Digital addiction : how do screens damage the brain ?
Written by: Loris Vitry (holistic coach)
Validated by: Cathy Maillot (Osteopath)
Caution: If you have any medical questions or concerns, please speak to your doctor. Even if the articles on this site are based on scientific studies, they do not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
The new technologies are one of the most successful innovations of the 21st century.
Since their appearance, new technologies have been a massive success in terms of popularity and number of users.
However, most of these technologies prove to be real dangers for users, especially when they get addicted.
Digital: what is it?
There is a multitude of definitions of the concept of digital.
However, it can be understood here as all of the electronic devices (mobile phone, computer, game console) which, through an internet connection or a network, make it possible to perform several tasks, in particular:
Communication between people.
Thanks to digital technology, each user can communicate with any person, no matter where that person is.
Research and acquire knowledge
Thanks to digital, we can have access to a large amount of information.
The user may not only be informed but also have the truth of the facts alleged by others.
Having fun
Digital also helps to get rid of your boredom.
Thanks, among other things, to the video games it offers.
This fun aspect is not only found in communication tools but also devices designed specifically for this task (game consoles, for example).
Given the advantages, we would tend to believe that digital has only positive aspects.
However, all creation of man has a negative side.
Addiction to digital devices: the other side of the coin
Since the advent of digital, the use of new technologies has become the most shared thing of the 21st century.
Indeed, it is difficult today to walk through a public place without seeing a person with a telephone or a computer.
At home, the same observation.
Everyone is busy either on the phone, tablet or computer, or game consoles.
In short, no city can boast today of not having digital users as people always bent over devices, whether at work, in a public place, or even at home.
Addiction to digital devices is not without consequences.
Addiction to digital technology: a danger for the brain
Addiction to digital corresponds to a dependence on the screen.
Being focused continuously on screens is very damaging to the brain.
Indeed, several studies have looked at the effects that on-screen addiction could create on the brain.
Invited on a program, Dr. Karadas, an addictology expert, says that several brain imaging experiments have revealed that the frontal cortex shrinks when you spend too much time in front of the screens.
According to him, this situation is very worrying in the sense that it affects all age groups.
He even went so far as to call the phenomenon “digital heroin” in one of his books.
According to his research, addiction to digital or screens results in narrowing of the cerebral pathways and alteration of fluids.
These different brain damage can create symptoms that may suggest autism or bipolar disorder.
These consequences are thus manifested in the behavior of the person.
Thus, the man addicted to screens becomes:
- More impulsive.
- More subject to addiction.
- More aggressive.
He is making more and more bad decisions, and his logical reasoning skills are impaired.
Schoolchildren are less capable of being attentive, and some even have insomnia, which is detrimental to their growth.
Digital stress
Digital stress is understood to mean the consequences linked to the amplification of stress mechanisms.
This amplification of the mechanisms is due to an omnipresent digital environment.
Digital stress thus acts on the social, professional, and personal life of the individual.
Furthermore, digital dependence impacts the performance of the person who is subject to it.
Indeed, the individual developing an addiction to digital experiences fatigue.
This fatigue acts on his mood and creates a state of intense stress.
The result is a reduction of his working time and his capacities.
How to no longer depend on digital or screens?
The addiction phenomenon is a phenomenon that needs to be controlled.
Indeed, a complete cessation of use is downright impossible, especially when you know that the world has become fully digital.
We would then have to succeed in controlling the time we devote to it, in controlling the use we make of it and, in the long term leading to a reduction in the use of digital technology.
To this end, you must follow a set of measures that will help you reduce the use of digital.
Exercice regularly
When an addiction to screens takes hold, this prevents the person from taking care of his body.
It would then be necessary to devote time to sports activities to maintain health and keep the body in shape.
Make the most of social relationships
Addiction to screens prevents users from enjoying the beauty of the environment or relationships with their fellow humans.
To reduce the effects generated by this addiction, users should turn off their devices in the presence of their friends or family.
It makes it possible to enjoy most of these moments of happiness and cheerfulness between loved ones.
Sleep well
Insomnia or lack of sleep is a cause of stress.
A good sleep requires prioritizing or planning sleep time.
Also, when you go to bed, take care to charge your portable device in another room than the one where you sleep.
It will allow you to make the most of your sleep time and not be distracted by any message or call notifications.
Ultimately, digital is a viral phenomenon and popular with everyone.
There are advantages, but these disadvantages are not to be taken lightly.
Its success has caused a kind of addiction among users.
So much so that digital phobias have emerged; this is the case of nomophobia, for example.
Nomophobia is the excessive fear of being deprived of your mobile phone.
This total dependence on screens or digital technology has drastic consequences on the brain.
The use of information and communication technologies should be reduced to limit these consequences.
Indeed, the world has become a global village, thanks to the technologies of innovation and communication.
It seems complicated today to do without digital in the world.
However, reducing the usage time of digital devices will only be beneficial for health.
Continue reading:
Phobia : how to overcome irrational fears ?
