Have you ever asked by hand: How much time do you invest in being on the internet? The answer may be alarming because today, we spend a lot of our time being in the digital environment. Whether for work, leisure, study, or communication, the use of the internet, mobile phones, and computers are ubiquitous. However, its benefits can cause inevitable long-term consequences to our lives. Even the less favorable ones like technopathy. And if you don't know what is this? and you have doubts if you suffer from any of them, you will need to continue reading this post fashionglee
What is the definition of technopathy?
Nowadays, people often talk
about the benefits of new technologies. However, like everything in life, what is taken to the extreme usually
generates negative consequences. The same happens in the
excessive use of the internet and the different devices to access it. This
is how the term technopathy emerged.
It should be noted that they
are psychological and physical diseases caused by the use of electronic
mechanisms. It is vital to climax that the consequences originate due to
the excessive use of the user of these mechanisms, causing dependency and implications
in the health of the person.
It is vital to indicate that this is a severe issue, since currently,
according to a Hootsuite study, on average, a person uses the internet for six
h 54m a day. That is, approximately every day of our life, we spend 7
hours surfing the internet. Although it is a number that has increased
thanks to teleworking and the home office, we must also evaluate the use we
invest in the internet. Not because we could all become a technopath. But
by recognizing what we do with our time and looking for a suitable balance in
our life.
What is the most common technopathy today?
Before mentioning which are
the technopathic, we must first note that they can be divided into physical and
psychological. Since the use, although it triggers certain attitudes and
addictions, in turn, leads to injuries and physical ailments in people.
Psychological:
Next, we will mention the
psychological technopathy:
# 1. Nomophobia:
It refers to the anxiety or
fear that a person experiences when not using their mobile. Either due to
loss, forgetfulness, or insecurity of not taking it with you. This is one
of the most common in most people, especially in those who are used to
continuously consulting their social networks or other applications.
#2. Social depression:
It occurs when a person
feels insecure because they do not have a high level of interaction or
interpersonal relationships. Compared to other people in your circle of
influencers who often share various personal life moments on social media. It
usually occurs because the person feels frustrated by not sharing happy and fun
moments, making them feel inferior and therefore feel depressed.
#3. WhatsApp apnea:
It refers to the addition of
visiting the application compulsively. Being an unconscious action that
the person performs still affects him emotionally when he cannot do it. This
case is similar to nomophobia because the person presents anxiety, fear, and
even discomfort when he cannot see his messages.
#4. The imaginary call:
In that case, the person
suffers from a false perception of his brain, in which he thinks that someone
is calling him. To this is added that even the person states that he has heard
the tone of his mobile or that it is vibrating, but when checking it, there is
no call.
#5. Social insomnia:
In this case, people have
the habit of having the devices, especially the mobile, close to him when he is
sleeping. In this way, the person feels safe since he can check the activities
of his mobile at any time, in the case of wake up. He was a clear example
of how technopathy has made us highly dependent on technology.
# 6. Cyberchondriac:
When they are sick or feel
certain symptoms, they are those who search the internet for possible diseases
that are associated with what they are feeling. This is one of the most
dangerous technopathy because there are cases where the person somatizes or
thinks that he is presenting a different disease than the one he offers. The
searches related to treatments and care because believing that they have all
the answers no longer go to a medical professional.
# 7. Memory loss:
As you read it, this technopathy is also
known as Google syndrome. It obtains this name because it is established.
After all, due to the data and information that people can consult, they lose
the capacity for attention and memorization. It should be noted that this
is more associated with the number of notifications, tools, and elements that
we have on the internet and that by having pop-up appearances, they tend to
distract the user and therefore cause them to be disoriented from their search.
Physical:
On the other hand, we have
physical technopathy which appears due to the excessive use of technological
devices, among which we have :
1.
Hearing
problems: using
hearing aids for an extended time and at a higher volume than recommended can
have various consequences—for example, hearing loss, hearing loss, low hearing
acuity.
2.
Tendinitis is
when the muscles become tense or inflamed due to maintaining the same posture,
using a part of the body for a long time, or
repetitive movements.
3.
Eye
strain refers to the visual stress caused by continuous exposure to mobile
and computer screens.
4.
Carpal
tunnel syndrome: it is
when the wrist becomes inflamed, or there is pain. It is usually inflammation
in the carpal tunnel nerve. This condition usually causes pain in the
person. In some cases, it is recommended to use splints to immobilize the
area and prevent the injury from intensifying.
5.
Pain
in the cervical area: it is when the back and shoulders become
tense or inflamed. Well, maintaining the same pose is detrimental to
maintaining good posture.