone?
- How many hours a day do you spend in front of screens?
- Is the first thing you do upon waking up to check notifications?
- Does your smartphone usage time surprise you?
Furthermore, studies on voluntary reduction of digital use indicate that reducing connected time can enhance psychological well-being and reduce compulsive behaviors.
Small breaks can help reduce stress caused by technology
Just as the body needs to rest after physical exertion, the mind also requires recovery.
Therefore, identifying situations that increase anxiety is essential. Work, social networks, information overload, and daily demands can act as stress factors.
Moreover, activities away from screens can aid in mental recovery. Sports, reading, dancing, social interaction, and music are examples of practices that promote disconnection.
Thus, setting limits and creating moments without technology can improve emotional regulation and help maintain a healthier relationship with digital devices.
Nominal source: World Health Organization (WHO); studies on mental health and the use of digital technologies; article originally published by The Conversation, authored by Iván Fernández Suárez, professor of the Master’s Program in Occupational Risk Prevention.
