Like any other technology the smartwatch is not without advantages and disadvantages of its own. Over use of anything is not a healthy habit. How much we use and how we use smartwatch is our own judgment and we need to find that balance so as to not let this technology affect us in a negative manner. When overused, the smartwatch like its other counterparts may have grave consequences on our health. In this article we have discussed a few health issues that can occur because of overusing smart watches.
The physical health implications
As we have discussed earlier, the smartwatch primarily imitates the technology of a mobile phone. Health experts usually advise to limit the use of such technology to a certain level, so as to avoid negative health implications.
- Overuse of the smart device can affect our memory and our vision. Over users may often complain about headache and nausea and a constant feeling of fatigue and lethargy. This is because of the harmful radiations emitted from the smartwatch that may affect our nervous system. These will be discussed in detail in another article.
- Similarly using your device before sleeping affects your sleep cycle, it clearly keeps your brain in an overactive state and keeps it from shutting down and consequently does not let you have a peaceful night sleep. This lack of uninterrupted sleep has a direct impact on your overall health and drives you in to a state of constant fatigue. You may suffer from mood swings and memory loss issue because of your brain being impacted by sleep deprivation.
- As mentioned above the smartwatch may also affect your vision. The screen of a smartwatch is fairly small considering its size. If you use your smartwatch, you are putting too much pressure on your eyes and hence your vision will be affected.
Smartwatch- is it a distraction?
While the watch is beneficial in terms of keeping you connected but just like a smartphone would, the smartwatch can be also a potential risk if it distracts you from what you are doing. Driving on the road, one look away from the road to look at your watch may cause a severe accident. It is therefore recommended to just focus on the road when you drive keeping distractions to a minimal and keep your phone or smartwatch away.
While this is not typically a health issue but you may not have noticed, that every minute you are on your smart technology checking on it or so, you are taking a minute out of your private life. The time you should be spending with your family is going towards spending time on your device. You may be physically present with your clan but mentally you may be far away processing all the recent updates in your mind. Every little buzz or ring distracts you away from the situation you are in.
Off put by all this, consequently this may drive your loved ones away and they may grow used to not be mentally present at all times and may just resign to getting used to not having you around. You are only on the losing side here, missing out on family time. It may be too late by the time you realize this. Sometimes it’s just nice to unwind, put everything aside and be present in the moment and relax a little.
The subtle psychological implications, you may not notice
In addition to the physical health implications of the smartwatch, there are also a few psychological implications which may be subtle, however cannot be ignored. A few are discussed below:
Technology is consuming you
Let’s assume you work in the corporate sector or you are an individual in a profession where connectivity is a necessity and of the utmost importance. You cannot afford to stay away from your phone for long for the fear of missing out on important notifications, messages, alerts or emails and responding to them in time.
Your smartwatch helps you in all that while not having to hold your phone in your hand all the time. You can do all of that by that little gadget on your wrist. You are on the go and your smartwatch keeps you connected at all times. You are constantly worrying over and stressing about updates coming in every now and then. So much so, that this becomes an addiction. You are constantly hooked to it and checking on your watch every few minutes or so and consequently this habit reaches and crosses the very threshold of obsession where you are constantly overridden with the thought of staying connected and for the fear of missing out you, are literally glued to it. This constant flow of information consumes you and your mind refuses to just shut down and relax.
While the overwhelming urge to take a step back my compel you to switch it off for some time, at times you may not even realize what this continuous connectivity is doing to your brain and you allow yourself to be engulfed by the obsession. This keeps your brain in an overactive state all the time. We may not realize this but the stress caused by all this will sooner or later tend to take a toll on our physical and psychological health.
This may lead to frustration, depression and mood swings you may not be able to explain but will suffer from nevertheless.
Eating disorder
Another subtle consequence of over usage of smartwatch, which may go unnoticed, is the tendency to overeat. When an individual is completely consumed by the technology they are using, they may indulge in mindless eating totally unaware of the amount of food and the kind of food they have consumed. This leads to many health issues including weight gain and other subsequent health issues.
Having said that we need to understand that technology is developed to make our life easier. We should not let it consume our lives and use it intelligently to garner benefits out of it and avoid using it in a way that may only harm us in the long run.
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