Going offline from time to time is good for your health

In Brazil, a study conducted by Isma-BR (International Stress Management Association) proved that people develop technological stress – the technostress, among other factors, when they cannot use technology in a balanced way and, mainly, if it fails — the cell phone signal disappears or the internet is down. Among those evaluated, technological stress manifested itself with the following symptoms: 86% of those surveyed felt muscle and headache pain, 3% suffered from anxiety, 81% from anguish, 67% had difficulty concentrating, 63% complained of chronic fatigue , 41% became more aggressive, 27% started to eat more and 35% had sleep disorders. “Not getting enough sleep accelerates aging, lowers immunity and favors the development of cardiovascular diseases”, comments psychologist Priscila Gasparini Fernandes, from São Paulo. The expert also points out that this need to be online all the time can make the scales go up: “The stress hormone, cortisol, is related to increased body fat, which favors the onset of diseases such as high blood pressure, anemia and diabetes.

The benefits of pressing off

boosted memory

The tendency when surfing the internet is to do several things at the same time: accessing websites, watching videos, checking social networks, chatting… excessively receiving visual and auditory stimuli. Result: it cannot store all the information to which it is exposed.

agile reasoning

Excess stimulation and the speed with which information reaches the brain can also impair reasoning and cause actions to be taken without a period of reflection beforehand. This can even lead her to give illogical answers in virtual conversations or make impulse purchases.

Relationships on the rise

Staying connected all day can become an addiction, causing withdrawal from the real world, difficulty paying attention to yourself and others, as well as showing certain characteristics, such as introversion, anxiety and impulsiveness.

promising career

In many cases, this “addiction” even interferes with professional life, as there is a need to check social networks all the time, which causes a decrease in concentration at work and poor use of time to carry out tasks.

Escape from technostress

set limits

The problems mentioned only happen if you exaggerate the dose. “Being connected can contribute to bringing us closer to other people or to moving us further away from them. The difference lies in the way the virtual world is used: as a tool to improve the quality of real contact or as an end in itself”, points out Renato Lendimuth Mancini, psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo.

There is no rule that states how many hours a day someone can be online. What counts is common sense and the responsibility of not losing focus on everyday activities. Practice staying away from your cell phone for some periods and create a personal rule, limiting access to some time of the day and, when you have fun, really enjoying the activity you set out to do instead of being stuck with photos and posts. If it is very difficult to disconnect, the tip is to seek professional help.

filter all

According to psychologist Cristiane Moraes Pertusi, from São Paulo, in addition to restricting the time we stay connected, it is important to limit the information that is posted — making social networks an intimate diary, for example, writing down everything that goes on in the your life, is not recommended. “Don’t use the media as if it were your language. Anyone who talks non-stop, without thinking about what and how they are going to expose it, can put their image at risk”, she comments. In times of violence, this craze can even be dangerous, as you give out personal information to the world.